Fantasy: April 12, 2017 Issue [#8226]
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Fantasy


 This week: Cities
  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

Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only through travel can we know where we belong or not, where we are loved and where we are rejected.
         -Roman Payne, Cities & Countries

Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.
         -Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful, but the beauty is grim.
         -Christopher Morley


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Letter from the editor

When you think about it, cities are weird.

It's not every species on Earth that builds cities the way humans do. Sure, you have beehives and anthills, beaver lodges and such. But none of these creations are quite like the conurbations of human beings. Other animals build their warrens and live in them; we build cities, but not all of us live in them.

The question we have to ask ourselves as writers of fantasy (or science fiction, as it also sometimes deals with non-human sentients) is whether cities would appear in a similar fashion for the cultures and peoples of the world(s) we're creating.

An argument can be made that yes, cities will appear whenever a species moves from hunting/gathering to a more agricultural existence. It may seem paradoxical, but it is believed that the invention of agriculture was the event that spurred human development of cities - as food production became more efficient, there arose situations of surplus, leading to trade and the kind of diversification that allows some people to live in cities. Put another way, if you're not directly finding/growing your own food, you can focus on other interests and use the proceeds from these interests to buy food from those that are.

But this doesn't necessarily mean that the same would hold true for other species. We have no data points to support or refute the idea, as the only species we know of that have ever made such a transition would be our own. We do know, however, that not all human cultures developed cities as we define them, even after figuring out how to grow their own food and herd their own livestock. Plenty of human cultures developed agriculture and didn't bother with cities, at least in the way we know them.

There are advantages and disadvantages to civilization. With a higher population density, trade becomes easier - but disease has more opportunity. There is room for diversity of people and occupations - but differences can lead to conflict. We are social animals, and thrive on communication with others, which cities facilitate - but overcrowding can become a problem. It's up to an individual culture to decide which side is favored in the balance.

And yet, most writers of fantasy and science fiction make the assumption that other species with a certain level of technology would automatically start building and living in cities.

The point here is this: when world-building, think about whether the sentient beings you create would realistically build cities; and, if so, how they might differ from the cities we create. Not all societies are as cooperative as ours; not all species are dependent upon socialization as ours is. While it's difficult to conceive of life without cities for a technologically advanced people, it's part of our job to communicate that which is difficult to imagine.


Editor's Picks

Some things for you to read:

 Time Open in new Window. [E]
A short little story about Time and Gaia going at each other.
by Dana Author Icon


 The Captive Open in new Window. [ASR]
Maybe it's time you reassessed your definition of what constitutes reality...
by puppysgirl Author Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


 
Candidness at the garden pond.  Open in new Window. [13+]
Flash fiction story for a CSFS mini-challenge. (Max of 500 words)
by A E Willcox Author Icon


 All's Well That Orson Welles Open in new Window. [E]
Poem that won top honors in the Antelope Valley Poetry Contest.
by Spanky De - We Got This! Author Icon


 Losing Something Important Open in new Window. [ASR]
A randomly generated prompt written in 15 minutes: An old wizard searches for something.
by Lana Author Icon


 Weeping Angels Open in new Window. [E]
Stone angels in the cemetery watch over us, but even angels aren't as good as they seem.
by MissyFox Author Icon

 
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Word from Writing.Com

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Ask & Answer

Last time, in "On Death and DyingOpen in new Window., I discussed some cultural responses to death.

Quick-Quill Author Icon: I've been an avid watcher of Face Off. This last week they had to make a unlikely duo. What fun it was to see the characters they made and the stories they came up with.

         While I avoid all "reality" shows like the plague they are, that one at least has an interesting premise.


brom21 Author Icon: I think it is appropriate to have a "religious" undertone if you do it well if you use ingenuity to promote your message of beliefs. C. S. Lewis did an excellent job. I can think of two other like authors named Jon White and Stephen R. Lawhead. I myself am writing a Christian Fantasy. It's my baby that I started it about seven months ago. I just resumed hashing at it and I am close to the 50k word mark. Then I will self edit then send it to a professional editor. Thanks for this very relevant newsletter!

         I didn't mean to imply that it's never okay to incorporate your own religious viewpoints into your fiction, only that it's a good thing sometimes to consider alternative concepts for the sake of world-building.


That's all for me for April! See you next month. Until then,

DREAM ON!!!



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