One effective way to create an immersive fantasy world is by drawing inspiration from real life experiences. By incorporating personal observations and insights, writers can develop relatable characters, diverse cultures, and authentic settings that engage readers.
One of the ways to incorporate personal experiences is by drawing on your own emotions and using them to create characters that resonate with readers. For instance, an author who has experienced grief can use that to create a character who has also experienced loss and is struggling to cope with it. Similarly, an author who has travelled extensively can use their observations of different cultures and customs to create fantasy worlds that feel diverse and believable.
In addition to personal experiences, your personal observations of the world around you can also be a valuable resource. This can include your understanding of how different cultures interact and coexist or your observations of how animals behave in different environments. These observations can be used to create a fantasy world that feels grounded in reality, even if it is entirely fictional.
While using real-world experiences can be helpful, it's important to remember that a fantasy world should not be a direct copy of reality. Instead, it should be an inspiration you can draw upon to create a unique and compelling world that feels consistent and logical. The world-building should have its own rules and internal logic that makes sense within the story's context.
One way to create a believable fantasy world is by using real-world cultures, geography, politics, and history as inspiration but reshaping them to fit the story. By doing so, you can create a world that feels familiar to readers while still offering unique elements that make it stand out.
Using real-world experiences to write a fantasy novel can be a powerful tool for creating a rich and authentic world. By drawing on personal experiences and observations of the world around them, an author can create characters, cultures, and worlds that resonate with readers. While it's important to remember that a fantasy world should not be a direct copy of reality, using real-world inspiration can help create a consistent and memorable story.
A quick example would be from my own book 'The Samurai.' As an avid ultramarathon runner, I have plenty of insight into what running is like for me both physically and mentally. The sights, sounds, smells and situations I have been in crafted that section of writing for me.
The Samurai - Part of Chapter 3 page 18
'The sunny days are the easiest; it is almost like it powers me. Where all the trampled grass has turned to mud, a path has started forming. It extends to the plains of our lands and pushes all the way to the town. I have grown used to the scenery now, but not sick of it. I run at a pace that still gives me time to observe it all, soaking in every tree, every change in the wind and every smell, hearing the footsteps that are not my own; the rabbits, the deer and other animals that hide in the shadows.
My father says running is not just training for your heart and stamina, but training for all your senses. He talks about how a warrior must not rely on vision alone in combat but must rely on everything. Changes to familiar smells can alert the brain of danger. Similarly, a beautiful, exotic perfume crafted from the richest blossoms can cause the brain to ignite, as does the stench of a warrior who has travelled for days for a chance to fight. A journey that is boring to a regular man turns into sensory overload.'
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