Day 2: Logic in fantasy

It's day two of Nano, and I'm tripping over the fact this shiny has no prewriting work. World building is one of my favorite parts of writing, and I like to know (at the very least) the basic rules before I release my characters into a brand new story. Not this time. I'm writing blind. It is a fun in an experimental type of way, but writing blind also means my main character has to spend time figuring out what I, as the writer, should already know (which means the words won't last the second draft.)

Every new idea brings with it a mass of new and interesting questions. Want teenage vampires who are going to grow up to be adult vampires and not stuck at sixteen forever? How does that work? How can an unageing/immortal being age? If a character can walk through a shadow and end up in another shadow, what happens if light is brought to the shadow while he steps through? What type of portal is a shadow? Logic has to come into the answers of world building questions and "Because it's magic" or worse, "Because I'm the writer and I say so" doesn't work for me. The great thing is, while figuring out answers to strange twisty questions, the world not only gets richer, but the possibilities of what the character can encounter tends to get far more complex.

So, with that in mind, I have decided that since I've reached the word goal for the day, I will spend the rest of the evening world building. Here is my current word meter:

3771 / 50000 words. 8% done!

How is everyone's day two going? Any interesting world building questions spring up while writing today?

Comments

Greg Nitchals said…
Day 2: Day 2: 3,192/60,000 written.
Storywise, car crash went great, and I'm about to pour into the
psych evaluation and the supernatural reveal for my urban fantasy.
As for world buidling, did a lot beforehand for this one, but I always have to pull names out of nowhere for almost everyone.
Ginger said…
As of the end of Day two, I was at 4020 words.

I have a big problem. In the interest of speed on day one, I skipped over pretty much an entire scene in the beginning explaining why my MC felt the need to run away from home because I had a vague idea but I wasn't sure. I left a short note reminding myself to get back to it...and now I'm stuck needing to know exactly what happened then so today I need to go back and write it.
Simon said…
World building is part of what makes a story great. As a reader I pick up on when a writer has built a solid world. It helps the reader get into the story more. Become part of it, or not when there are places where the writer has become lazy. Writers and DMs are similar in that they have to create a world that their readers or players can explore fully, without any gray misty areas where something has not been thought or explained. Of course I am sure you already knew this.
Kai-Lee Kenniz said…
Alright, I know that the point of NaNo is to actually get words out, but that did not end up happening for me today. At least, not in a tangible way. It was another derby day, and between errands, taking inventory and counting money for merch, and practice until 10:45p.m. I was too beat to write. I could have stayed up, but I wanted to get my sleep schedule back on track in order to be my most productive at the write in tomorrow. I've been writing scenes in my head even if I didn't get a chance to physically write them down, so they should flow quite speedily for me to play catch up!
Heather
Anonymous said…
since i already have so many words written I'm working on finishing my plot outline and character building. i was in class when all of a sudden this whole conversation for my book came to my mind and i had to write it down. so i did. and i realized i'd gone ahead for like a few chapters but now i finally have a way to begin chapter 4....chapter 4 will be for my day three
Kalayna Price said…
Congrats Greg! Names are always interesting. Baby name books/aps/websites are your friend. That and the phonebook. LOL ^_^

Word count looks great, Ginger. Eeks on the back tracking. Personally, I'd space down and write the scene exactly where you are now, pretending like the info is revealed in the write place and worry about blending it into the earlier scene later. I'd be too tempted to start editing if I tried to weave it into the correct place. But, that's just me. Good luck with getting it on paper!

I agree Simon. It always disappoints me when the world building has holes in it.

You can catch up Heather. Not worry. **cheers you on**

You do have plenty of cushion, Kailia. Good luck on plotting and character development, and congrats on the strike of inspiration. Don't you love those?
Anonymous said…
yeah, i know and i didn't actually want to write the story but focus on character but i wrote anyways and i got 1930 done today! plus, i my characters developed as i wrote so its all good! congrats to everyone else and hopefully you guys are having as much luck with your stories as i am!
Anonymous said…
Day Two - 373 words

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