Do I need to explain myself?

[Sinitar]

I have the vague idea that fantasy, like magic, does not need scientific explanation, but at the same time, it's better to be on the safe side.

Let's say that my world works differently and I have no night or day(that's only an example). Naturally, I would just treat this element as I would treat day times on Earth. But is that how is it supposed to happen? I'm a little confused, and don't want to jump into my story without an answer to this question.

 

[sashamerideth]

Work things like that into the narrative, avoid info dumping.

"Gonna be a hot one today" Billy Bob said, watching one sun set, as the other rose behind his shack.

"Yup, giant Sketters will be huntin today. Got yer flamethrower?"

"Yup."

 

[Sinitar]

That's a good advice, but the problem is not with the actual description, but how the world works. I don't have to delve into astrology and explain how a particular phenomenom works, like an eclipse, and why it lasts, say 4 hours instead of 10 minutes.

 

[CicadaGrrl]

Yeah--dialogue is the best way to enter aspects of your world. Short (and focus on the word SHORT) descriptions, a couple of lines, can help you along as well. Generally in fantasy, we aren't so hung up on why the world is the way it is--you don't need a long scientific explanation of magic or dragons--it's hung up on how. Meaning keep it consistent. We don't need to know the mechanics, but never break your own rules unless for a very specific and necc. purpose.

 

[Sinitar]

My description is added progressively. If I have a dialogue, I use the pause to describe what a character is looking at. If two guys are doing some planning, I insert certain descriptive elements, but not in an intrusive manner that totally throws a paragraph of description at the reader.

Thanks for the help CicadaGrrl, that was what I am looking for.

 

[sashamerideth]

It is fantasy, and fantasy readers are more inclined to believe that your world is as it is because it is fantasy. If you are going for the niche hard fantasy genre, they get off on explanations, but standard fantasy doesn't need explanations.

I am guessing you are in first draft, just write. Get it done and then think about hows and whys.

 

[Sinitar]

I'm not even in the first draft. I only have the plot right now, and some questions that have been left unanswered. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[sashamerideth]

Cool, you can use your first draft to establish your rules, then make sure they are consistent on the next draft. You may find, as I did, that some of the rules you started with don't work well with the story.

Characters, then story, then fancy world. We grow attached to our worlds, but our readers care about our characters.

 

[Gryffin]

I don't know, I think it just depends on the story. I like when I see an author use subtlety to explain why things are different. Mention something in a conversation or somehow mention that the sun had been up for how ever long, as far back as the character could remember. Something subtle that doesn't go into a deep scientific conversation, if that makes sense. Like the others have said, just be consistent.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

if there is no night, only day...or the other way around...or even somewhere in between, then you can make it clear by what is happening. Must you say, "there was no night"? No, because from the perspective of the story, night isn't a concept, you are now telling the reader directly, and whenever possible show them. If there is no night and day, then is there any tracking of time? the place I would put it is when the person goes to sleep. if the amount of light is the same when they are going to bed...and same as they are getting up, and never changes....the reader will pick it up pretty quickly. Let us feel we are clever picking up something so obvious. No effort for you and nothing that incredibly hard to figure out. Still, the more you allow the reader to figure out what is going on without the blatant telling them so, the more we will enjoy it.

Just as easy to make clear is how you indicate the passage of time, since without a moving star to provide a night and day...time still flows, but the marking of it would be based on whatever someone devised that everyone else agreed to.

 

[Shadoe]

If you're going to have your world work significantly different from the world your readers live in, then you need some kind of explanation on how it's different, and possibly why (depending on the difference). If, for instance, your world only has day and your story has your hero sleeping while the sun is out, you should explain that there's no night so your readers aren't left wondering why your hero is so lazy and spends his whole time napping the day away. It could be as simple as a line saying, "Conan looked at the clock and noticed it was four hours into sleep period. He closed the shades against the never-dimming sun and hoped he'd get a few hours' sleep in before the world came awake." Not the best line, but you get the idea.

 

[grahamguitarman]

Funnily enough the short story I posted a little while ago in the Showcase is set in a location where there is no day or night, the only way to keep track of time is via time-pieces.

When I first posted the story I had a whole prologue explaining why there was no day or night - then removed it in the second draft because it was completely unecesary. If I was going to be pedantic about the science then I'd have to question the idea of the houses being permanently lit on one side and frosty on the other for example! It made for an interesting visual idea - but is full of holes scientifically, and so what, its fantasy and the imagery is only there to create magic in the readers mind.


You don't need lots of 'pseudo science' to explain your world, the people in that world will see the magic ect as normal and not generally question that. I think its much better to write about the world from the viewpoint of the people in it, than to try and explain the world using science that they would have no knowledge of. And of course to remain faithful to the rules of that world, the rules may not have scientific grounding, but they still need to be observed!

 

[Sinitar]

Thank you everybody for the help you have provided. I have certain stages prepared to show the passage of time, and I will let these replace the common terms people use in our world. Of course I won't go all out in the beginning. The best way to deal with a new world is to describe it like everything is normal, like Lord Darkstorm said, and I will surely use a vague description in the prologue and a concise one in the first chapters, which are mostly focused on characters.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

I think as long as you have an idea on how it all works (however far-fetched, this is fantasy after-all), then you just need to make sure the people and the worlds variables are consistent. Like many have said, you don't really need to explain it all, and definitely not in one go. The reader will probably appreciate you leaving something so important to their imagination.