Writing Fiction: Developing a setting | Expert Articles About

When writing a novel, probably one of the first things you need to think about is the setting for the story.

You could write in an existing fantasy setting, borrowing the setting for a non-commercial project is a popular way to practice writing and is fine as long as you don?t intend to earn any revenue from it. If you do intend to earn money with your piece, then other options need to be considered.

Of course you could choose to write using the real world as a setting ? though this can be challenging. If you wish to write in the real world as a setting you are going to have to do research into techology, professions, cultures ? anything to which you don?t have first hand experience of. Novel readers can be a fickle bunch and will not looking kindly on continuity errors or inaccuracies.

The remaining option is to create your own.

A well written alternative setting can provide as rich a story at least as a fan fiction or real world setting. One of the most famous examples would be J K Rowlings alternative world created for the boy wizard series, ?Harry Potter? which is an incredibly complex and diverse setting.

Rowling may not have been 100% original in all her ideas, but by assembling the ideas into a cohesive alternate reality in which to write with it?s own rules and structure she created a valuable piece of intellectual property.

The same could be said for Sir Terry Pratchett and his ?Discworld Novels? of which there are currently nearly 50 novels.

You may criticize Discworld for it?s funny characters and comical stories, but if you do you are missing the point. Discworld is a very poignant view of human life and culture. Pratchett has identified how people think, and this is indredibly obvious in the books. The ultimate truth is, Pratchett isn?t making fun of fantasy ? he?s using fantasy to make fun of us, and of himself.

You don?t have to research your personal fantasy story setting, but you should really consider trying to write down the basics about your world. So you can refer to them and maintain continuity.

You might even draw maps, give place names and make notes about the world. Then you have a one stop spot for referring to ? without having to re-read your entire manuscript.

If you want to read more about Terry Pratchetts Discworld Novels see Terry Pratchett Book Reviews

Source: http://expertarticlesabout.com/writing-speaking/writing-fiction-developing-a-setting

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