Castles!

I had the opportunity this weekend to go visit Warwick Castle in England, and I have to admit that not only was it breathtaking, but that going to a place like that can invaluable in getting experience with which to write.

There's a scene in my novel which takes place on the ramparts of a city wall (not a castle, but hey, you have to work with what you've got), and I spent a solid 5-10 minutes standing on the ramparts of Warwick, gazing out over the town and envisioning it unfolding before my eyes. Sure, I held up the group I was with and caught some weird looks from other tourists wondering what on earth I was staring at, but I now have a much better feel for what it would actually be like to stand on a city wall and watch a city burn, which is important if I mean to write a scene of such.

I also got to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace, which aside from being a sort of literary mecca has some very cool period-style buildings that made good research material as well. In short, England is a great place to research fantasy, and as much as I hate to admit it, doing a little research can be very helpful for one's writing. Part of the appeal of writing fantasy, to me, is the opportunity to create a world from scratch--but like it or not nobody ever creates a world completely from scratch, and it pays to understand the elements you borrow from history or theology or wherever else as much as possible before you use them.