Right I have been coming up with ideas for islands for my story. So far I have come up with two and fear that they are too surreal. Help and opinnions wanted. P.s: I don't know how to upload the pictures of the islands so help needed for that to thanks. Skralo,
What kind of story is it? What things do you want on the island? What climate is the island in? What is on the island? Rivers, Hills e.c.t.
Erm... Well its... Either sci-fi or fantasy. Depending on how you veiw it. As for whats on the island houses, temples, rivers of fire and water. I haven't really thought about the climate because of all the mixing elements. There is three volcanoes and twelve main rivers leading to a lake.
When I first came up with my novel, and the Island for it. I imagined it as a tropical place, with plam-trees, few rivers, loads of woodland, a few hills in the center of the island and a few things that are concurning the plot, a small village of stone-age like peoples and a small lake called 'The Dream Sea.' You have to think of everything and get it all clear in your head before you start with the story, otherwise it could lead to confusion later on.
Right, first of all I would like a little bit of background on what your story is going to be about. Second of all, what sort of suggestions do you want? like what the island should look like, what should be on it, I don't know what you want to know. Heather
Lemex, thats how my island started out it was a circle of land with some hills and rivers. Then I progressed it towards what I have made it now. I am going to take out some of the rivers because twelve it definatly to many. But I will keep the two volcanoes. Heather Louise, what kind of things do you want to know? I need some ideas to progress my islands. Skralo.
Ermm, do you want help with things that could happen on the island, or about what it should look like?? I mean, it could be a typical tropical island with volcanoes and bright flowers and loads of different types of fruit. Then there could be something more sinister lurking in the raindforrest or something. What sort of ideas are you looking for ??
I need help to progress what it will look like. Its an island of elementals. Fire, ice, lightening... ect.
How about a very primal place, since you're working with elements? A steamy tropical swampy jungle, and if it's fantasy, some dinosaurs! Prehistoric flora and fauna as well. Make it as primeval as possible. That's what I would do...
Right, well what about a steam rainforest, where it floods monsoons and steam comes from the ground that covers one part of the island. And you could have an ice mountain, with polar bears and stuff going on up there. And what about a lightening bay, where you can catch the best fish but the storms there are horrific. Like that sort of thing ??
Unless your story is just about the formation of the island, it really would help to have a more detailed plot written down somewhere. Trust me. Otherwise you are going to spend countless hours deciding what this place looks like and drawing up maps to help yourself visualize it, when the time rolls around for the story you are going to come up with a whole new list of inconsistencies. The only absolutely set-in-stone thing you have to stick with here is the word "believability". If your reader doesn't find at least some facet of it plausible then they won't read it.
I have always started my stories with my characters first. What kind of people live there? Are they modern? historical like? very rugged or elvish like? Characters help determine their surroundings more often than not, at least their original surroundings. If your characters are going to be rugged murderers and murderesses, then you are going to want to place them somewhere that correlates with them: shadowy trees and plants with blackish waters and mist. But then you have to think of who they are murdering. How many civilizations are on this island? Is it just this one and another, is there a conflict between them? Is that the base of the story or just the sub-plot? How many islands are there? Is the island you are speaking of the main island and there are other islands off of it? Do the people on the main island know of the other islands? Are they intelligent or unintelligent? Also, you said that this is sci-fi/fantasy; what makes it that way? There has to be something (or preferably somethings) specific. Are the islands on another planet? Are they on earth but in a parallel frame of time? Are they in our time and on our planet but we are being invaded and that island is where it is happening? There are many things to define and when you start with your characters, everything else opens up. Research is always your best friend. Search yahoo and google for baby names, character traits, hair colors, eye colors. Read, read and read for character ideas (but never copy a character). There are so many books on developing characters. I would suggest The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman and Building Believable Characters by Writer's Digest. Start with your characters and everything else will follow. Once you have your characters, research will be your best friend again. Even though you may plan to put these islands somewhere else, researching earth's societies and cultures is often the best place to look for ideas. If you are aiming for a more tropical setting and culture, head over to the Caribbean and Fiji. If you are looking for a more barren landscape, look at the Scottish Islands. Downloading pictures, articles, watching movies and reading books that are based on what you are going to write about is an asset. For example: I am writing a book that is based in the late Victorian Era. It has a sci-fi/fantasy twist and because it is historically set, I need to be as accurate as possible so I am looking for anything that is Victorian Era that I can get my hands on. With firmer set Sci-fi/fantasy, your imagination can take over, but it is important that people have something that they can relate to. Even with the most alienated of sci-fi novels, too much foreign fantasy will confuse the readers and though they want an escape, they need somewhere that they will want to stay and be comfortable. I hope this helps some. ~Natalie
