My characters spend a lot of time underwater. Do I need to get the physics right?

The Second Moon

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In my Upper MG novel, my MC and his team spend a lot of time (I'm assuming, I'm only on the 1st chapter) underwater. They used a special tool to give themselves gills and make their eyes able to see well underwater.

But what I was wondering was if I have to get physics right. Like making them "swim" instead of moving like they were on land ("run", "walk, etc.) Right now the physics work like they were on land. The objects also move like they were on land, but that's because they were manufactured by a culture that lives underwater.

Some examples of my underwater physics are:

Billie jogged to the limo.
( Can I use jogged or should I say swam?)

Something crinkled under Kora’s rear and she stood, revealing an empty bag of kelp-flavored chips. She winced and brushed the bag to the floor.

Maybe the special tool that I mentioned before could make their bodies better for moving underwater like making their bones like shark or fish bones?

I don't mean any offense to Upper MG readers ( they're bright and clever), but would they even notice if the physics were wrong. I wouldn't and I'm an adult, but that's just me.

BTW the book is more SF than fantasy, but I'm not 100% sure about what sub-genre it is (just saying that in case it helps any)

Thanks for reading this. I really will appreciate any feedback.
 

Lakey

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Why set it in an unusual environment only to ignore what makes that environment special and interesting? Pretending that underwater is just like down the street — or stipulating a magic/tech that makes underwater just like down the street — does your story and your readers a disservice, I think. You’re introducing this potentially fascinating and challenging element and then just handwaving it away. Why do this? Your readers will only feel cheated (and yes, MG readers know that being underwater isn’t just the same as being on land, and will think it’s dumb for your story to pretend it is). Consider instead using the underwater environment to make your story more engaging to the imagination, and to create conflicts that are particular to the setting.

There is a superb episode of Bojack Horseman that takes place entirely underwater. It’s a cartoon, and so it can play fast and loose with physics — and it does. A lot of what happens in the episode, and indeed a lot about the underwater society it depicts, doesn’t make sense from a physics perspective. But there are certain limitations that play beautifully into the plot of the episode. Bojack has to wear a helmet, and he can’t speak to anyone underwater — this is a huge source of frustration for Bojack because snarky remarks are his main interface with the world around him. He wants to deliver a note, but the water causes the ink to run out of the paper. There are other water-specific issues but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Still you might check out the episode for ideas. It’s called “Fish out of Water” and you can find it on Netflix.

:e2coffee:
 

Bufty

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Hi, The Second Moon,

It's a matter of believability, credibility, and logic- and Upper Middle Grade readers will spot these types of flaws in a flash. They will imagine themselves in the relative situations and if there's a logic or credibility error, immediately react - "Hey, wait a minute. They can't do that."

Make sure the reader knows they 'can'.

In my Upper MG novel, my MC and his team spend a lot of time (I'm assuming, I'm only on the 1st chapter) underwater. They used a special tool to give themselves gills and make their eyes able to see well underwater.

But what I was wondering was if I have to get physics right. Like making them "swim" instead of moving like they were on land ("run", "walk, etc.) Right now the physics work like they were on land. The objects also move like they were on land, but that's because they were manufactured by a culture that lives underwater.

Some examples of my underwater physics are:

( Can I use jogged or should I say swam?)



Maybe the special tool that I mentioned before could make their bodies better for moving underwater like making their bones like shark or fish bones?

I don't mean any offense to Upper MG readers ( they're bright and clever), but would they even notice if the physics were wrong. I wouldn't and I'm an adult, but that's just me.

BTW the book is more SF than fantasy, but I'm not 100% sure about what sub-genre it is (just saying that in case it helps any)

Thanks for reading this. I really will appreciate any feedback.
 
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The Second Moon

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Thank you, you two. I guess just don't know much about being underwater so I thought it would be easier to make the physics seem like they were on land.
 

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Thirding that you need to get it at least roughly right. You can handwave some of it with "magic" or "macguffin device", but things are still going to move differently, sound differently, behave differently. Remind the reader of that occasionally. Remind them that it's fish passing overhead and not a flock of birds, that it's coral and kelp instead of fir trees, that dropped items tend to drift down instead of plummet downwards. Sure, you can "poofwhatever" yourself to walk around like you're in the city park* - but swimming is probably going to be faster and more efficient, which is why more things swim in water than walk. (Unless you make it some sort of taboo in your underwater civilization, like pogo-sticking down First Avenue: yeah, it gets you where you're going ahead of the crawling crowds, but it's incredibly rude.)

Why bother with an exotic location if you're just going to turn it into bland normality, anyway?

(* - it's not the bones that make for an underwater animal - and even if it were, sharks don't walk; the swim bladder has a lot to do with where and how fish float. You might take a quick look at the anatomy of underwater animals and study some scuba diving and submersible tech, see what you have to work with. I guarantee you'll find more story opportunities and ideas by drawing off reality than you will in just pretending that being underwater is like being on dry land with a little more humidity.)
 

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Swim, splash, dive, float, hot, cold, sink, slide, glide, submerge, wane, waddle, paddle, plunk, spray, mist, soak, soppy, stroke, wade, gargle, bubble, bathe, wet? I would suggest submerging yourself with words that are associated with water. I would think that's the fun part.

And this is just some of them.
 

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And, being underwater would change the way people behave - in water, small movements can move people around, so, maybe it's the custom to hold onto a person you're talking to? By the arm, unless it's someone you know well, then you might hold them by the hand, or around the waist or belt, but a bunch of people, meeting on a corner somewhere, would be all connected to each other. And tethers for small children would be standard.

As to swim/walk - people would swim any distance more than a couple of steps, but for really short distance, one big bouncy step would do it, no need to level off and swim. Even walking would look different - big bouncy steps, hands and arms as stabilizers. And, way less control, you'd have to work to maintain your position, or angle of travel.

It sounds fascinating, and why would you ignore all that, in favour of an exotic setting that is, sadly, just like the here-and-now?
 

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I suppose it depends on the type of story you want to tell. An underwater world where no one swims and ignores things like resistance and so on works just fine for cartoonish settings like Sponge Bob Square Pants. If it's meant simply to be whimsical or fun, then such an approach may be fine.

If an aspect of the story is actually exploring what it feels like to live underwater, and if the story is supposed to have a realistic feel to it, then some attention to the physics of the situation are probably in order. This doesn't mean you have to "remind" the reader that your characters are swimming and dealing with the physics of moving underwater every sentence. As your characters adapt to their situation, they will come to take much of it for granted. Occasional references to the unique properties of being underwater, as they affect the story, will probably suffice.
 

Azdaphel

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Being under water is similar to being in a zero gravity environment (astronauts train under water). The difference is you have water around you that slows everything.
 

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If the story takes place underwater, the writing should indicate it takes place underwater. It's up to you how much you want to bend the rules, but readers will certainly notice if you break them.

Also, the "physics" of being underwater encompass much more than floating and swimming. How deep are they? How much light penetrates to that depth? Is it cold, or are there thermal vents nearby? Are certain precautions necessary due to the pressure? Do they avoid swimming near the ocean floor because they don't want to kick silt into their gills, or are they constantly swimming through swirling muck? Are there underwater currents, or is this a tame body of water? What precautions do they take against getting a nosebleed that will draw the attention of a shark from a mile away (if there are sharks)?

If you want the environment to feel authentic, these are just a fraction of things you could consider adding. And I don't mean listing them in one info-dump paragraph and then returning to using words like "standing" and walking; I mean incorporating them into the characters' typical actions. Overcoming these challenges could help you build an incredibly compelling environment.
 

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Think this way. If your character is underwater & you say she stood, then what did she stand on? Is she on the ocean floor? Or did she just move so her head was closer to the surface & her feet closer to the bottom? When you’re in a pool that’s deeper than you are tall, do you stand?
 

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When I review underwater fiction, this is one of the things I'm looking for and will criticise. The average child will know you can't put crisps in water without them being soggy and that people swim rather than walk.

If you feel you really know nothing about being underwater and don't feel comfortable writing it, you might be able to switch this to some other environment. They could live in a isolated cave system and everything would work as it would on the surface, but you'd get the sense of mystery from the place and they could still do stuff to their eyes to see in the dark.
 
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Dan Rhys

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I think if you emphasize the slowness of underwater activity more than anything, you should be fine in getting the impression across to your readers.
 

UrbanAmazon

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One of the things I remember from my time with MG books, especially with SF ones, is reading an interesting fact that I can later research on my own (this translated into quite a bit of focus on military history and dinosaurs, but that's a digression for another comment). It's not necessarily a question of noticing whether physics are wrong... but what physics they might find cool and draw them more into the story.

Adding to BillL and Polenth's comments... one of the things I found most interesting about my first open-water SCUBA dive was how colour is impacted by how deep you go under the water. Certain wavelengths of light start to get filtered out at about 20 feet below the surface, so colours like red, then orange, then yellow begin to fade away to the naked eye. It's a minor physics factoid that you don't necessarily need to spend a lot of time on (very easy to research without having to go as far as SCUBA certification), but a brief mention can help make the environment more three-dimensional and encourages brightness and cleverness.