Whilst sifting through reader comments for worthy email fodder (look, I’m tired — navigating two babies at night isn’t easy), I happened across a reply I almost forgot to share with you.
It was a sincere criticism, and one I actually agree with.
Quite the feat indeed — especially as…
I am rarely ever wrong. 😉
But first, some context:
Writing fantasy is unlike any other genre. It requires the author to not only dream up big worlds, societies, and lore, but, contrary to the genre’s name (fantasy), it also requires a great deal of realism.
If the world is too fantastical, it won’t feel real.
If the characters are too strong or too perfect, they won’t be believable.
And this applies doubly to the prose that layers the story, which cues up the following comment I received:
The only criticism I have is there is no "bacteria" word on medieval times. Festering like you said in other occasions are much better fit.
I replied with:
Avoiding contemporary language is one of the more challenging aspects of fantasy. A fair observation nonetheless, and one I quite agree with.
Whoever said your Overlord & Saviour lacks humility ought to hang their heads in shame, but that aside…
I cannot begin to tell you how many words I’ve culled over the series for being too contemporary. We’re talking hundreds of the buggers. I know some modern readers don’t care so much for these details, but I and many readers — like the one above — do, as there’s nothing more jarring (beyond a boring story) than being knee-deep in a medieval world and seeing words like:
– boyfriend
– girlfriend
– vodka
– doctor
– money
– or, god forbid, vegan
Don’t get me wrong, I can think of far worse words to slip up on than bacteria, but the point still stands:
Improper prose risks breaking immersion.
Luckily, this seems to be my first and only offence in the quarter of a million words written so far in The Divided Region. I’ll accept that. This is my debut fantasy, after all.
Hell, if a little bit of bacteria in my writing ends up being some of the only criticisms I receive for a series I’ve broken so many rules on, then I’ll call it a stonking success.
Anyhoo…
If you’d like an immersive epic fantasy experience, and save yourself some money — I mean, coin — while you’re at it, then allow me to direct you to the Digital Starter Bundle:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
It now comes with the recently revamped and rebranded digital world art as an added bonus.
DJJW