\"Writing.Com
*Magnify*
SPONSORED LINKS
Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/12359-Getting-Around.html
Fantasy: January 10, 2024 Issue [#12359]




 This week: Getting Around
  Edited by: Robert Waltz Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Transportation is the center of the world! It is the glue of our daily lives. When it goes well, we don't see it. When it goes wrong, it negatively colors our day, makes us feel angry and impotent, curtails our possibilities.
         —Robin Chase

We want transportation as reliable as running water.
         —Travis Kalanick

I said that if an alien came to visit, I'd be embarrassed to tell them that we fight wars to pull fossil fuels out of the ground to run our transportation. They'd be like, 'What?'
         —Neil deGrasse Tyson


Word from our sponsor

ASIN: B01MQP5740
Amazon's Price: $ 4.99


Letter from the editor

A recent trip got me thinking about transportation again.

How your characters get around can be just as important to the story as the other things they do. Many a story, fantasy or otherwise, is even set on a mode of transportation: a ship, a train, or even a starship, for example.

What they use for transportation depends on several factors, not least of which is available technology and materials. We think of the wheel, for example, as having been invented by pre-agricultural humans, with the stereotypical caveman chipping away at a rock image. And the idea of carving out a disc for some uses probably is ancient. But in terms of transport, what matters isn't a single wheel, but the idea of putting them on an axle, thus enabling inventions such as carts and chariots... and that probably didn't happen until about six thousand years  Open in new Window. ago, well into agricultural times.

Similarly, railroads didn't really take off until the invention of the steam engine, which also revolutionized ocean and river travel. Balloons required advances in shell material. Helicopters needed both high-RPM engines and sturdy materials.

This sort of thing matters most if you're going for historical accuracy, but since this is the Fantasy newsletter, we also have to consider transportation on imaginary worlds, alternative histories, and possibly futuristic settings.

In general, then, any mode of transportation needs, first, a power source. This could be a living creature or creatures, such as a horse or the rowers in a ship's galley. Wind is another ancient one, as with a sailboat. As I noted above, the invention of the steam engine, and later, internal combustion, changed the way people and cargo got around. Other possibilities include nuclear (fission or fusion), solar (using that convenient nearby fusion generator in the sky), or electricity (though the original power needs to come from somewhere). Many others are possible in imagination, like the matter/antimatter engines in Star Trek.

Sure, it's possible to handwave the power source, as in "The ship is powered by magic crystals," or "This alien power source utilizes zero-point energy." Depending on the story, one might get away with that, but unlimited, inexhaustible power isn't always going to fly (pun intended) in a story that's going for some sort of realism or internal consistency. All power sources have drawbacks: wind can fail; living creatures tire and require food; engines require some sort of fuel. That sort of thing. And every known mode of transport has speed and/or distance limitations.

Still, it can be fun and engaging to include unexpected or anachronistic transportation devices in a story. Dragon-riders swooping around airships, for example. A high-speed train across mule-plowed farmland. Things of that sort.

But without some sort of transportation, your characters may find themselves going nowhere.


Editor's Picks

Some Fantasy for you:

 Strawberry Buddy Open in new Window. [E]
A strawberry has human thoughts.
by Don Two Author Icon


A Perfect Kingdom Open in new Window. [13+]
PDG Advanced Short Story Workshop; Week 1: Mastering the Short Story
by WyrdNaos Trippin' on Yello Author Icon


 Vision Quest Open in new Window. [E]
Diliahla goes in search of a memory. (Flash Fiction)
by Hyperiongate Author Icon


 
When We Too Had Lived Among Rainbows Open in new Window. [E]
Rainbows Require Childlike Eyes To Be Seen
by InkWellspring66 Author Icon


 Snagtooth, Part One Open in new Window. [13+]
Being a Roamer is great, except when eveyone expects you to act human.
by shygurl Author Icon


 Monsters Are Literal Open in new Window. [E]
You can't rely on the monster understanding the intent.
by Paul Author Icon


Rusty and the Shillelagh Open in new Window. [18+]
The shillelagh belonged to the leprechaun.
by Leger~ Author Icon

 
Submit an item for consideration in this newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form

Word from Writing.Com

Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
         https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form

Don't forget to support our sponsor!

ASIN: B01MQP5740
Amazon's Price: $ 4.99


Ask & Answer

Last time, in "HolidaysOpen in new Window., I wrote about commemorative occasions.

Beholden Author Icon: Thank you for including my poem, The Dragon Awake, in your Editor's Picks section.

         Thank you for writing!


BIG BAD WOLF is Howling Author Icon: Sometimes a Fantasy holiday is inspired by a real one - perhaps a Holiday Special thing. Sometimes it's not a Holiday, but it's a celebration, like as wedding.

         Some celebrations are based on historical weddings. Oktoberfest, one of my favorites, for example.


So that's it for me for January! See you next month. Until then,

DREAM ON!!!



*Bullet* *Bullet* *Bullet* Don't Be Shy! Write Into This Newsletter! *Bullet* *Bullet* *Bullet*

This form allows you to submit an item on Writing.Com and feedback, comments or questions to the Writing.Com Newsletter Editors. In some cases, due to the volume of submissions we receive, please understand that all feedback and submissions may not be responded to or listed in a newsletter. Thank you, in advance, for any feedback you can provide!
Writing.Com Item ID To Highlight (Optional):

Send a comment or question to the editor!
Limited to 2,500 characters.
Word from our sponsor
ASIN: B004PICKDS
Amazon's Price: Price N/A

Removal Instructions

To stop receiving this newsletter, click here for your newsletter subscription list. Simply uncheck the box next to any newsletter(s) you wish to cancel and then click to "Submit Changes". You can edit your subscriptions at any time.


Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/12359-Getting-Around.html