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Working with different age spans?



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Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:19 am
Serenity612 says...



I'm a starting out writer and well I never have written a fantasy novel. And I'm having trouble working with age spans. I know I'm making it harder for myself by making a different age span compared to the humans in the novel but it seems necessary because in my novel one of the races I work with is Elementals and it seems right that they live longer. In my novel, 1 human year is 1000 elemental years. And they come of age to marry and what not at 13,000 or 13. My problem is how do I explain the aging in my novel without just having my MC randomly say that? Or is that what I'm going to have to do?
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Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:41 pm
Kale says...



You can mention that Elementals are long-lived and give hints throughout the story at how big the difference in lifespans is. Another alternative would be to have a character ask someone just how long Elementals live for.

If you do go with the latter, just be sure that it makes sense for the asking character to be asking. For instance, if the difference in age spans is common knowledge, it wouldn't make sense for an older character to ask the question. A child, on the other hand, might ask anyway just to see if it's really true, or if the adults were just pulling their leg.
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Wed May 02, 2012 3:55 am
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JabberHut says...



Kyllorac gives sound advice!

The dialogue method is a personal preference of mine in some of these cases. However, I'd consider if this fact is absolutely necessary for the story itself anyway. It may be sufficient to mention the Elementals have "lived for centuries" and still have an effective race for the plot at hand without ever having to rope in the mathematics behind it. If you have an Elemental team up with a human male, ages may not matter.

But yeah! There are methods to spill the beans, so to speak, without actually info-dumping. Tying it in to a conversation is an awesome technique as long as it makes sense with the characters involved in the discussion. For instance, if the Elemental fell in love with the human male, age always seems to be a concern in relationships, wouldn't you agree? ;) So it wouldn't be too difficult to have those two hold a personal conversation and slip in that piece of information.

I like Kyllorac's child idea, though. Innocence is truly advantageous in many ways! I need to keep that one in mind for future reference.
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Thu May 03, 2012 3:23 am
Serenity612 says...



Yeah. You two give some good advice (thanks by the way!). No matter how I've tried to write the narrator explaining it it just turns into a huge info dump. I guess I'll just stick to what you guys said and either don't mention it at all or weave it in with a younger character. :smt001
The Mark Of The Ancients Series
Book 1: A Brother's Promise In Progess
Book 2: An Undying Brotherhood In Planning
Book 3: The New Life In Planning
  





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Wed May 09, 2012 4:35 pm
Tenyo says...



Oh wow... XD

I think the difficult thing about this is that age and maturity are not directly correlated. A person who lives for one thousand years would probably still hit their years of teenage rebellion early on because our physical and mental growth is different.

Also, it's great playing with age spans but if it 'just seems right' then think on it a little more. Why do they live so long? Are you aware of the implications of living for so long? Most humans who live past ninety say they're ready to die because they're bored of the world. At the same time there are people who get to the age of twenty or thirty and wish they were old enough to die because they're tired of all the bad stuff. What kind of effect would that have on a thousand year scale?

Are these people like humans, who have the ability to think fast and live long lives, or are they more like turtles who do everything slowly? Or like some fish that live long lives but don't get bored because they remember very little from day to day? Do they learn as slowly as they age? If not, then you're going to have some pretty smart (and frustrated) two year olds on your hands, and if so, you may need to repeat things to them a few times before they get it.

This isn't to say you shouldn't pursue this idea, just think on it a lot. Ask lots of questions about the mental and physical effects of aging and death in regards to these characters and their culture.

Consider the effects that this would have on their personalities and actions to exist in the world for so long under whatever mentallity you choose, and then add that into the story. You don't need to specifically explain the age issue, just let the theme and background seep through.
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Mon May 14, 2012 4:58 am
Serenity612 says...



Oh wow, good point on that one. I suppose I didn't think about that.
The Mark Of The Ancients Series
Book 1: A Brother's Promise In Progess
Book 2: An Undying Brotherhood In Planning
Book 3: The New Life In Planning
  








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