The art of fantasy world creation: Interpretation

Why aren't the top fiction writers novels written by computer software AI?

Writing and developing fictional stories or adventures is a human endeavor that requires expressing human experiences and interpretation by other humans.

Writing and telling stories is an art.

When I make tools, I make them for humans, not for computers. Even my NPC AI pieces require interpretation.

Interpretation is the one main thing that computers cannot fabricate very well.

Interpretation is explaining or telling the meaning of something else. It is elucidating and appreciating something in light of individual belief or judgment. Interpretation is apprehending and representing by art, illustrations, or sounds.

Humans experience many things in life. Common experiences form a basis of common language. Different experiences form a basis of variations. Because of fiction writing involves both common language and personal language, the interpretation of fiction words involves both common translation and, probably more important, variations translating into subjective meaning.

In short, top fiction writers use universal language and experience to create easily interpreted, but interpreted meaning individually into a unique story world by the reader, observer, or participant.

For example, lets look at Stephen King's horror novel "It".

"It", the novel, was very popular when I was in high school. This was long before the TV series or movies.

Although popular because of common universal language and expressions, every instance of the interpretation of "It" the novel before any movie, TV series, or graphic novel was entirely subjective and resulted in each individual reader's interpretation of King's words. Every instance in each person had a very unique subjective version of "Pennywise the Dancing Clown." The first novel did not have any pictures, sounds, nor music to create the fictional world, so everyone interpreted the words written in each person's own manner.

Why do I focus on interpretation rather than objective details?

Because with interpretation of meaning, the fictional world opens up to limitless interpretations of details and their meaning. If I were to focus on trying to create objective minutely detailed data, then doing so would be extremely finite.

Random dream and interpretation creation using Dream Generator tool and added to the Dreadmarsh.

This page will be an artistic creation furthering the story began using the Environmental Mechanisms book, creating some intellectual property [IP], so first some legal stuff.

©2020 by Ken Wickham. All rights reserved.

[This webpage or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise for any other person—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.]

In this project, the tool Dream Generator seems like something fun to use.

Dream Generator, which is one of the tools found in Character Mechanisms
Roll 10, 3 = 10 location person, place, thing, idea, 3 crossroad options, choices

So, the dream is of a location, a crossroad, which represents options or choices.

What else is in the dream?

Roll 8, 11 = 8 insects fear, anxiety; 11 termite attack on the soul or being.

This might mean that in the dream of the crossroads the dreamer sees termites eating a fallen log. An interpretation is that the person is at a point in life where the character must make a choice because the character is feeling attacks on the character's soul or being.

One more roll!

Roll 4, 2 = 4 clothing perceived, public self; new clothing new attitude or guise.

All together, this is the dream.

The character comes to a crossroad. Down one path lies a fallen log covered with termites eating the log. Down another path on a rock folded nicely sit a set of new clothing.

An interpretation for the character is that a point in life is coming near where the character will feel an attack on the character's soul or being when a choice must be made to change one's attitude or guise in order to pick the correct path in life.

Let me now apply this dream to that location created on 2/19/20 Neredhos Mareskos, the Dreadmarsh. Since it is a dream, I'll place it before the location.

Dream of crossroad and entrance into Neredhos Mareskos

©2020 by Ken Wickham. All rights reserved.

The character dreams of coming to a crossroad. Down one path lies a fallen log covered with termites eating the log. Down another path on a rock folded nicely sit a set of new clothing.

An interpretation for the character is that a point in life is coming near where the character will feel an attack on the character's soul or being when a choice must be made to change one's attitude or guise in order to pick the correct path in life.

...

The Neredhos Mareskos is a war-torn dead forest marsh.

On a clear and sunny day, the characters enter Neredhos Mareskos—a war-torn dead forest marshy area located between dead forest mountains and sandy hills.

The Neredhos Mareskos Giant Pale Violet Red Beetle inhabits the dead forest marsh.

The characters hear creaking!

Something in the present time is very important.

A small swarm of Meroedhos Mareskos Giant Pale Violet Red Beetles are attacking a swamp alligator with a pounce, stamp, ram, and/or slam. A creaking sound is heard echoing across the war-torn, dead forest marsh.

Mythology: Why and how myths are created

Myths Series
Myth making: my plan
What are myths, legends, and folklore? Definitions (Quotes)
Joseph Cambell : Myths

Myths: Types and functions

Mythology: How they are created

In the first post, I looked at the definitions followed by quotes from the late scholar Joseph Cambell concerning myths. In the last post, I looked at several types of myths and how they function in societies. In this post I begin using a thread from the last posts concerning mythical heroes. How do heroes come to be.

There are explanations of how myths of great heroes come to be.

1. Based on a few truths and real experiences of real life people, whose stories are exaggerated (hyperbole) and change over time through oral retelling and alterations.
2. Mythical beings are allegories (metaphors, symbols) of real natural phenomena.
3. Mythical heroes are personifications of inanimate objects or forces.
4. Myths and rituals arise together. Myths explain and support rituals.

From a mythology stand point some heroes were real people, some are allegories, some personifications, and some arose in hand with rituals. Heroes play an important part in society as mentioned in the last post for helping to bring meaning to life, serve as examples, and justify cultural activities to name a few from the last post.

I assume that if there were no real people to serve as examples for the myths that fictional represented heroes can take the place of real people. Why did these myth stories become good mediums for ancient and modern people to transmit the stories?

Why are myths good mediums for transmitting knowledge?

1.Easy to remember in an illiterate society in which ideas cannot be written nor read.
2.Approachable and somewhat understandable by people of any level of intelligence, including people for whom a philosophical discourse would be incomprehensible.
3.Stimulating to the imagination and feelings, where the effect can be more profound and life-changing than that from intellectual comprehension.

http://www.mythome.org/mythII.html

In a time when books were rare or non-existent, stories preserve ancient knowledge. The mythical stories are many times entertaining and envoke feelings which may be understandable to less educated as well as highly educated people. The myths of old were the movies, TV shows, and dramas of the common people of the past. They were the comic and manga books.

Along with the functions and types of myths, how can I understand by interpreting myths? This sort of mixes up all of the proceeding lists and summarizes it 12 perspectives.

Ways to Interpret Myths

1.  As a belief system.
2.  As disguised history.
3.  As disguised philosophy or allegory.
4.  As fables illustrating moral truths.
5.  As allegories of natural events.
6.  As pre-scientific explanation.
7.  As charters for customs, institutions, or beliefs.
8.  As religious power, or metaphors for the unknown.
9.  As expressions of religious rituals.
10.  As examples of psychological archetypes.
11.  As stories.
12.  As embodying irreconcilable structural conflicts in social systems.

http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/ways.htm

Now knowing why myths are created, how can I create a myth?

I found a simple process found in wiki-how. These instructions give more specific keys into helping to craft a myth, together with all of the prior points kept in mind.

How to create mythology

1. Decide where you want your myth to be set.
2. Start to create your characters. 
3. Understand the conventions of myths in the culture you are created; most are passed down orally 'by speech' and this means they have features of speech, such as repetition 'Fee, Fi, Fo Fum...' or the rule of three
4. Come up with appropriate names.
5. Don't make it overly complicated, at least initially.
6. End your story with a solution to the question or problem, such as 'And that is how The God (BLANK) Created Rain.'

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Interesting-Mythology

Summary

I think that by now I have a good working frame to try creating a few experimental myths for Aioskoru. All the reading and study can't replace actually creating mythology. In my next posts I will revisit my initial creation myth which is very small.

I'll decide what limits that the mythology will keep and which cultural perspective to begin with initially.