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Creating a group of people in your (fantasy) worlds



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Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:58 pm
AWritersFantasy says...



By group, I mean...take a group like the Elders on Charmed. The Elders are the leaders of the White Lighters, who are guardian angel types for witches and/or future White Lighters. In a way, they have their own society. They have their own set of rules that White Lighters are meant to follow, their own magic abilities...

So if you were going to create a society of sorts similar to the Elders, what things would you consider? What questions would you ask yourself? I'm basically looking for example questions so that I can answer them myself for my own purposes. I've thought of a few, but I'm not very good at trying to create societies like this. I guess what I'm looking for is questions like the ones at http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding4.htm.
  





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Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:01 pm
McMourning says...



Hello!
Thanks for the link!
At the bottom of that page is a "Next" button, which leads to general questions. These will be useful for anyone, not just fantasy authors.
"One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices, " Captain Kathryn Janeway
  





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Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:10 pm
AWritersFantasy says...



Yeah, I know- I was just hoping to use that page as more of a secondary source when creating the society I'm hoping to create. I'm not 100% sure if half of the questions they ask are really ones I'm going to know how to answer/are really going to apply to the "society" (specifically my idea with the Watchers) I'm going to be creating in the story.

Oh, and you're welcome. ^_^
  





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Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:12 pm
McMourning says...



Of course, your Watchers may not relate to the questions. But, I was just putting it out there for other writers.
"One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices, " Captain Kathryn Janeway
  





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Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:39 am
Snoink says...



1. What environment do they live in?

If they live somewhere unique, they're bound to have unique characteristics that separate them from the fantasy stuff.

2. What is their religion?

Religions DO count. Think about what they believe in. How do these use their powers to help their spiritual development? As humans, we generally want to make ourselves feel good, and spirituality is a way to do this.

3. What are they made out of?

Are they exclusively one sex, race, religion? Or a mixture? Maybe their politics are the same. Find out how these people are connected.

4. How do they treat the outsiders?

So basically, who is the outsiders and what do they do about those? Do they ignore them, accept them, kill them?

Yeah. So basically, I like to ask these questions to give these groups more character. It's easy just to stick with a cliche, and it looks like you're trying to avoid that, which is a lovely thing. Just take a deep breath and try to distinguish what makes them unique.
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  








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