We all live in the real world. Well, some writers might argue that. But we dwell on Earth, and our universe has its laws, its boundaries, and its reality. We all know what they are, and they seem normal, and they make sense. More or less. But when you step into a writer’s world, things are bound to change. Middle Earth is not Modern Earth. It has never been our Earth, and it never will be. But as readers, sometimes we open books and find ourselves in worlds that feel real, in spite of the fact that they are definitely not our own. How does that work? And how can we as writers pull it off?

Real Fantasy

At first glance it might seem like it is mutually exclusive. How can you have a real fantasy world? Fantasy, if it were to be defined by solely one word, is imaginary. Well, the definition of real in this case is not the first definition that people think when they think real in the context of worlds. For them, the ‘real world’ is the world as we see it, Earth, outside books and movies. People would say it is relatable, it is believable, it is logical, it is practical. That is true (more or less) of the world that we live in. The real that I am talking about is similar, but not precisely.

Keys To A Real World

The biggest and most important question to ask yourself when you are making a real world is, does it make sense? Does it follow its laws? Can the people and animals and plants really live here? Does it make sense to have this castle at the foot of this volcano? This last example is absurd, but I hope you get the point. A world has to make sense in order for it to be real. Here are several ways that connect with a sensible world. If your world is each one of these, it will be sensible. If not, the world can use some work.

Believability – A world does not have to be just like ours in order to be believable. You do not have to stick with normal humans and normal animals in order to have a believable world. Go on and add dragons, and talking beasts, and strange places and cultures and people and terrain. They can all be believable. Even a polka-dotted penguin can be believable, if you do it right. Which brings me to the next key.

Practicality – Believability and practicality are very closely linked. So how can a polka-dotted penguin actually be believable? Well, if there’s a reason for it having polka-dots, then it can be believable. It’s certainly strange, but if it works, it works. A world does not necessarily have to be immediately understandable to make sense. But every eccentricity has to be essential. Otherwise, it is just absurd, and your reader will always think of it as absurd, and therefore, unreal.

Relatability – Every world has to have something relatable that the reader can hang on to while they are walking through your story. Even if the only relatable thing is the main character, the world has to have something we can relate to. Something we can understand. It’s unlikely that a reader will persevere through a world where nothing is familiar, nothing rings a bell, nothing reminds them of something they know. After all, they are not obligated to go through the journey like the hero is. All they have to do it put down the book and walk away. That something that keeps them there does not even have to be something they necessarily like, and how relatable the world is is up to you, but there has to be something that the reader understands.

Reliability – We all know it is true that our world is not reliable. That is to say, we can’t just rely on it to fix every problem, to leave us perfectly alone, and to do no damage. However, there is a certain reliability we put in it. Our world has its laws. We rely on the fact that the sun does not suddenly go out. We rely on the fact that the air will not give up. We rely on the fact that the earth will not suddenly open beneath our feet. This reliability is necessary in every world for it to be effective at all. Every world has to follow laws. Specific laws, not the vague laws. Let me give examples:

Vague Law: Well, It’s Magic!

This is an example of a vague law. In unreal, unrelatable fantasy stories, if something completely bizarre, contradictory, or inexplicable happens, it is brilliantly explained with the all-time favorite excuse: It’s magic (or the equivalent in sci-fi, it’s science.) That is not a sufficient explanation. If anything can be done through magic or science, then everyone still alive on this execrable world would be living in a state of complete terror. Think about what you would do if you lived in a world where the earth could suddenly explode for no reason, or someone could spontaneously combust, or your house would just collapse. Now, most writers won’t think of this when they explain the bizarre happenings in their story. If they need something to happen, but they can’t explain it, they can just say, “It’s magic. Magic can do anything!” What they don’t realize is that if magic can do anything, at any time, then it will do anything, everything, at any time. This is an unreliable world. A world has to have a set way of doing things, so that, as in our world, even its miracles and absurdities are believable.

Specific Law: Certain Beings Have Certain Powers

This is an example of a more specific law, similar to the It’s Magic, but more relatable. You can still mess up with it and do it wrong, but it is much easier to stay focused and reliable. Only certain beings having only certain powers immediately balances out the power level. You can do this as broad or as narrow as you want, and it will still be easier to stay on track. If one person has a power because he is a particular being or because he has been gifted with this particular power by a more powerful being, even though he has the potential (maybe) to create chaos, it is far less likely that he will make something that completely destroys a fundamental. It is also more likely that there will be others more powerful than he. Again, you can still go wrong with specific laws, but they put things into better order, and give your world a reliable framework.

Exceptions

The question might have come into your head, ‘What about the supernatural? Miracles and things like that. They go against the ‘laws’ of the world, right?’ But who’s to say the supernatural isn’t also a law of the world? It can happen, and it has happened. Isn’t that a law? For your world to make sense, there have to be ‘exceptions’ that really are just some of the not-so-common laws. There have to be loopholes, ways to get around things, certain things that are made to contradict other things. Not too many or it gets unrealistic, but enough that make it real and exciting.

That’s Just How It Works!

Here is one last note on making a real world. There should be, in something, a believable ‘I don’t know.’ Why? It gives it real authenticity. There are lots of things in our world to which we give this same enlightened answer. Why is singing, or shiny tail-feathers, or fluffing up to look bigger attractive in animal courtship dances? I don’t know. What part do ticks play in the flow of nature? I don’t know. Where does the wind really come from? I don’t know. That’s not to say that no one else knows and no one else will ever know, but the writer does not have to know everything in the world in order for a world to make sense and be effective. That is good news for writers, for if we had to know everything about our worlds, then no books would ever be finished.

Conclusion

A real world has to make sense. I would also say, as with everything in a story, it has to be effective. A story does no good if it has no effect on the reader. What effect you want can vary tremendously. A little kid’s book does not have the same effect as The Lord of the Rings, or Much Ado About Nothing, or The Thirteen Clocks. But for a story where the world plays a part to be effective, the world itself has to be effective. It has to portray something that carries the desired effect. If you want to give the reader a sense of dread, give the surrounding world a sense of dread. This is another exception. Our weather does not go along with how we feel. But your world should show the reader what you want them to know. It can only do that if it is real.