McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Making it real

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groinkick:
Alright I'm working on creating a story with vampires, werewolves, wizards ect...  I really want to put a lot of great details into the world.  I want the readers to be able to discuss it with their friends, and just really believe in it.  Here is my main problem.  I'm having a hard time coming up with reasons on why the supernatural world exists, yet in real life we don't see it.  Get what I'm saying?  I'm trying to come up with believable reasons on why everyday people don't see it going on around them.

A lot of stories just kind of ignore it or only slightly touch on it.  I want the reader to be able to fall into the story to the point that they think "Wow this stuff is believable, it could actually happen like this and you would never know it"

Not a small task I know.  Any ideas?  Thank you.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: groinkick on March 12, 2015, 07:22:32 PM ---A lot of stories just kind of ignore it or only slightly touch on it.  I want the reader to be able to fall into the story to the point that they think "Wow this stuff is believable, it could actually happen like this and you would never know it"

--- End quote ---

How long has the supernatural been around in your setting ?

One way of plausibly having all that stuff be secret is if there was very little or none of it up to fairly recently.

groinkick:
Good idea.  I was considering that there used to be stuff that happened in the past (which is where the lore came from) but it has been silent for a very long time.  I know how I'd do it. 

Griffyn612:
I don't read much urban fantasy other than the Dresden Files.  How is it handled in other series?  I imagine the easiest thing is just to say that everyone agrees to keep it secret to avoid witch hunts and mobs, just like in the Dresden series and the Underworld franchise.  that way you've got the built-in plot of someone trying to go public with it, and the debate between the two factions.

Let me ask, are you going to have elves or elf-types in the series?  Not necessarily Fae, but something similar? 

OZ:
Many books and/or series have a group of powerful supernaturals whose job it is to keep the supernatural a secret. This may include such things as repairing damage, wiping and/or changing memories and creating cover up stories in the media. They may also be responsible for punishing or destroying anything that tries to make the supernatural knowledge public. Sometimes it is a governmental agency that adds its legal power to the supernatural power in keeping secrets. The Pax Arcana series has a massive spell in place (called the Pax Arcana) that keeps the secret. I don't remember all the different things the spell does but it keeps the majority of the population in the dark about what's going on.

How big is the supernatural in your world? Are there vampire nightclubs, werewolf biker gangs and huge bazaars run by demons or are there just a few scattered supernaturals that are easy to disbelieve? It takes a lot more, especially in the age of cell phone cameras, to cover up a major magical battle that leaves buildings a smoking ruin and pedestrians half-eaten than it does to cover up the disappearance of a homeless person that has been preyed upon by something hungry. Is your supernatural world going to be loud and bright or subtle and hidden in the shadows?

I like Neurovore's answer as well. If the magic has been gone for a while but is slowly coming back or was stopped by some cataclysmic event (the sinking of Atlantis for instance) and is brought back by something equally large then people still be unaware that it exists.

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