If it might be relevant to your story, consider the available types of medicine for your setting. A well-off, high-population area might have “big city” medicine with modern machines to diagnose and treat patients. Small towns might have nothing more exciting than an X-ray machine. In a fantasy story, medicines might come from magic and could be scarce or abundant. If your setting has medicine types that are different from other areas, it can distinguish it, which will help make it feel more like a character.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson in preparing to write settings that feel like characters – my A to Z Challenge theme for 2015. If you long to discover more in-depth details on this topic, I have a .99 cents (US currency) ebook available on Amazon and Smashwords.
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Question of the day: What is your favorite super power of either Superman, Flash, or Wonder Woman? (X-ray vision, for example.)
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Hi J – I hope my brain isn’t that blank … but you’re right about checking out hospital/care help around .. as too medication .. I’d love to morph in and out .. cheers Hilary
Hilary has this post to share X is for x-factor number of oddities …
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LOL!
My brain might be blank after this challenge.
Perfect! A character in a big city with clinics and major hospitals will have such a different take on illness than one in a small town with only veterinarian. Great X word!
Find on Twitter: cleemckenzie
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My assistant and I just had this conversation last week. She was reading/ editing a fantasy for someone, and one of the characters was “sick” (pregnant, but doesn’t know it). And she remarked that it was odd on an island full of magic and healers that no one was freaking out that someone suddenly had an incurable illness. They were looking into treating her, yes. But no one was freaking out with worry about it being contagious or anything. We were discussing if that felt realistic, the calm response of, “hmm, well, I’ll just consult someone else, while you go back to school and interact with other children who have never been sick.” On one hand, perhaps it would be, because healers wouldn’t think about spreading. On the other hand, if they already can’t treat one, why would they want to risk being unable to treat 2, or 6, or… well, we all know how an epidemic works in real life.
Interesting thought and a good use of X.
Yvonne
Yvonne V has this post to share X is for Xeriscape
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Thank you very much.
That first meme photo is hilarious! Great advice about evaluating medicinal practices for a story–especially relevant in historical fiction.
Sabina has this post to share On The #AtoZChallenge
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So true! These are great. Perfect theme too. LOL
Mina B. has this post to share A-Z: Y is for The Yorkshire Witch and Z is for Edward Zane Carroll Judson
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