Research for Fantasy?

LeighGarvey · Jul 12, 2009

I am working on a fantasy novel at the moment and I'm having some trouble describing things.

For example, My MC Daemyan is on a ship, in my head I'm envisioning a Tudor ship, but because his world is so removed from what we consider "normal" I dont know how to describe it! lol

Any suggestions on how you can word things that exist in the "real world" without taking away from the allure of the world you're building?

kings_falcon · Jul 12, 2009

descriptions in a fantasy world

Not everything in a fantasy world has to be fantastic. Horses, generally speaking, look like our horses. The shape of a ship is going to be a fairly normal item. So you can take a basic Tutor design and either leave it unchanged or add some cultural embellishments. These can be the differences between sail placements, size and color to whether a dragon, schmee or a woman is the figurehead. Slight differences may serve you better than a radical redesign.

LeighGarvey · Jul 12, 2009

Hmm, thats a good idea

Thanks!

Libbie · Jul 12, 2009

Does the reader really need to know what the ship looks like, though? Will it change how they understand the story? If not, then don't worry too much about describing it. It's a ship. Possibly it has a mast or two and some sails, or maybe it's powered by rowing slaves. Whatever. We probably don't need to know what it looks like right down to every plank and barrel in the cargo hold.

LeighGarvey · Jul 12, 2009

Oh i hate over describing lol... i wouldn't be that minute with my details... I just feel redundant using the word ship.. and my synonym finder sucks lol

Libbie · Jul 12, 2009

Why does "finder" suck? It gives the impression of the ship quite well, I think. I picture a ship that is lean and fast, that's used to track down rogue ships on the sea. With just one word it filled in the purpose and the appearance of the ship in my brain. I like it.

LeighGarvey · Jul 12, 2009

lol oh I meant my thesaurus... I just have trouble pronouncing the word thesaurus..... but I never thought of using the word Finder as a ship...

2Wheels · Jul 12, 2009

You can use other ways to describe the ship:
"The sharp crack of a sail flap", "the white sail cloth billowing", "the spray of water from the bow as the ship picked up speed - gaining ground on her prey", "the endless creak of timber protesting every rise and fall of the ship", "seamen scaling the rope ladders up the three masts like spiders up their webs". That kind of stuff. Gives the reader all they need to know.

BigWords · Jul 12, 2009

Water-slicer; Floater

)); Buoyan; Cutter; Wind-catcher...

You don't have to think too hard to come up with a useable word, just make sure that it sounds like something the characters would say. If you use a complex language for the rest of the dialogue then it would be given a complex name. If you are going with informal usage of English, then the words should be rougher and more everyday.

K_Woods · Jul 12, 2009

Different real-world ships have different properties. This is an extreme example, but consider the difference between a canoe, a pontoon boat, and a galleon. You might want to check out a book or two on the topic. Don't trust the thesaurus.

Be very, very wary of trying to gussy-up real world objects with fantastical dressing (unless they really are different, in which case it's not a real world object anyway). There's a term for that: calling a rabbit a smeerp. People don't like smeerps.

Well, maybe if they're roasted over an open fire with lemon pepper and chives.

Research for Fantasy?

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