Blog Archives - Catherine Shaffer

6 Tips To Help You Create Diverse Fictional Worlds (That Actually Make Sense)

Catherine Shaffer 03/02/2020 Blog, Fictional Writing Fantasy, Fiction, Fictional

From science fiction to high fantasy there are dozens of fantastical fictional worlds to get lost in. If you’re a fiction writer, you’ve probably tackled the task of creating your own world.

Was it easy? Probably not. Creating a successful fantasy world is a long process that can be made easier with a few simple tips.

Develop some ground rules.

Although fictional worlds can be nearly as wacky as you want them to be, the best ones have some ground rules with a basis in reality. Before you delve too deep into the creation of your world, set some rules.

For example, magic exists and is widely known but always costs an unfortunate price, time travel is possible but the future and/or past cannot be changed etc.

Draw inspiration from the real world.

Some of the best inspiration comes from the world around us. So when you’re crafting your fictional world, take a look at a variety of cultures and figure out how they’re rights of passage and customs would work in the modern day.

Also, research cities, landscapes, art, and music that you can draw inspirations from.

Get creative with names and words.

The best fictional worlds come with their own creative names and language.

You don’t have to spend hours coming up with an entire alphabet and language, but if you’re going with a world that has fantastical place and character names, you might want to also come up with a few basic phrases that can be used throughout your story.

Play around with sounds and spelling, and, if needed, look up meanings of preexisting names in order to tweak them to fit your unique world.

Make a map.

The planning part of your world is the most important part. This being said, it’s never a bad idea to draw a map of your world. Focus on the distances between cities and where forests, rivers, and mountain ranges are located.

Create diverse cultures.

Most fictional worlds have more than one culture. When creating the cultures to live in your world, be sure to make each culture have multiple sides.

As an example, create a space alien race that abducts children but also enjoys jazz music or a man-eating mermaid race that also happens to be highly artistic and creative.

Decide on a person of power and currency.

All worlds -fictional or not- will need to have a governing body. Whether this be a ruling family, a king or queen, or a whole government system, your world will need a ruler and, thanks to the freedom you have as the writer, you can decide who or what rules.

Along with this, you’ll need to decide on an economy. What makes the characters in your world rich? Poor? How do they make money? Do they use money or do they use resources as currency?

4 major differences between fiction and non-fiction writing

Catherine Shaffer 23/06/2017 Blog, Fictional Writing, Writing Tips

In simple terms, fiction is something imaginary and non-fiction is something that’s true. In non-fiction writing, real people and real places are involved. On the other hand, in fiction stories, everything is from the writer’s imagination. Here are some major differences between the two types of writing.

Fiction is made up, non-fiction is fact

Fiction stories are all made up. All the characters and places come from the authors’ imagination. Non-fiction writing, on the other hand, is fact-based and informative. Fiction books are written for entertaining readers and the non-fiction books are written to give more knowledge to the readers. Examples of fictions are novels, short stories, etc. History books, autobiography, etc. are non-fictions.

Fiction is more elaborate

In fiction, the writer can go along with his or her imagination without any limit. They can elaborate on a plot or character as far as their imagination goes. In non-fiction, the writer has to be straight forward. There is no scope for any imagination. It is actually reallocation of facts.

Fiction can be interpreted in different ways

The story that is written by a fictional writer can be interpreted in various ways by the audience. But non-fiction writings are simple and direct. They can have only one interpretation.

Non-fiction writing needs references

In non-fiction writing, you may need to give references for your writing and include quotes to the story. This is needed to make your story or writing more credible. But in fiction writing, no such references are required.

These are the differences between fiction and non-fiction writing that you must remember. You should simply remember that fiction is imaginative and non-fiction is true. Fiction writing is fun to read and non-fiction writing is informative. So, next time when you read a book, you will be able to tell easily whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.

3 reasons you should read fiction books

Catherine Shaffer 23/06/2017 0 Blog, Fictional Writing

Academic reading is important to do well on your exam, but you shouldn’t overlook the importance of reading fiction books. Many parents discourage their children from reading fiction books as they think it’s waste of time. But in reality, fiction books can benefit people in many ways.

It opens up your mind

Fiction is the author’s imagination. It also opens up the readers’ mind. You will read about different characters, places, and stories. You will become more creative. You will easily be able to come up with new ideas and have different perspectives about things. Your cognitive function can improve by reading fiction books.

It makes you more compassionate

By reading fiction, people usually get swept away by the story. They start to get deeply involved with the character and they start to characterize with the main character. They go through various emotional experiences. Reading fiction will make you more compassionate.

Improves vocabulary

When you read lots of books your vocabulary improves. You will notice that your writing style has improved as well. The more you read books, the more your writing skills will improve. You will be able to express yourself better with new words.

Reading fiction develops your mind and writing skills. You will be able to perform better in your academic lessons and professional life as well. So, it is important to develop the habit of reading fictions in children. They will grow to become better performers in their lives.