Post by account_disabled on Dec 30, 2023 4:33:09 GMT -5
So far I have read 15 novels by Philip K. Dick, an author that every science fiction lover should read (and even those who don't love this genre, given that he also wrote mainstream). Every time I am amazed by the care with which he created his futures, always somehow dystopian. His novels are always short, at least the ones I've read so far, around 300 pages at most. But in just a few pages the reader already has an idea of how that society works. It takes little for Dick to let the reader enter his imaginary world: the position held by a character, a few lines in a dialogue. But I don't know how much work went into it behind the scenes to get to that "little". Our life is strongly influenced by society and politics.
Therefore, even the lives of our characters must be conditioned by the fictitious society and the equally fictitious politics. To function, a nation must have a political system. A hierarchical organization of powers. Laws and rules of life. Habits and customs and traditions and religions. Do we also have to invent a religion? I would say yes: religion was Special Data born with man, it is unthinkable that in a future, however distant, it will disappear completely. I'm reading The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and one of the characters discovers a great truth: all religions are similar, only the myths and the way of telling them change. Work on language Language is one of my fixations in creative writing . For R." I created a series of new words, necessary to express certain concepts of that society. I borrowed terms from other languages and to be precise: Swedish German Hungarian Frisian Czech Icelandic Gaelic ancient Greek I chose them based on sound, readability and also personal taste. I took the Italian reference term and looked for its translation.
If I couldn't find a "nice" word, then I chose a synonym. Especially in genre novels such as fantasy and science fiction, language is extremely important. If the author invents new worlds, it is unthinkable that new languages do not exist. And new ways of speaking. But it is a discussion that also applies to the western and historical genre in general. And for a mainstream set in our times. The language part of world building is my favorite part - together with the graphic creation of the map, which we will see shortly - because I have always loved inventing words, even if I am considered a "language purist". Draw the world map In his blog «Malichar» Andrea Venturo showed the map of the lands invented for his story, created on the computer. The result was a beautiful geographical map of the places. I recommend you read that post, which will be very useful to those who don't know how to draw.
Therefore, even the lives of our characters must be conditioned by the fictitious society and the equally fictitious politics. To function, a nation must have a political system. A hierarchical organization of powers. Laws and rules of life. Habits and customs and traditions and religions. Do we also have to invent a religion? I would say yes: religion was Special Data born with man, it is unthinkable that in a future, however distant, it will disappear completely. I'm reading The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and one of the characters discovers a great truth: all religions are similar, only the myths and the way of telling them change. Work on language Language is one of my fixations in creative writing . For R." I created a series of new words, necessary to express certain concepts of that society. I borrowed terms from other languages and to be precise: Swedish German Hungarian Frisian Czech Icelandic Gaelic ancient Greek I chose them based on sound, readability and also personal taste. I took the Italian reference term and looked for its translation.
If I couldn't find a "nice" word, then I chose a synonym. Especially in genre novels such as fantasy and science fiction, language is extremely important. If the author invents new worlds, it is unthinkable that new languages do not exist. And new ways of speaking. But it is a discussion that also applies to the western and historical genre in general. And for a mainstream set in our times. The language part of world building is my favorite part - together with the graphic creation of the map, which we will see shortly - because I have always loved inventing words, even if I am considered a "language purist". Draw the world map In his blog «Malichar» Andrea Venturo showed the map of the lands invented for his story, created on the computer. The result was a beautiful geographical map of the places. I recommend you read that post, which will be very useful to those who don't know how to draw.