Jayne Goes Negative --But Not For Long

Been feeling a little down this week. Haven't even been up to posting comments on my sister Quills' brilliant blogs for days. (Apologies, ladies). Won't go so far as to say I'm depressed because I respect the fact that depression is serious business and this isn't that bad -- primarily because I know it will end soon. I think positive, see? It's in the blood.

Feeling down for a whole week is a bit unusual for me. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I am often annoyingly optimistic and upbeat. Not my fault. I was raised by a Mom who was into metaphysical thinking before metaphysics was cool. "What goes around, comes around" made perfect karmic sense to her. She became a staunch believer in the power of positive thinking early on in her life and never lost faith to the end of her days. She truly believed that the mind created energy and that, all things considered, it was best to send out positive, rather than negative energy. That stuff comes back at you, she said. So, yeah, all things considered, I'm inclined to look on the bright side...

However, even I have my limits. For the past week Frank and I have been vacationing in a lovely hotel room in Waikiki. We have a vast, shady lanai that looks out over the water, room service and someone to make the bed and change the towels every day. What's wrong with this picture, you ask? Well, Frank and I got hit with a heavy case of food poisoning-gastroenteritis-stomach flu or whatever you want to call it the first day we arrived. We have been surviving on a diet of Imodium, Pepto Bismol, and live culture yogurt for the past six days. We're finally starting to feel somewhat normal today. Unfortunately, tomorrow we fly home. So, yeah, I'm a little down.

But this is Mother's Day and in honor of my mom I am determined to think positive. Instead of dwelling on the fact that I've been gargling stomach meds instead of cute drinks with little umbrellas all week I am reading the books I brought along with me. One of them is a fine example of the new Urban Fantasy genre. I was struck by the author's excellent world building skills and I began to ponder the whole concept of "World Building".

In case you missed it, World Building is a current buzzword often applied to paranormal romance and the hot new genre of Urban Fantasy. The term originated in the science fiction/fantasy genres. Authors are often rated on how good they are at World Building. The phrase is self-explanatory. It refers to the creation of a believable fantasy landscape. After all, if you're going to ask adult readers buy into a world that is populated by vampires, werewolves, mages, sorcerers, witches, etc., you'd better be good at creating a fictional landscape that is inherently consistent and believable. It doesn't have to abide by the rules of the "real" world but it does have to abide by its own internal rules.

Good world building doesn't pretend to invoke reality, rather it creates a world that feels real. Big difference. The writer's goal is to create a logical construct in which the rules of the fantasy universe make sense to the reader even though there is nothing realistic about them. If the resulting world works for you, you can step right into the author's fantasy and enjoy the trip. You don't have to believe in ghosts in order to savor a good ghost story. Same with vampires and werewolves. (Not every world works for every reader, but, hey, that's the nature of fiction and readers: unpredictable. But I digress.

World building is obvious when you look at books that feature supernatural creatures or people with psychic powers. We understand it intuitively when it is well done in those stories, probably because we all grew up on fairytales and books about dinosaurs -- both of which require a real leap of faith.

But sitting out here on the lanai, sipping my Pepto Bismol, it dawned on me that in the rush to credit paranormal and Urban Fantasy authors with their exotic world building talents a lot of folks have overlooked the fact that ALL fiction -- regardless of genre -- is a matter of World Building. The landscape of the story, whether historical, contemporary, or paranormal can never be "real", no matter how accurately it is researched. (Hey, that's why they call it fiction, folks).

The landscape of a novel is always a product of the author's imagination. It is, in turn, either enhanced or reduced by what the reader brings to the story. If the reader is not engaged the landscape feels flat. If the reader buys into the world, the landscape is multidimensional and enthralling.


We admire World Building in the paranormal/fantasy genres because it is so dang obvious. But, take it from me, when I write historicals such as my new hardcover THE RIVER KNOWS (okay, shameless plug. Hey, just trying to sell a few books here) the landscape of the Late Victorian era is a matter of World Building. Sure I do my research and sure I try to get the hard historical facts straight -- such as the interesting detail that fashionable women in that era often wore as much as 14 pounds of underclothes!!!! And that's not counting the additional twenty or so pounds added by the weight of the dress, shoes, hat, gloves, etc. And it wasn't because anyone forced them to do it. This was a matter of FASHION. But I digress.

Ahem, where was I? Oh, yes, selling a book. No, no, wait, I had a point. Right. World Building. That's what I do, regardless of which of my three worlds I'm working in, I try to create a fictional realm that feels real. But I don't kid myself. I'm writing fiction. (For the record, I got my undergraduate degree in history and I can tell you that the process of writing history is eerily similar -- Lots of attention to detail and hard facts of course, but the world that emerges is necessarily a construct of the historian's imagination. Sorry, I digress again.)

There's a lot of stuff out there on how to build great paranormal "Worlds". There is even software that can design fantasy worlds for you. But I'll let you in on a little secret: it isn't the elaborately designed landscapes or the lush descriptions of clothing details that bring a fictional world (or a history text) to life -- it is the emotional connection established between the reader and the story. As readers we want to know how the characters feel and react to their world.

Unlike facts and details that can be manipulated, human emotions are universal, transcendent and intuitively comprehended by everyone. They've even done research showing that people in remote tribes who have never heard of Shakespeare have no problem understanding the emotional forces that drive the main character in Hamlet. But I digress. Again.

As I was saying, the human connection -- emotions, thoughts, feelings -- is the power that brings a fictional landscape to life. The best World Builders are not those who can describe a demon in exquisitely horrific detail -- they are the ones who engage our emotional reaction to the demon. Or, what the heck, the demon's emotional response. That works, too.

You see, emotions, thoughts, and feelings all have power. They are all products of the mind. I learned that from Mom. Metaphysics in action.

Happy Mothers' Day, Mom, wherever you are. Don't worry, I'm thinking positive. Feeling better every minute. Hey, look at the bright side of this trip. I got a blog out of it!

Thanks, Mom, for everything.

Love,
Jayne