Discussion
#WritersCoffeeClub 10/12. Do you prefer to use real-world settings or to invent new ones?
Real-world settings are easier insofar as your world-building is pre-baked, but they put more constraints on what you can do in your story.
Invented settings require a *lot* of careful thought about stuff that's not obvious at first; where does food come from? Who makes the clothes (and how many days labour does a full outfit cost)? How does inheritance law operate in fantasyland? And so on.
@cstross I think worldbuilding is the neglected child of literary theory. Lit theory emphasises plot, character etc, but regards setting as merely a choice from a pre-existing menu. SF&F opens up a whole new dimension for storytelling, but the snooty attitude that SF&F can't be "real" literature or is "just a genre" blocks the literary world from appreciating it (broad overgeneralisation alert).
@cstross It's interesting to read #Discworld with this perspective. The early books had Ankh-Morpork as a generic fantasy city with none of that filled in. By "Night Watch" we saw Vimes ruminating about the number of cattle that had to be slaughtered each day to keep everyone fed, and how easily a stupid ruler could accidentally break that supply line.
@cstross Is stuff like "how are inheritance laws operating" something you really decide before starting writing or is this something you think about when the story touches inheritance?
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
