Let’s get Logical.

I know, who would have ever thought that sentence would come out of my mouth? But the logic I’m talking about is the logic of fiction and fantasy. Whatever your genre, you are creating a world for your characters to inhabit. You are also creating the people of that world.

While I can get into the ins and outs of worldbuilding for hours on end, it is a bit much for a single post so for today I’m only going to talk about the three key items you need to remember when putting together your people and your world.

What are they?

Logic, Detail and Consistency.

They all play key roles in building your world (and characters). You may say, yeah, but I want to create a completely off his rocker character who is utterly bonkers. No sweat. He just has to be consistently bonkers. You can’t have him be bonkers and then suddenly offer a logical solution to whatever problem your main character is facing. It won’t work and will stand out to your readers as completely off.

Unless of course you write him that way and in that case there needs to be details that let your reader know that he is a useful kind of crazy. Now what kind of useful is going to depend on the story and character. He could have information, insight, or tools. His ramblings can insight an idea in others or simply provide comic relief.

For example, let’s take Crazy Eddie, Bob’s squirrel obsessed neighbor. He has gone after the squirrels in this world with a focus that defies description. To this end he has stockpiled anti squirrel weaponry and when his fight with Fat Jack the local Squirrel Mob Boss gets out of hand, Crazy Eddie blows up the bridge so that Bob has no easy escape route to avoid facing the slug monster invaders.

Now I could keep him as just crazy. I could give Eddie actual tactical knowledge that Bob, the unlucky accountant, would have no way of possessing on his own, or I could just have him be the guy who has an extra bandolier that can hold the decorative salt shakers Bob will need to go after the Slug Monster General.

The details will determine the role he plays, but I need to get those details down and be consistent. Crazy Eddie can’t be tactical expert one moment and then suddenly lose all sense of tactics so Bob has to take over. If he’s an expert, he is an expert.

If you were paying attention, you also saw a bit of logic poking it’s head out. Let’s take a closer look. Bob is our hero. He is an accountant. While the final showdown will be at Cookie’s Bowl-a-Rama, a place he is very familiar with thus giving him a firm grasp of the building’s layout, he would not normally possess the skills of a commando.

I can find ways to give him the skills he needs. I could write it so there is more dumb luck than skill, or I can give him friends with advice. But what I can’t do is just have him suddenly imbued with the skills of an Army Ranger and Navy Seal combined to turn him into one ultimate Slug Monster fighting force when this has never come up before. It is inconsistent with the character of Bob and wouldn’t be believed.

Because I will have worked to make the story believable up to this point and that would just scupper the works. While readers will bend their minds around an invading army of slug monsters, the way the people deal with that, has to make sense for those characters.

The same holds true for any story.

If you are working on a fantasy story and your character is a scribe and the scribe is suddenly going to be in the middle of a sword fight because bandits invade the scriptorium, then first you have to provide a logical reason for him to have a sword, let alone one at the scriptorium, and then you have to give reasons for him to be able to use it. Readers will let you get away with a giant Green skinned snaggle toothed invader the likes of which can be seen only in your imagination, if you have thought through the logic and the details and are consistent in doling them out.

Edwin the scribe peered at the inscription running down the length of the sword blade and slowly copied them out. He was careful with the placement of his lines and the spacing of the letters. Not only could he not read what was written on the sword, but the language was one no one in the scriptorium, including Edwin, had ever seen and he was nervous about inadvertently altering the unknown message with a stray pen stroke. His focus was so great that he didn’t even notice the invader until he stepped through the open door blocking the light. Then, his first thought was to get the sword to safety. He grabbed the hilt and ran, the blade stretching out behind him like a silver tail. His run was short lived. He tripped over a stack of books, kicking them out at the persuling enemy. He heard some of them connect and some crunch underfoot. Edwin tripped and fell flat. His eyes slamming shut with the impact. Behind him he heard scuffling and grunting and then, before he could move, the breath was knocked out of him as the invader fell on him. He expected to be gutted and he braced for pain, but the invader wiggled and then stilled. Edwin opened his eyes and realize the invader fell on the blade, piercing his own heart.

There are all sorts of logical ways I could have changed that. He could have been a soldier turned scribe. All males could have been required to know sword work by order of the king. He could serve in a voluntary home guard. He could have practiced with his dad when younger. But whichever method I chose to have this character kill that invader, I have to make it seem logical.

I know some of you are thinking, “I don’t write fantasy”, but it doesn’t matter the genre.

If Penelope has been burned by love before and swears off all relationships forever, then when Handsome Chet appears to sweep her off her feet, then you need to have a logical reason why she doesn’t just boot him out the door. And even if you create a plot point where she can’t (he owns the building where her business is housed, for example) then you still need to think about her logic and why she would suddenly change her position on love. Unless she is going to marry him without actually being in love with him and poison him so she can get the property.

Yeah, I tend to write more murder than romance.

If someone changes their mind or has a change of heart, there has to be a reason for it. If you can’t see it or think it doesn’t quite flow right, then start with a simple sentence.

Growing up in an area prone to floods, Tammy never realized the effects of drought until…

Michael vowed never to set foot in that place again, but then one day…

The king was the supreme law of the land until…

The law had not changed in 1500 years, however…

Once you can fill in the sentence blank, generally you can see what you need to have to make the decision or events make sense. This sentence trick can be used to figure out both large and small issues. If the king mandates every male over a certain age be proficient in arms, what does that make your village look like? Are there weapons in every home, or are they stockpiled somewhere else? Are their drills daily or on saturday? Are there special yards for practice in your town or do they use any empty spot handy so practice sword fights are common throughout town? And why is this law in effect? Are their frequent invasions or does the king think that his people are becoming too soft and wants them to be more manly men? How do people feel about the law? Does it make sense or is it hated?

These details will shape your village and it’s inhabitants. It will ground your story and create the logic of your story.

Nothing ruins a good story like a character doing something that is completely out of character simply because it fit with the plot, so use your details and logic to make it believe able.

If Michael vowed never to return then either what draws him back is so strong and important that he can’t resist, or he has tried to deal with whatever it is any other way besides returning before he accepts that he is going to have to return. He isn’t just going to get a letter and say, “well even though I said I’d never go back I guess I have to now.’ Complete and immediate reversals in position aren’t generally believable. You can go the no option route, of course. Michael could be kidnapped and taken to the place he swore never to return to. But then details, logic and consistency are going to play into how he reacts to that event.

Part of that is plot, I’ll give you that. But the believable lies in reactions which are details, logic and consistency.

And while I dwell a lot of characters (because I tend to be character driven) there is also the world itself. If your characters are on foot and need to travel a hundred miles, they aren’t going to do it in a day. If you have a despotic king then he isn’t going to have his behavior tempered by a council of advisors unless you pull a Magna Carta like contract into your world and create someone to temper him.

Weather can be a factor as well as government. Rain either too much or lack thereof can affect things. People without a lot of water don’t waste it, or they use it to make a statement. Think of Las Vegas, a town in the desert with many fantastic fountains.

When setting up your world you need to think logically through your story and your characters (no matter how off the wall it or they are). The details of your world are going to work on your characters, affecting their behavior and their responses. The consistency of those behaviors (or the working of the government or of travel, or of the movement of alien creatures) is what makes the story come together for the reader, creating a world they can inhabit for the duration of the tale. In short, you need to think about your world as a real place, that functions as a real place so that it will be a real place to your readers. Logic, consistency and details are the three main keys.