Warriors Fanfics: Specialized Writing Guide

BASE | Distinct Setting

July 18, 2019

This section covers using settings not or seldom mentioned in canon, and what they can do for storytelling. It is more so about taking a new approach to typical fanfics rather than a general guide on setting. As a Base section, it has little to no examples drawn from canon Warriors.

The setting is something that must be decided before a story is written. Your characters will look and act different and have different problems depending on where they are in the vast cosmos of fiction and reality. It can have just as much an impact on a story as a good character or an unexpected ending. In many fictional universes, the setting is the entire reason for the plot's direction and its character's actions. In Warriors, it is somewhat true. Some of the events are a direct result of its setting.

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THE SETTING OF WARRIORS

The forest and lake territories are what comes to mind when we think of Warriors' setting. While they were established by StarClan, one could argue that the clans would have no reason to fight if they stopped perpetuating their own political conflicts. Especially since there is little competition and enough food to allow these clans to exist at the same time. Beyond that, the setting provides weather hazards, other dangerous animals, and the occasional twoleg problem. There are natural landmarks that help divide territories, like a river and tall hills, and there are central focal points for cats to have nonviolent, plot-related conflicts in. Overall, it is not a very difficult setting from a storytelling standpoint. It is also a very recognizable one. There are many trees, open fields , and quiet human settlements nearby. The lake setting is the same, but with a lake doing most of the dividing over natural landmarks. A setting like this almost seems too familiar. That is because it is based on a real-life location in England. Same general climate and same wildlife. If it was not for the layout and lack of a name, we could say Warriors takes place in England instead of a fictional location.

Now why do that, all that work in dividing territories and building up the map via conversation and story (and the literal drawn map), only to stick so close to real world inspiration? For starters, the authors were trying to keep the setting as easy as possible to understand in short bursts of text. The Erins, like many other YA writers, use lengthy, wordy descriptions when talking about setting. Love them or hate them, they are not needed to describe a forest or a lake. But these lengthy expositions can build upon a setting that is easy to recognize with unique details and quirks. They can also be woven flawlessly into battle scenes and conversations, where the attention is not on the surroundings. It is much easier to describe a cat jumping off an oak tree than a cat leaping from the bark of a disturbed treant. This setting is also easy to write about without doing much research. This is not a knock on the Erins, but they write a lot of books. How much time could they possibly dedicate to worldbuilding biodiverse fictional settings, or learning about the weather patterns of mountainsides or jungles? There are a lot of Warriors books. It is easy to describe a forest; everyone knows what a forest looks like.

Do the forest and lake territories do anything wrong, aside from their crimes against geological possibility? No. But these plain settings can limit what we do with them in the future. Aside from a bad snowstorm or a flood from rain (or a forest fire), what can be done to make this setting have an impact on the plot that we have not already seen? A nondestructive one, on that note? Look at BloodClan. They were located in a suburban alley. The less hospitable setting had a major impact on how they handled themselves and the groups they came into contact with. Dropping a normal clan in this setting could have an equal impact, especially since what little culture they have is a direct result of their religion's influence on the setting.