/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.15594071]

>just invented the fictional location where my stories will take place

[Anonymous No.15594076]

>never specify any locations in my story

[Anonymous No.15594088]

>>15594071
Is it a wacky city that's sort of like your own city but with a dash of urban mysticism and anime characters?

[Anonymous No.15594100]

>Within its walls, Resisband resembled a maze more than a city. The old stone buildings that had laid the foundation for the inner structures had over the centuries been built and expanded upon, to the point where they now rose tens of stories up from the ground, each layer of construction using newer and more advanced materials, a cityscape telling the story of a constant state of expansion, like sedimentary rock. Sunlight rarely reached the ground, with buildings often conjoining over the streets in order to support themselves on each other, lanterns with blue and orange flames lighting up the pathways instead. There was a constant noise of hammers on anvils, bellows blowing in forges, people haggling for wares, patrols in full plate, lances in their arms, marching their way through the crowds, street vendors yelling the prices of goods from their stalls, and a never ending rush of materials and finished goods flooding to and from the array of workshops that made up a majority of the commerce in the city. Apartments and living facilities would start around the fourth floor, with businesses occupying the floors underneath; the ground floor reserved for workshops, as they needed wagon access, retailers on the first and second floors, with taverns and brothels occupying the third floor, colorful banners and signs hanging from the outside of the establishments, advertising their goods and services in both Common and Dwarven. The air smelled of fried meat, horse dung, and charcoal smoke.

[Anonymous No.15594228]

>>15594076
fuck you if you do this

[Anonymous No.15594714]

>>15594100
What's the climate like? How is the city fed, is there arable land being worked nearby? Also how is water provided for its inhabitants?

[Anonymous No.15594723]

I constantly remind the reader of the time in my stories

[Anonymous No.15594826]

>>15594714
>What's the climate like?
Cold, dry, and arid.
>How is the city fed, is there arable land being worked nearby?
Sporadic patches of workable soil litter the region, with hamlets producing grain and vegetables for the city. Meat and leather comes mainly from the scores of hunters making a living from the beasts roaming the nearby mountain range.
>Also how is water provided for its inhabitants?
Dwarven steam pumps bring up water from deep wells dug throughout the city. Same system provides water to all the forges.

>Gigantic, towering walls, erected from house-sized slabs of brown stone, encircled the Dwarven City of Resisband, battlements covering the entire length of the walls, with a heavy guard armed with lances and crossbows patrolling along the ramparts, watching over the four massive iron gates leading into the city. A constant stream of traffic was going to and from; shipments of metal ingots, charcoal, lumber, leather, grains, meat, and vegetables flowing in through the fortified gates, with wagonloads of arms and armor flowing out again into the land. Dozens upon dozens of smoke plumes rose from within the walls, with several smokestacks tall enough to be spotted even over the top of the walls. A tent city had been erected along the outer walls, a regular sprawl of refugees drawn to the city, fleeing from the Cooman scourge, seeking safety and work. Wagon stations were located along every road leading to the city, queues of men waiting to be picked up and carried off to work a shift in one of the many mines or foundries located near the Khip mountain range that Resisband bordered on. As loads of dirty, tired men, pockets full of coin from today’s work, were dropped off and greeted with kisses from their wives, another batch of men would be picked up, sent off with a pouch of bread and meat prepared with love by their families. The refugees, while living in squalor, all had a gleam in their eyes; a hopeful purpose gained from doing theirs in order to sustain the effort of retaking their homeland.

[Anonymous No.15594984]

>>15594228
Why

[Anonymous No.15594986]

>>15594723

fucker!

[Anonymous No.15595035]

>>15594100

Why would you do this? It's not good. This is essentially a listed character. You can describe each of these interactions organically as the character(s) move through the space.

Also a lot of gripes. Patrols in full plate? Walking up a hill in full plate was a chore much less an 8 hour all day walking shift. Chain mail pal, with a tunic over it. Think crusader garb, feel free to change the color. Your market sounds like it was recycled from a Dungeons and Dragons description. All this could be done with a character experiencing the sound around them. Get specific with the quotes, if you want them to be real.

[Anonymous No.15595049]

>>15594100
What was it’s tax policy?

[Anonymous No.15595129]

>>15595035
Plate is way easier to shit out than chain mail. The city is in a state of war preparation, forges just need to mass produce armor as fast as possible.

>>15595049
GRRM please leave.

[Anonymous No.15595139]

>>15595035
>Your market sounds like it was recycled from a Dungeons and Dragons description
>Your church sounds like it was recycled from an Orthodox Christian cathedral
>Your castle sounds like it was recycled from a Bavarian fortress
>Your character sounds like it was recycled from an average human

[Anonymous No.15595153]

>>15595035
>You can describe each of these interactions organically as the character(s) move through the space

There's no point subjecting your readers to five pages of "Hey, that looks like it's been built up over the years from several different materials!" "You're right!" "Oh wow, look, the stories right above the merchants are for hookers and pubs." "Huh, I guess so." etc. Much easier for everyone to hammer down a description and then head on to the actual plot.

[Anonymous No.15595234]

>>15594071
Congratulations!

[Anonymous No.15595314]

>>15594228
>if you do this
But he doesn't

[Anonymous No.15595351]

>>15594071
Ah yes! The motifs which are to be the energy's of the whole taking root!;-- It is a wonderful inspiration. Like the true essence of nature, see deep enough, and you will see musically.

Truly beautiful anon, betwixt your time here and now, along the stony mountain-path of a kept vow!

[Anonymous No.15595368]

>only ever lived in New York and can only write about that city convincingly

[Anonymous No.15595382]

>>15595368
Hack. Paul Schrader is the true intelligence, and even then he isn't particularly special.

[Anonymous No.15595751]

>>15595035
based

[Anonymous No.15595755]

>>15594071
>want to do this
>can never decide whether to make the economic/political system in the background "our current one, but stripped down to the essentials to highlight how stupid it is" or "my highly specific system which would solve many of the most depressing parts of our current existence"
>99% of the stuff i want to write won't touch on any of this at all, yet i devote 60% of my time debating this question

[Anonymous No.15595771]

>>15595035
Mail is heavier than plate dummy, and plate's not hard to move in, look on youtube. do you even HEMA

>fantasy novel readers

[Anonymous No.15595772]

>start describing my setting but I always return to the red light district

[Anonymous No.15596577]

>a love letter to [city]

[Anonymous No.15596638]

>caring about worldbuilding

[Anonymous No.15596680]

>>15595035
This nigga ain't even know the city and he talks like he owns the place lmao nigga

[Anonymous No.15596704]

>>15596638
this

[Anonymous No.15597017]

>mom's basement

[Anonymous No.15597331]

>>15596638
>nuuu you can't just describe the world, it ruins my headcanon!

[Anonymous No.15597361]

>>15594088
It's like, a city in my state, but like with another name. And wacky stories happen on it and characters across multiple books reference it

I live in Maine btw

[Anonymous No.15598604]

>tfw can come up with everything except coherent maps

[Anonymous No.15598659]

>>15595368
I'm so sorry anon

[Anonymous No.15598787]

>Setting a story in a shitty jpeg compressed version of the real world instead of just using reality for the cost of mild amounts of research.

[Anonymous No.15598855]

>>15598787
reality is too depressing

[Anonymous No.15598862]

>>15598855
That's why you write in a historical period you like so you can fantasize about all the things you missed out on.

[Anonymous No.15598886]

>>15596680
ahahahahahaha

[Anonymous No.15598952]

>>15594071
Worldbuilding is easy. Now get to writing, faggot.

[Anonymous No.15598961]

Just invented a wheel.

[Anonymous No.15599820]

>>15595153
Holy shit you are fucking retarded