Geography, flora, and fauna

[ZealPropht]

How much does real-world accuracy matter when creating fantastical realms?

For example, if I chose to create a swampy place that freezes in the winter and yet has humid, hot summers, would a reader scream at me because it doesn't jive with what they might know of real-world swamp locations? I also have a desert with black sand and oases of sulfuric acid. What if I had strange crocodile-like creatures that grew fur during the cold months but shed in the spring? And what about plants that migrate like animals to water during a dry spell? None of these things exist (to my knowledge) in our world.

I was told at my writer's group that I should research real-world swamps, bogs, and marshlands and use details from that in my writing rather than making everything up from scratch like I have so far. I understand that the more grounded in "reality" a story is, the easier it is for a reader to become immersed in it. But when can an author take liberties with such things? How much detail needs to be given to explain why there are furry reptiles to begin with? Does it even matter? Will such creatures or locations pose too many questions for a reader, or are they like to just roll with it because, "Hey, it's a fantasy book." Do I have to spend pages detailing weather patterns and climates, salt water ratios to freshwater, just to justify why a certain type of berry bush can grow there while something as mundane as a carrot can't?

 

[Donny Bruso]

Short answer is no, you don't have to spend pages detailing that kind of stuff.

Long answer is that you should know all those things as the writer. That being said, you should definitely research real-world swamps, bogs, marshes, etc. But rather than researching just their weather, I would look more into what has caused this place to become a swamp or desert, giving you a greater understanding of the geological history of your land, and how the planet you're creating this world on acts in relation to its star. Maybe it has an extreme axial tilt which causes the hard-frozen winters and hellacious summers. Maybe it's emerging from an ice age. Maybe there are huge mountains nearby which interfere with the normal weather patterns, trapping or blocking out humidity. Or maybe it's just part of New England, since that would do it too... :/

Point is, learn about how to geographically and geologically create the terrain you want to give it a footing in reality. Then you can play around with it, adding a fantasy touch. It doesn't have to follow earth exactly, because it isn't earth. But the reader doesn't need pages upon pages of minute details included in your prose. Most likely that would bore them.

 

[Behelit]

Researching is never a bad idea if you feel less inclined in a field you wish to implement into your story. In Fantasy writing it isn't necessary to replicate the natural phenomenon of Earth, if anything use it as a basis. Feel free to take liberties. Also be aware that it is not usually what you are describing but how you describe it. If you are going to describe a creature you created from imagination, avoid generalities like reptile.

Most importantly, always have it pertain to the plot or what your character is currently involved in. I think your writing will flow better if you don't stop to describe a scenario, describe it as you go.

 

[Meg the Healer]

A writer can take liberties with a lot of things, so long as it makes sense to the world that you have created. I agree with Donny about researching real-world environments. You, as the author should know what a swamp is and how the swamp was created, but the reader may not care. When your characters are in the swamp or in the desert, it's the details that make the story. This is what will add the realism to your world.

Example: Jasper landed flatly on his back after accidentally slipping down the rest of the mountain. The breath was momentarily knocked out of him. When he opened his eyes and slowly got to his feet, he realized he landed on the wrong side of the mountain. The air around him was suffocatingly hot and dry. He ripped a piece a cloth from his sleeve and covered his mouth, making it slightly easier for him to breathe. He could see the heat waves radiating from the Black Sand Desert. He looked around for a safe place to make his way back up the mountain. The ground around him started to rumble. He almost lost his balance again. He heard a whistling sound as the gas was released from the desert floor beneath him.

As far as creating animlas - same thing applies. If you want the crocodile-esque creature be a mix between a croc and wolf. Research what makes each of them unique so when you meld the two together it makes sense in the world you've created.

 

[ZealPropht]

So, pretty much, as the author I should know the how and the why behind my landscapes, creatures, etc. but don't necessarily have to include all of that within the actual prose of the story, except where relevant. Sounds reasonable. Thanks. =)

 

[Meg the Healer]

So, pretty much, as the author I should know the how and the why behind my landscapes, creatures, etc. but don't necessarily have to include all of that within the actual prose of the story, except where relevant. Sounds reasonable. Thanks. =)

Glad we could help. I had a similar question in regards to castles....should we have a basic knowledge of everything. Ravana gave some pretty impressive answers. So I would assume the same logic applies.

 

[Ravana]

I had a similar question in regards to castles....should we have a basic knowledge of everything. Ravana gave some pretty impressive answers. So I would assume the same logic applies.

Thank you. And, yes, it does. I'll spare everybody from having to wade through another of my lengthy answers , but the same principle holds: the more you know, the more you can write about, and the more believable it will be. How much you "need" to know is entirely up to you.

And as has been mentioned, you're working in fantasy, so it's not a crime to include "fantastic" elements. Fuzzy crocs aren't a problem. What would be a problem would be if you made them arboreal… nothing built like a croc is ever going to climb a tree. Sulfuric acid oases in sand are possible: silicon dioxide isn't dissolved by it. Your readers may want to know where the acid is coming from; that's easy enough, as sulfur is a common component in geothermal vents. There are swamps that freeze in winter, though they tend not to be located in the tropics… the summers may be humid, but they aren't too likely to be "hot." Though I can imagine weather patterns that would produce this. There is, after all, a seasonal swamp smack dab in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, which would strike most as a less probable combination.

Perhaps a good guideline would be: if you're having trouble visualizing it yourself, or how it all fits together, you should do more research.

 

[Kittenmay]

As long as you know the basic functions and other items, its good. As Ravana said, make sure it has some basis in fact and try visualizing it yourself. Although, you could try doing the opposite for comedic effect.

 

[JCFarnham]

A good bit of advice I came across was don't worry about how accurate you are being until you know how you want your story to feel. After all, you can write in as many unique fantastical locales as you want but if they serve no purpose or are completely incongruent with your message then its wasted. What I'm getting at is perhaps thinking about what emotions you youself can attach to certain kind of places, I don't know, like if a particular city makes you think of gloomy things then think about writing some similar to it into your setting, but only if it works in context with your story, of course.

The only research you need to do, is as much as gives you the ability to write about the setting convincingly. Also don't worry about details if your view-point character isn't the type to notice. How can you convincingly and seemlessly get setting description into a passage with characters who would make it seem like a dreaded info-dump or an "As you know Bob..." passage? I say do research into geography and so on in terms of worldbuilding if it is integral to the story you are telling otherwise its a load of wasted words that could have been used to drive the plot onward right? A lot of the time half the fun of some characters is that our view of the story-world is tainted by their opinions. Makes for some interesting plot points like one character doesn't noticed something until its too late, while we the readers are informed of the trouble by another character and are screaming at the view-point character to stop being stupid. Well, I like it anyway hehe.

Any way, I think the original topic got away from me a bit there, soory for the rant. But yeah A seasoned fantasy reader will be used to weird happenings, so you can get an amazing amount passed their disbelief sensors. So in that sense don't freak about making your setting accurate when it doesn't need to be, because I'd hazard a guess at saying a number of readers would be turned off by misplaced description and scientific-geographical....ness.

 

[Amanita]

Actually, I'm rather sad about the fact, that Fantasy writers are obviously expected to have everything in their invented worlds be in compliance with earth's natural laws. (Besides the magic and even with that, many people expect that at least the laws of thermodynamics apply.)

If not even in Fantasy we're still allowed to create something, that is, well fantastical, I don't know where we can.
Therefore I say, go for it, to me your locations sound really interesting. The only thing I would advise is: Try to have it make sense within the rules of your world. If physics can't explain it, have something else that can and is consistent throughout your story.

 

[Ravana]

If physics can't explain it, have something else that can and is consistent throughout your story.

It's that "consistent" part that can get tricky… which often makes it convenient to be guided by a model you're familiar with (i.e. reality). It's harder to go far wrong when you approximate to that. Not to mention gives you a lot less 'splainin' to do. But, no, there's no reason you have to stick with the "real," as long as what you do makes sense. (One science fantasy novel, The Practice Effect by David Brin, has the protagonist plopped down in an alternate reality where all the physical laws are the same as the ones he's familiar with–except one…)

(Besides the magic and even with that, many people expect that at least the laws of thermodynamics apply.)

(…and it's among these you'd find that exception. )

Did you see my comment–uhm, somewhere around here–where I suggested a system of magic that more or less obeyed the Laws of Conservation of Mass/Energy? Not necessarily for the faint of heart, but it is one answer to the problem of restricting just how "magic" the magic can get, since it contains its own set of handy, built-in limitations.

 

[Amanita]

Did you see my comment–uhm, somewhere around here–where I suggested a system of magic that more or less obeyed the Laws of Conservation of Mass/Energy?

I might have. But I've definitly seen it quite often already and actually read about stories that do it as well, I think. I've given this kind of thing a lot of thought, actually and I think it's really difficult to do it properly and still have "magic". If someone has the power to lift heavy objects with his magic but is as tired afterwards as if he'd carried it the normal way, where is the magic in that? And there are plenty of similar situations.
Usually, some sort of external power source comes into play, but looking at it from the physical point of view, this still doesn't explain why all this energy is acutally there.

In my opinion, magic doesn't have a place in physics, at least not in physics as we understand it at the moment and therefore, at least I can't really think of a proper way to do this without meeting dead ends at some point. That's why I've given up trying by now and view magic as a sort of third concept next to mass and energy (and the second magic system a fourth one) and put it under its own rules.

But to return to the original question. I don't know if your familiar with Michael Ende's "Neverending Story" but this is a good example for all kinds of fantastic locations. It has a desert of multi-coloured sand, a forst of giant flowers, a silver city swimming on a lake of tears and many other things and I was really intrigued by that. (I didn't really like they way the plot progressed, however.)
Tastes surely vary but I'd like to see a few more stories that show the authors' imagination and rather than their thorough research about medieval European history even though there's nothing wrong with that of course. If I'm looking for something like that, I usually prefer books set in acutal history instead of Fantasy versions thereof.
When I go to a book shop however, I almost find books that are either some rip-offs about vampires, orcs and elves or books that could be in the historical novel section if a few names and small things were changed. Really inventing stuff yourself doesn't seem to be too popular anymore, with publishers.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-science or anything, not at all. But the fascination with fantasy for me lies in the various possibilities to expand reality instead of trying to replicate it.

 

[Mdnight Rising]

Go with what feels right in the guts.... again hard core fact not essential i have found a badsic jknowledge of your world flors, and Fauna will ususually get you through especially if you are trying to focus more on yer actual story and characters..