{"id":9068,"date":"2010-08-09T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T12:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/?p=9068"},"modified":"2010-08-05T21:05:20","modified_gmt":"2010-08-06T01:05:20","slug":"worldbuilding-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/2010\/08\/worldbuilding-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Worldbuilding 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please note…I’m probably still whining about pain and being miserable, and yes, possibly milking things for all they are worth-I don’t do pain well.\u00a0 In other words-I won’t be online for a few more days, so don’t be surprised if I’m not really answering Qs or commenting…sorry!<\/em><\/p>\n

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When I was at Nationals, I was doing this thing with Angela Knight<\/a> and Michelle Rowen<\/a>.\u00a0 We got to talking about our respective paranormal worlds and how things work and I mentioned that generally, I try to make things make sense from at least a basic, biologic point of view.\u00a0 By the way, Michelle mentioned this upcoming series she’s got coming out and damn-I WANT. NOW.<\/p>\n

I love talking with other writers…I love it.\u00a0\u00a0 And those who do paranormal and can talk world building?\u00a0 I think we could have talked for hours.<\/p>\n

I love talking about world building, and how we can twist conventional rules…but even when you’re twisting them, you still have to make sure your world makes sense.<\/p>\n

Even though I know<\/em> vamps aren’t real, I want to believe they could be when I’m reading, so nothing irritates me more than reading a book and having faulty world building jump out at me.<\/p>\n

I hate<\/strong> flawed worldbuilding.<\/p>\n

I mean, I can handle<\/em> the hero or the heroine doing stupid crap, especially if it’s earlier, or even midway through the book\/series and I can see the potential for growth or learning.\u00a0 Shoot, sometimes I even like<\/em> that, because why am I reading it if the people are already close to perfect?\u00a0 Where’s the chance for growth, improvement, change…I just like flawed characters.\u00a0 Flawed…<\/em>of course, not stupid.\u00a0 Difference between a character making stupid mistakes and a character being stupid.<\/p>\n

So while I can handle flawed characters, I hate it when the worldbuilding is flawed.<\/p>\n

I want my worlds to make sense.\u00a0 I’ll be honest, I’m probably a tougher customer when it comes to reading stuff than some.\u00a0 Not only do I have years of fantasy and SF reading behind me, I’m also a nurse and I want things to make sense on a basic biologic level-yeah, even though I know<\/em> this stuff isn’t real, a good writer can make think it can be.\u00a0 On the flip side, a writer who can’t create a solid world…well, she’s lost me.\u00a0 Even if the romance is interesting, even I’m curious about what’s coming next.\u00a0 If the world doesn’t hold for me…I’m gone.<\/p>\n

Even though I love paranormal romance, a lot of popular paranormal romance authors don’t<\/em> work for me, because their worlds aren’t solid.<\/p>\n