T. S. Eliot once wrote, "The naming of cats is a difficult matter. It isn't just one of your holiday games."
World building, especially in fantasy and s-f, can be like that. Unless you're a linguist like J.R.R. Tolkien (who knew and studied a number of Nordic and Germanic languages in his academic life), coming with names that sound like they belong together without have a whole made-up language to work with can be a big job.
I have been trying to keep the made-up names for my fantasy world kind of organized without going to the effort of making up whole languages. I am kind of going for a Hellenic sound for some, but others have gone more Germanic or English.
The name of the town in Night of the Wind, for instance, began as "Eversham", aiming for a rural English feel. Except I then named the fictitious city in my real world fiction "Eversham" as well and decided it fit better there. So I needed a new name. Having "gor" and "gar" as city name ending already, I decided that must mean "community" in the Tymuri languages (Tymur is the Northern continent of my world, kind of a mash-up of Europe and North America geographically). Madrygor has long been a major city in my imagined world, for instance. So, I came up with Avenigar. Does that mean something? Probably. Nethandra knows what though.
And I have no idea how or when I came up with the name Nethandra. It is the name of both the chief deity, a mother goddess, and the world in these stories. It has been in my head for so long, I really don't know the origins anymore. However, I have wrestled since with naming other deities, originally thinking they should all end in "dra" or similar. And I am still thinking that her consort, the sun god, will have a name along those lines though I haven't named him in a story yet. But I strayed for other deities I have used in stories, such as Denytha (the moon goddess and the patron of magic) and Talala (the "Dancing Goddess", patron of the arts and the city of Tantovar) so that convention is out the window now.
I could go on. I am even no longer entirely happy with the name of my protagonist, "Dev Jackalbury". It was was conceived when I had Avenigar as "Eversham" and meant to sound vaguely, but not quite, English. Does not quite fit that anymore, though, but I will live with it and sort it out sometime. He's not from Avenigar anyhow, but grew up further North, which I haven't really detailed beyond it being a rough, rugged region where a lot of their mineral resources are mined.
Enough for now. Any thoughts on naming things and using "made-up" words and languages? Ideas on how to keep the words feeling "real" without making up an entire language?
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Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
My absolute favourite is Oh Holy Night.
One of my favorites, too. Ever heard this version before? I just came across it a couple days ago.
Love hearing Floor in her full classically trained glory.
Apparently Raskata Joulua means "Heavy Christmas" and it's an annual thing in Finland featuring Finnish music stars from bands like Nightwish. Marko Hietala seems to appear in it a lot, too.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
I generally tweet my own stories. That is why my views are so high, especially for The Long Road Home series.
Yeah, I tweet my own stuff and share it on Wondercafe2, the board I run. Just never thought to share favorite stories by other folks before, but it's good promo for them and for the site. Folks who are on Facebook could do the same.
Crazy old ape
Putting the kettle on for tea. Anyone else need hot water?
Finally got around to reading A Runner. Magnificent. First time I've tweeted a Stories Space story that wasn't mine, though that's something I plan to do more of. Good way to promote the site (hint hint). Thanks for the recommendations, folks.
I'm off for the holiday period so have some ideas around doing some writing. We shall see what comes of it.
Finally got around to reading A Runner. Magnificent. First time I've tweeted a Stories Space story that wasn't mine, though that's something I plan to do more of. Good way to promote the site (hint hint). Thanks for the recommendations, folks.
I'm off for the holiday period so have some ideas around doing some writing. We shall see what comes of it.
Crazy old ape
Quote by gypsy
And then there are [url=http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePPMrX4YtkM]Pablo Casals 1930s recordings[/url] of it.
I am pretty sure that the first performance of the suites I heard was by the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Ma came later.
Crazy old ape
Church choir leaders these days are not generally expected to also be composers, but in Bach's day, being kapellmeister or similar at a major church often required you to write the music. So, Bach wrote lots of cantatas and other choral music. Here's vocal group Voces8 and the Academy of Ancient Music, conducted by Voces8 artistic director and countertenor Barnaby Smith, with one of Bach's many cantatas.
Crazy old ape
And there's no composer for the organ quite like Bach, who was an organist himself. My father was huge organ fan, even chairing the committee to buy our family church's new organ, and I either inherited or picked that up.
The Fugue in Gm is one of the most famous Bach organ works.
The Fugue in Gm is one of the most famous Bach organ works.
Crazy old ape
I am generally quite fond of Bach, probably my favorite Baroque composer. If I have to pick a favorite Bach, it would probably be the Unaccompanied Suites for Cello (there's six of them). In the hands of a master like Yo-Yo Ma, they are incredible. The Brandenbergs are good, too, but hearing the cello as a solo instrument (vs. in, or backed by, an orchestra) is fairly rare these days.
Here's Ma with the Prelude from the first suite.
Here's Ma with the Prelude from the first suite.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
My other dream would be to attend the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day concert but that is, in reality, highly unlikely to happen.
My wife has been to the Musikverein but I have not been to Austria yet myself. Sadly, I wasn't able to go on her trips to that part of Europe (for academic conferences) but maybe someday. I think she's hit all the major cities in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire; Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Bratislava. Maybe Salzburg, too.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
Would that have been Elvenjig and Elvenpath, Live from Bogota 2018, by any chance? I agree, absolutely stunning. I think Nightwish have taken metal to a different level.
Bingo! That's the one. I don't do concerts much but I would love to see Nightwish live someday. Their live videos are terrific. Probably need a hearing aid for a few days afterwards though. They strike me as a "turn it to 11" band.
Crazy old ape
Quote by DenimAngel
H
Caught a nasty bug... Doc called it a gastrical viral infection. It is miserable. Should run its course in 3 to 10 days.. Not contagious at the moment the symptoms were present Couple of days ago so I'm past the contagious phase so that is a good thing. Lots of rest and to stay hydrated is the doctor's orders.
Yuck. I hate those. Remember being sick Easter weekend once with norovirus or similar. Nasty stuff. Take care and get well.
At least you were still able to bring cookies.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
Then there is the trio that make up Auri. Tuomas, his wife Johanna (who has the most exquisite singing voice) and Troy Donockley. They are more folk orientated. Absolutely recommend them.
This one intrigues me. Tuomas and Troy are excellent musicians. I was watching a Nightwish piece from a live performance (Elf-something) that opened with an instrumental featuring Troy on pipes. Wonderful performance.
Crazy old ape
Symphonic metal, art rock, prog rock, exist in a bit of weird space where popular styles mix with classical skills and composition. I love all of them, probably for that very reason.
And, yes, I've listened to The Greatest Show on Earth. Incredible piece of music. Nightwish are really something else. I've listened to some other symphonic metal since getting into them but they seem to be the cream of the crop in that genre.
And, yes, I've listened to The Greatest Show on Earth. Incredible piece of music. Nightwish are really something else. I've listened to some other symphonic metal since getting into them but they seem to be the cream of the crop in that genre.
Crazy old ape
My favorite composer of music from pretty much any style or period of music is Ludwig van Beethoven, born 250 years ago this week (either yesterday or today depending on source). He marks the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic, and you can see that in his music. Many of his compositions are "cultural knowledge" in Western culture, and even other cultures, popping up in soundtracks, ads, and even being adapted for other styles of music (I can think of two pop songs right off the top of my head based on the Adagio from the Pathetique piano sonata).
Anyone else fond of classical (meaning anything from the Baroque to Romantic periods, including the Classical period, and even modern orchestral and choral music if you like) music? Got a favorite composer, period, style, or whatever of classical music?
Anyone else fond of classical (meaning anything from the Baroque to Romantic periods, including the Classical period, and even modern orchestral and choral music if you like) music? Got a favorite composer, period, style, or whatever of classical music?
), Crazy old ape
I'm off for the holidays starting next Monday so might get some writing done. not sure what as of yet. I have some work done on a story in the universe of Night of the Wind. I have been tossing around ideas for the literary challenge. And there's always the chance that some new idea will spawn in my brain.
Hope Sara is keeping warm. We actually turn our thermostat down and use a space heater to just heat the home office during the day. Keeps the heating bills down in our frigid Canadian winter.
Good luck with the tooth, Larry. I have a gap myself but that was a battle that went on for like a decade. Was going to get an implant done but backed off when COVID resurged here. Maybe next year if things quiet down and/or I get vaccinated (looks like we are going to lag behind the US though).
Hope Sara is keeping warm. We actually turn our thermostat down and use a space heater to just heat the home office during the day. Keeps the heating bills down in our frigid Canadian winter.
Good luck with the tooth, Larry. I have a gap myself but that was a battle that went on for like a decade. Was going to get an implant done but backed off when COVID resurged here. Maybe next year if things quiet down and/or I get vaccinated (looks like we are going to lag behind the US though).
Crazy old ape
The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore. While it was written by an American in 1933 (and uses that as part of its framing device), this classic novel is set in France in the mid-late nineteenth century and doesn't do a half bad job of feeling like it belongs to that time. There's definitely some Victor Hugo DNA in it. While the title character definitely places this as a horror novel, much of it is historical melodrama with events like the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the Paris Commune playing roles in the story. And, while the werewolf is certainly the focus of the horror, the humans are often as bad or worse. I mean, the werewolf is conceived when a Catholic priest rapes a fourteen-year-old serving girl sent by her mistress to get some holy water. How much lower can you go than that? Interestingly, lust is as powerful a force as violent hunger in this werewolf story, and it is really about humans, werewolf and ordinary alike, being overtaken by their animal nature. Even the scholarly Frenchman whose writings provide the American narrator with his material gives in to uncontrolled, and somewhat violent, lust for the werewolf's mother (while she is pregnant, no less). Not as famous as other seminal horror works like Frankenstein or Dracula (there is only one direct film adaptation and even it changed the story and setting), but it certainly helped establish and popularize some of the tropes of the modern werewolf novel.
Unfortunately, while the novel dates to 1933, Endore died in 1970 so it is still in copyright in countries that are life+70, else I might have some ideas for using it for the literary challenge.
Unfortunately, while the novel dates to 1933, Endore died in 1970 so it is still in copyright in countries that are life+70, else I might have some ideas for using it for the literary challenge.
Crazy old ape
Good evening, all. Getting too late for caffeine so an herbal tea will do. Lemon ginger is my usual.
Happy birthday to Xander! I'd gift wrap Jane Lynch for you but kidnapping is still a crime last I checked and, in any case, I doubt I'd be able to convince the border folks that it's essential enough to let me cross.
Happy birthday to Xander! I'd gift wrap Jane Lynch for you but kidnapping is still a crime last I checked and, in any case, I doubt I'd be able to convince the border folks that it's essential enough to let me cross.
Crazy old ape
So Crazy Elon's Rocket Emporium and Snack Shack got it off the ground. And the landing went sort of well, except for the explosion at the end. Haven't watched the final analysis from my favorite rocketry geek yet (Scott Manley, look him up Youtube) but it looks like they had only one engine working for the landing so it didn't slow down fast enough.
I am currently reading Guy Endore's The Werewolf of Paris, one of the few early horror classics that I have not read yet. So far, it is more of mid-nineteenth century melodrama, though there are hints of darker, stranger things coming. A feud ending in a massacre and then both sides having their property seized by a creditor (the same creditor for both
), a rapacious priest (from one of the feuding families), a strange baby born on Christmas Day (to a teenager seduced by the priest) and other such fun stuff. Oddly, though, no werewolves yet though both priest and baby have telltale signs of being one (bushy eyebrows, hairy palms). Might inspire me since it is definitely PD.
I am currently reading Guy Endore's The Werewolf of Paris, one of the few early horror classics that I have not read yet. So far, it is more of mid-nineteenth century melodrama, though there are hints of darker, stranger things coming. A feud ending in a massacre and then both sides having their property seized by a creditor (the same creditor for both
), a rapacious priest (from one of the feuding families), a strange baby born on Christmas Day (to a teenager seduced by the priest) and other such fun stuff. Oddly, though, no werewolves yet though both priest and baby have telltale signs of being one (bushy eyebrows, hairy palms). Might inspire me since it is definitely PD. Crazy old ape
Quote by Mendalla
Waiting to see if Elon Musk's latest toy, Starship SN8, is actually going to fly. Supposed to launch today but still sitting peacefully on the pad right now.
LOL. Automatic engine abort at T-1 second. The main engines didn't light. Poor Elon. He even had a NASA research plane in the area to monitor the flight. Oh well, another day, another Starship prototype.
Morning tea is Tea Haus Breakfast blend.
Crazy old ape
Quote by DenimAngel
It's been a quiet day here working onScamp's Christmas Adventure
Scamp and Christmas seems like good combo. Looking forward to it, Sara.Waiting to see if Elon Musk's latest toy, Starship SN8, is actually going to fly. Supposed to launch today but still sitting peacefully on the pad right now.
Crazy old ape
The link to the aforementioned post by gypsy.
https://forum.storiesspace.com/yaf_postst8149_Literary-Inspiration-Challenge.aspx
https://forum.storiesspace.com/yaf_postst8149_Literary-Inspiration-Challenge.aspx
Crazy old ape
Quote by gypsy
Carnacki the Ghost Finder is indeed available in PD at Gutenberg Project.
Thanks, gypsy. I actually have old Panther paperbacks of most of Hodgson's output (for some reason, I never found a copy of Boats of the Glen Carrig) including Carnacki. Was just asking to make sure I can use him.
I have always wanted to do a Carnacki story and I know some modern writers have done so (I think there's even a tribute anthology of modern writers doing Carnacki stories).Right now, though, I am kind of meditating on what could be done with Le Fanu's Carmilla. Best vampire story after Dracula (and a major influence on that novel), IMHO.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Yesterday was tough on those of us who are fans of US college football. Best I can tell, none of our teams won.
Well, someone's team had to win so some fans somewhere must be happy.
Winter continues here, as it likely will until March or April. Rump, the Southwest is looking more inviting all the time, let me tell ya'. Managed to avoid shovelling again but that won't last forever.
Kind of jumping from idea to idea writing-wise at the moment. Can't really seem to keep a focus on anything. Kicking around ideas for the literary challenge now as well as working on a new story that is kind of, sort of, a prequel to Night of the Wind (basically some backstory for one of the protagonists). And there's other stuff, too.
Crazy old ape
Hi, Xander! Hi, Larry!
I am missing a tooth right now myself. Had it removed in August. There's a long story but it finally had to go. Was going to get an implant done before Christmas but with the COVID surge around here, decided to wait until things quiet down.
I really need to give Weakest Link a view sometime, I guess. Had kind of forgotten it existed until Xander started talking about it. Didn't even know Jane Lynch was now the host for the US version. No one has tried mounting a Canadian version, yet.
Snowing here again but what else is new. It's December in Ontario. Drinking a nice lemon tea (Tea Haus Lemon Grove) as I work.
I am missing a tooth right now myself. Had it removed in August. There's a long story but it finally had to go. Was going to get an implant done before Christmas but with the COVID surge around here, decided to wait until things quiet down.
I really need to give Weakest Link a view sometime, I guess. Had kind of forgotten it existed until Xander started talking about it. Didn't even know Jane Lynch was now the host for the US version. No one has tried mounting a Canadian version, yet.
Snowing here again but what else is new. It's December in Ontario. Drinking a nice lemon tea (Tea Haus Lemon Grove) as I work.
Crazy old ape
I also had worked on a "horror universe" in the vein of The Cthulhu Mythos at one point, too, but kind of let it slide. Still it could come up here.
The Cthulhu Mythos is an interesting example of worldbuilding, though. H. P. Lovecraft did not set out with a definitely plan. He just wanted to have a sense of something bigger behind his stories so started dropping names and odd references to fictitious books and places. The locations, like Arkham and Innsmouth, were mostly drawn from his life. Arkham is mostly Providence and Salem, for instance. The names were sometimes made up (e.g. Cthulhu, Shub-Niggurath), sometimes borrowed from older works (e.g. Hastur). Most importantly, though, he left it as an open-ended shared universe. Friends and fellow writers like Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Henry Kuttner, and Robert Bloch used Lovecraft's elements in their stories and Lovecraft in turn borrowed elements that they added for his stories. In one memorable exchange, Lovecraft gave Bloch permission to kill him off in one of his stories (Bloch's first published story, IIRC) and then killed Bloch, under the alias Robert Blake, off in The Haunter of the Dark. Bloch wrote a further followup but IIRC, it did not come out until after Lovecraft's death put an end to the game. Basically, it was ad hoc worldbuilding and each writer kind of had their own take on it.
And so it continued, with various writers like August Derleth, Lin Carter, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, and even Stephen King borrowing from and adding to the Mythos. Derleth did try to codify it for a time, but that just made it less interesting and later writers tried to move away from Derleth's ideas.
Of course, it is pretty much the opposite of the worldbuilding in fantasy, which is often quite rigorous and carefully developed. Look at all the publications the Tolkien estate has got out of just compiling all J. R. R.'s notes and unused bits regarding Middle Earth. And George Martin has clearly put in a fair bit of time on A Song of Ice and Fire.
The Cthulhu Mythos is an interesting example of worldbuilding, though. H. P. Lovecraft did not set out with a definitely plan. He just wanted to have a sense of something bigger behind his stories so started dropping names and odd references to fictitious books and places. The locations, like Arkham and Innsmouth, were mostly drawn from his life. Arkham is mostly Providence and Salem, for instance. The names were sometimes made up (e.g. Cthulhu, Shub-Niggurath), sometimes borrowed from older works (e.g. Hastur). Most importantly, though, he left it as an open-ended shared universe. Friends and fellow writers like Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Henry Kuttner, and Robert Bloch used Lovecraft's elements in their stories and Lovecraft in turn borrowed elements that they added for his stories. In one memorable exchange, Lovecraft gave Bloch permission to kill him off in one of his stories (Bloch's first published story, IIRC) and then killed Bloch, under the alias Robert Blake, off in The Haunter of the Dark. Bloch wrote a further followup but IIRC, it did not come out until after Lovecraft's death put an end to the game. Basically, it was ad hoc worldbuilding and each writer kind of had their own take on it.
And so it continued, with various writers like August Derleth, Lin Carter, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, and even Stephen King borrowing from and adding to the Mythos. Derleth did try to codify it for a time, but that just made it less interesting and later writers tried to move away from Derleth's ideas.
Of course, it is pretty much the opposite of the worldbuilding in fantasy, which is often quite rigorous and carefully developed. Look at all the publications the Tolkien estate has got out of just compiling all J. R. R.'s notes and unused bits regarding Middle Earth. And George Martin has clearly put in a fair bit of time on A Song of Ice and Fire.
Crazy old ape
World building is something we all do as writers.
For s-f and fantasy writers, it is part of our bread and butter. Creating imaginary worlds is a staple of the genre and the best fantasy and s-f often relies as much on successful world-building as plot development and characterization. Sometimes, the world is even more interesting than the story.
But even writers of "realistic" fiction like historical romance or contemporary thrillers build their world to some degree. They may research history or geography or culture extensively, but they do it with a view to creating a setting and context for their characters and stories. Liberties may be taken and hard decisions made about what to keep and what to change in order to suit the story.
Since I am primarily a fantasy writer on here and have been working on a world for some time (before I joined SS, in fact), I thought I would kick off this thread to discuss worldbuilding as part of the writer's craft. I will talk about my own work, but invite everyone to chime in with their thoughts and what they have done with regards to "building worlds".
First up, to set some context, the Stories Space stories that fit into my fantasy world (to date):
The Night of the Wind
The Goddess Dances
The former is an actual adventure set in that world with characters I have plans to come back to. The latter is basically one of the world's myths, and I will likely reference Talala and Tantovar in future stories.
For s-f and fantasy writers, it is part of our bread and butter. Creating imaginary worlds is a staple of the genre and the best fantasy and s-f often relies as much on successful world-building as plot development and characterization. Sometimes, the world is even more interesting than the story.
But even writers of "realistic" fiction like historical romance or contemporary thrillers build their world to some degree. They may research history or geography or culture extensively, but they do it with a view to creating a setting and context for their characters and stories. Liberties may be taken and hard decisions made about what to keep and what to change in order to suit the story.
Since I am primarily a fantasy writer on here and have been working on a world for some time (before I joined SS, in fact), I thought I would kick off this thread to discuss worldbuilding as part of the writer's craft. I will talk about my own work, but invite everyone to chime in with their thoughts and what they have done with regards to "building worlds".
First up, to set some context, the Stories Space stories that fit into my fantasy world (to date):
The Night of the Wind
The Goddess Dances
The former is an actual adventure set in that world with characters I have plans to come back to. The latter is basically one of the world's myths, and I will likely reference Talala and Tantovar in future stories.
Crazy old ape
Quote by elizabethblack
Scott, that is a really good one. I'm complaining because it only got to 41F yesterday. Almost froze to death.
One thing about work from home ... I didn't have to go out in it except to bring in the trash bins. Nice here now, but still cold. Looks like this snow may stick around. Last one melted basically the next day.