Dark & Twisty

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card was a quick read for a writing book.  When I started it, I thought to myself, "why am I reading this book?  I don't write sci fi or fantasy."  I figured it out not long before finishing it.  The elements he talked about using were just as important for writing any type of fiction as it is for scifi or fantasy.

I took notice when discussing world building.  I have always thought of this just for fantasy and sci fi.  The term always seemed to mean to literally build a world.  If it was sci fi, then the planetary issues and fantasy the world of the fantastical.  The thing is any world in fiction has to be built even when it is the real world.  Certain aspects of the fictional world have to be totally understood and sold.  If the story has factors of laws that don't exist in our world, let's say that after 3 attempts of suicide the person has to be killed.  This story needs a world to be built  This world is where some law makers have decided that the time for rampant suicide attempts were over. 

Although the above is a "real" world scenario, there are not laws like that.  It has to be built so that the reader will accept it.  This is an easy example, but so much must go into it. 

As I read Card's book further, I realized that horror is a form of fantasy even when it is in the real world. Monsters aren't real, but writer's bind them with their own laws and rules.  Maybe the monster can come out in the day light but not at night.  Maybe it eats only little children.  Maybe it's afraid of Chuck Norris and all images of him.  This is all world building.

The most important thing from Card's book is the MICE algorythm.  This helps the writer determine what type of story they are writing.  M (milleu) I (Idea) C (character) and E (I don't remember, but I've go tthe book at home) [I do a lot of blog writing from work].  This is helpful because when writing and a plot is waffling looking at the MICE will help determine where the story should go or if it needs revamping or not from a different perspective.

I enjoyed this book on writing.  The most important thing it provided was setting me to thinking about the art of writing and how to get plot and things straightened out.  The book is rather old now.  It's pushing 20 years, but I've read them much older like Elements of Style  or On Writing Well by Zensser.  The book still holds true.