INFO 200 Blog #2: The Fantasy Author Information Community
I have selected fantasy authors as my course Information Community, and look forward to exploring and researching this community’s information needs.
Fantasy stories involve fantastical elements such as unrealistic environments, otherworldly creatures, and magical systems. In my research I want to emphasize the needs of authors who specialize in world-building–that is, authors who construct entirely new worlds for their stories. In the world of publishing, these authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, N. K. Jemisin, Samantha Shannon, and Michael Sullivan. But I include in my definition of fantasy authors not just published novelists but also participants in fantasy roleplaying communities such as Dungeons and Dragons players. Fantasy roleplayers form active collaborative storytelling communities, and within these stories they engage in fantasy world-building.
World-building involves the history, folklore, culture, and ecology of a fantasy environment, and therefore necessitates research and discussion. The fantasy author community relies not just on the information resources of non-fantasy novelists–dictionaries, thesauruses, and general writing guidelines–but also on the information relevant to well-designed world-building. At the moment–and this is of course very tentative–I have identified three broad categories of information that fantasy authors may utilize in their research:
- History. This includes social history, military history, and geopolitical history. Knowledge of certain periods of history (Medieval Britain, for example) may be helpful for portraying believable fantasy environments.
- Mythology. Fantasy worlds often feature unique divine pantheons, liturgies, and legends. Authors may take inspiration from research in real-world myth.
- Cartography. A staple of fantasy fiction, a map serves as a visual aid and clarifying tool for both the author and the reader. Research into real-life maps may help an author to depict their world realistically, or else inspire their world-building.
From the forefront, I believe that fantasy authors are a cohesive information community, evidenced by the interactions they have with each other and by the inspiration they take both from each other and from the world’s history (for example, see this interview with George R.R. Martin, in which he references as inspirations both the earlier works of Tolkien and the real-life War of the Roses). Whether professional or amateur, fantasy authors have plentiful information grounds. In Information Services Today: An Introduction, Third Edition, Karen Fisher and Crystal Fulton describe information grounds as “informal, offline and online social settings” (Hirsh, 2022, p. 43). Within the fantasy community, these include physical spaces such as the fantasy/sci-fi convention Worldcon, and digital spaces like the “Worldbuilding” subreddit.
Despite its occasional reputation for isolation, I believe the fantasy author information community can be described using the five characteristics of information communities, as defined by Fisher and Fulton.
First, the community involves diverse participants working towards a common goal. This is most obvious in Dungeons and Dragons communities, where collaboration is intrinsic in the process of the gameplay. Novelists, too, collaborate and discuss ideas for their fantasy worlds on information grounds such as Reddit. Subreddits like r/fantasywriters, r/imaginarymaps, and r/rpg represent a slice of these information-sharing communities.
Second, the community forms around its member’s needs. Convention seminars and internet posts offer immediate and specific aid. For more professional authors, libraries offer categories in history, mythology, or whatever subject the author requires research.
Third, the community exploits emerging technologies and their capabilities. Once again, communities like Reddit offer instant gratification and wide reach.
Fourth, the community has the ability to transcend barriers to information sharing. Conventions and online communities allow fantasy authors to exchange information across all sorts of barriers: between professional and amateur authors, between authors from America and authors from Europe, etc.
Fifth, the community clearly fosters social connectedness. The ostensible isolation of fantasy authorship is challenged by the enthusiasm of fantasy authors for connecting with each other in the name of research, collaboration, and fun.
I’ve chosen this information community because I’m intrigued by the process in which fantasy authors create their worlds. Imagine an author trying to devise an intriguing mythology for her fantasy landscape. She may begin by researching in a library the ancient Egyptian pantheon and its associated myths. From there, she may construct a partial mythology, and then post it to a subreddit (“r/worldbuilding: Here’s my Egyptian-inspired world’s mythology. Set kills Osiris, but instead of resurrecting him, Isis instead kills Set and then takes on the mantle of supreme goddess. Thoughts?“). After that, she may discuss her idea at a convention or at her next Dungeons and Dragons session, perhaps picking up a new novel to look into on the way.
With a wealth of information at their fingertips and an active and creative community around them, fantasy authors may make for a fascinating information community.
References
Hirsh, S. (2022). Information Services Today: An Introduction, 3rd Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.