I've been thinking about Science Fiction and Fantasy, and I think there's something interesting going on in these genres that isn't (easily) available in others.
-
Show this thread
-
See, in Science Fiction and Fantasy, you do two and a half things. 0. Build the world. 1. Reveal it. 3. IDK, something with character and plot, I guess?
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likesShow this thread -
The most highly praised SFF authors are the best world builders, while their plot and characterization are sometimes mediocre. Where, in a novel set in the current day, plot and character are supreme, and the world is a given.
1 reply 0 retweets 4 likesShow this thread -
Maybe in historical fiction, you can get world revealing without world building. Or something weird like _Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates_, where they stop the story for whole chapters to give you a travelogue.
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likesShow this thread -
In the other direction, you get what I've called _non-narrative fiction_, like _The Science of Discworld_, where the world building is the only content. A common version of this is RPG supplements.
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likesShow this thread -
I feel like there's something to be said about Fan Fiction here, where they don't have to do any world building or revealing, and just take it as a given, leaving them room to focus on plot and characterization. (And porn, of course.)
1 reply 2 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
Content of Media Retweeted
Interesting thread about this: https://twitter.com/Sum_Else_Thing/status/1090246245921239040?s=19 …
Content of Media added,
This Tweet is unavailable.1 reply 0 retweets 2 likesShow this thread
maybe in SFF the setting is a character? this comes through strongly with Arda maybe
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.