One might point out that at the start Alma is equally stereotypical and on the face of it just as unlikely to last long in Deadwood.
Well, she's equally stereotypical, but it's blindingly obvious that she's got the measure of the town much better than her husband and is likely to outlast him by some time.
Would you care to provide a definition, cos I doubt you think the person who wrote the Wikipedia page does either.
You're right, that page is nonsense. Worldbuilding is anything an author does to make the world of their story more convincing. All stories worldbuild, as Dan is so very fond of pointing out; but historical/geographically remote stories typically need more worldbuilding than contemporary stories, and fantasy/sf stories typically need to convey more information again. It's not a unique characteristic of sf, then, but the term tends to be predominantly used in sf circles because sf often has to work harder at it than other kinds of fiction.
So to say 'it doesn't worldbuild in the sfnal' sense is meaningless. There is no sfnal sense; there's just more worldbuilding or less, and good worldbuilding or bad.
Unless you're of the opinion that the show would be immeasurably improved by including maps and historical notes with the DVDs. :P
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Date: 2006-06-08 02:46 pm (UTC)Well, she's equally stereotypical, but it's blindingly obvious that she's got the measure of the town much better than her husband and is likely to outlast him by some time.
Would you care to provide a definition, cos I doubt you think the person who wrote the Wikipedia page does either.
You're right, that page is nonsense. Worldbuilding is anything an author does to make the world of their story more convincing. All stories worldbuild, as Dan is so very fond of pointing out; but historical/geographically remote stories typically need more worldbuilding than contemporary stories, and fantasy/sf stories typically need to convey more information again. It's not a unique characteristic of sf, then, but the term tends to be predominantly used in sf circles because sf often has to work harder at it than other kinds of fiction.
So to say 'it doesn't worldbuild in the sfnal' sense is meaningless. There is no sfnal sense; there's just more worldbuilding or less, and good worldbuilding or bad.
Unless you're of the opinion that the show would be immeasurably improved by including maps and historical notes with the DVDs. :P