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writing the 21st century
Jun. 27th, 2007 | 11:17 pm
Good progress on the book, I'm pleased to say. 12,500 words and 4 chapters, so far.
I'm finding that it's a lot easier to write a book set in the 21st century than a story set in a fantasy or science fiction world. You don't have to explain the rules of the game. People already know how things work in 21st century America.* A properly-designed fantasy world will have its own physical laws, its own cultures, nations, and species, and its own social structures, and you've got to explain it all without taking up sixteen pages in an As You Know Bob exposition.
Don't follow me? Take the following examples. This is kind of how you'd have to write an unknown bit of magic or technology in an sf/f book:
"Tom piloted his green, flame-fueled chariot along the path of ebony stone. Ahead, jutting from the earth atop a pole of iron, he saw an eight-sided crimson sigil emblazoned with characters in the natives' tongue. Local custom and law decreed that one must come to a halt for a brief moment before the octagonal blazon. Fearing retribution, Tom let his chariot come to a halt, then resumed his journey along the glistening black path."
Now, the exact same event in the 21st century:
"Tom drove his green Ford Taurus through the intersection."
See? Way easier.
-JM
*Or so they think. The Illuminati and the space aliens are the ones really running things.
I'm finding that it's a lot easier to write a book set in the 21st century than a story set in a fantasy or science fiction world. You don't have to explain the rules of the game. People already know how things work in 21st century America.* A properly-designed fantasy world will have its own physical laws, its own cultures, nations, and species, and its own social structures, and you've got to explain it all without taking up sixteen pages in an As You Know Bob exposition.
Don't follow me? Take the following examples. This is kind of how you'd have to write an unknown bit of magic or technology in an sf/f book:
"Tom piloted his green, flame-fueled chariot along the path of ebony stone. Ahead, jutting from the earth atop a pole of iron, he saw an eight-sided crimson sigil emblazoned with characters in the natives' tongue. Local custom and law decreed that one must come to a halt for a brief moment before the octagonal blazon. Fearing retribution, Tom let his chariot come to a halt, then resumed his journey along the glistening black path."
Now, the exact same event in the 21st century:
"Tom drove his green Ford Taurus through the intersection."
See? Way easier.
-JM
*Or so they think. The Illuminati and the space aliens are the ones really running things.