Writability: setting

Showing posts with label setting. Show all posts

How to Worldbuild (Without Info-dumping)

Note: Don't forget you have until 6/22 at midnight EST to enter for a chance to win a first 250 critique featured here on Writability!

So fun fact: worldbuilding is frequently my biggest struggle, particularly in early drafts. Which is really too bad because I love writing books that require a ton of it, so it’s really no surprise that I tend to get lots of worldbuilding notes from CPs, betas and later readers late in the revision process.

Good news is even though I have to work extra hard to get it right, I actually love worldbuilding. But boy, it can be a major challenge sometimes, especially when it comes to figuring out how to balance building a world without burying readers in a world information avalanche.

So how do you worldbuild without info-dumping? The key, for me at least, is to think of worldbuilding as layered. Some layers may include:

Architecture/physical setting
Weather
Language
Clothing/style
Food
Names/locations
History
Laws/Government
Technology
Traditions
Cultural mannerisms

And so on, but you get the idea.

As I go through my WIP during revision rounds I try to focus on one layer at a time, or a couple related layers at a time. This can be as simple as going through and paying attention to what everyone is wearing and making adjustments as necessary, while ignoring the rest of the story. And doing the same for food. And dropping a tidbit of history here and a mannerism there.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and your world shouldn’t be built all at once. Worldbuilding is a gradual, ongoing process—it’s an offhanded comment about a failed historical ruler, a city named after a victorious battle, a particular style of dress, your MC’s favorite dessert, and whether it’s frigid and snowy or hot and arid.

Secondly, any information you give should be woven in organically and make sense in context. It’s unlikely that in the middle of a war, your MC is going to think about formal menswear (unless everyone is wearing formal menswear to war, which I suppose isn’t out of the question hypothetically speaking), but if your MC goes to a wedding it’d make sense to think about what people are wearing. Similarly, we don’t need a full accounting of your world’s history from inception to present day—instead, it can be really effective to give snippets here and there as they become relevant.

Think of worldbuilding elements as spices. A pinch here and there as you go along to add layers to your world and make it vivid and engaging is what you should be aiming for—but a mountain of salt on your first page is too much too fast.

Have you tried worldbuilding in layers?

Twitter-sized bites:

Writer @Ava_Jae says, "worldbuilding is a gradual, ongoing process." What do you think? (Click to tweet)

How do you worldbuild without burying readers in information? @Ava_Jae says it's all about layers. (Click to tweet)

World-building Tip: The Ripple Effect

Photo credit: Kansas Poetry (Patrick) on Flickr

So this is something I’ve really had to think about lately, while revising one of my WIPs and preparing to revise another WIP, which is also in need of major world-building.

Once you’ve established your world-building elements, whether it’s technology, magic, setting, culture, etc., step two is to isolate each of those major elements and think about how it affects your protag's world.

For example, if you’re incorporating some form of magic into your world, you need to think about the implications. Does everyone use magic? If so, is it considered normal? If so, is it considered unnatural or weird for someone to not use magic? If this is a more modern-day setting, do they have technology that works with the magic, or are they two very separate entities? Do they cancel each other out?

This works the same way with technology or fun gadgets. Say you have a Sci-Fi world with a technology that extends lifespan. How does that affect population growth? Does everyone have access to that technology? Is it free, or extremely expensive, so only the wealthy can afford it? How does this affect society’s perception of youth and old age? Does it affect how society views illness, whether chronic, terminal, or the flu?

The ripple effect demonstrated here, to me, is key to effective and believable world-building. Every element of world-building you write into your novel has some sort of influence on your characters’ world—and sometimes it takes a little extra brainstorming to realize that any one element has more of an effect than you may have originally imagined when you first dreamed up the element.

Can you think of any ripple effect world-building examples from a book, movie or TV show?

Twitter-sized bites:

Have you considered the ripple effect of your worldbuilding? Writer @Ava_Jae discusses this important step. (Click to tweet)

"Once you’ve established your worldbuilding elements...think about how it affects your protag's world." (Click to tweet)

World-building Tip: 15 Details to Remember

Photo credit: Stuck in Customs on Flickr

After building a new planet from scratch for a recently completed WIP, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve spent the past many months learning a hell of a lot about world-building.

While I’ve nowhere near mastered the art (I don’t think you ever master any aspect of writing), I did come to realize through many revisions and devouring many richly built books, that a major factor in building a fully-realized world involves getting to know your world down to the intricate details.

While there are probably hundreds of details that go into building a world for your novel, I’ve narrowed down a list of fifteen particularly important ones (at least to me), to help you develop your world.

Setting. Where is your world? What is the landscape like? If you’re building from scratch, it is a Pangea? An island? Several continents? The lay of the land affects just about everything, and thus should be figured out pretty early on.

Climate. Does your story take place in a humid rainforest? A desert? Somewhere mountainous with arid, frozen fields? A riverside oasis? Does the climate vary, or is it primarily one type? Climate plays a huge role in the development of culture, food, clothing, etc.

Other cultures/countries. One of my favorite elements about some of my most-adored fantasy books like Shadow & Bone, The Girl of Fire and Thorns and Graceling is the presence of several cultures. To me, this really helps flesh out the world, because we learn that our MC’s surroundings isn’t all that there is to it. Are there other cultures in your world besides the one your MC is in? Do they get along? Ignore each other? Clash frequently? How are they different? These are all questions you can answer to help to fully flesh out a rich and interesting world.

Social structure. What are the classes like? Is your society primarily one class, or are there different castes? Do the classes intermingle, or is that forbidden?

Clothes. What do the people wear? Does it depend on social class or culture? Remember that whatever the normal attire is, it should be climate-appropriate.

Government. Is it one government? Several? Is it a monarchy, democracy, oligarchy, anarchy, republic, some combination thereof, or something else entirely?

Technology. As far as technological process goes, where is your society as a whole? Are they the equivalent of medieval times? Some form of steampunk? A modern-day equivalent? Far advanced?

Language. Do your characters speak English or something else? Does everyone speak the same language? Does the language differ depending on formalities? Are there dead languages? You don’t necessarily have to make up a language (although if you’re a nerd like me, you very well might), but language barriers are certainly something to consider when building your world.

Measurements. This is one I didn’t really think about until it occurred to me that minutes, weeks, months, feet, inches and miles didn’t exist in the world I was building. How do your people measure time? Distance? Temperature? Knowing is more important than you might think.

Food. This is a fun one, and can be a great reflection of the world. What is a typical meal for your characters? Does it differ depending on social classes or ethnicities? It’s likely that the type of food your characters eat will be heavily influenced by their surroundings (for example, coastal cities will probably eat a lot of seafood while landlocked people will depend more on foods that are grown or hunted), which is why knowing your setting and climate early on is so important.

History. How did your society come to be? Who are important figures for your people? What historical heroes and villains have played a part in your world? These types of details are great for naming cities, events or months (July and August, for example, come from Julius and Augustus Caesar, and we all know who Washington D.C. and Washington state were named after). This will also affect relationships between countries or territories (assuming you have more than one), laws, customs, legends, etc.

Religion. What religions are prevalent in your world? Does everyone share the same religion (either by choice, custom or law), or does it vary? Do they believe in science or something more concrete than deities? Do they have monotheistic, polytheistic or atheistic beliefs? Is religion (or not believing in a religion) taboo?

Customs. This covers just about everything from daily rituals (like shaving, brushing teeth, or even praying) to larger-scale yearly rituals, such as birthdays (if they celebrate them), holidays or other life events that are considered significant. What is a funeral like? Or a birth? Is there an age that’s particularly important to celebrate? Are there significant historical dates or religious beliefs that determine important days? Do they believe that celebrations shouldn’t be done at all?

Values. What is important to your society? Beauty? Physical strength? Intellect? Education? Athletics? Wealth (and if so, what determines wealth? It doesn’t necessarily have to be currency)? Are material goods important, or is something less tangible like faith, relationships or power more important? Do values clash between countries or cultures?

Ethnicities. Is your world monoethnic? Are there several ethnicities, and if so, where did they come from? Is it location-based? Are certain ethnicities considered more desirable than others? Are any ethnicities persecuted or worshipped?

There are just a couple factors to consider when building a world for your novel. What details make a book’s world come alive to you?

Twitter-sized bites:

Building a world for your WIP? Here are 15 details to remember while developing your setting. (Click to tweet)

Effective world-building isn't easy, but writer @Ava_Jae shares 15 details important to any richly built setting. (Click to tweet)

Writing Tip: Describe with Telling Details—Setting

Photo credit: Armando Maynez on Flickr

I've often found that you can tell a new writer from an experienced one by the way they handle description.

New writers often feel as though they have to describe everything. They go on paragraph after paragraph (or even several pages) going through every last minuscule detail of every setting (and/or every character), oftentimes stopping the action altogether to paint a perfect picture of the character’s surroundings.

To be fair, it’s an easy mistake to make, and one that I readily admit I made with my first novel. You see, writers understand how important it is to paint a picture for the reader and make the setting come alive. What many new writers often mistakingly believe, however, is that they must describe the hell out of everything in order to make the readers see.

But the truth is, that’s not the case at all. You don’t need to describe everything in order to create full images for the reader—you just need to describe a couple important telling details.

What I mean by important telling details are specific aspects of your setting that embody the spirit of the surroundings. Ideally, you’ll want details that appeal to all five senses (although you don’t need to use all five at once).

Because I’m about to re-read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo before reading the sequel Siege and Storm, I thought I’d show you a great example of an effective description of one of the many places the main character Alina encounters in the richly decorated world that Ms. Bardugo created. And I’ve bolded examples of telling details:

“For a moment, all my fear disappeared, eclipsed by the beauty that surrounded me. The tent’s inner walls were draped with cascades of bronze silk that caught the glimmering candlelight from chandeliers sparkling high above. The floors were covered in rich rugs and furs. Along the walls, shimmering silken partitions separated compartments where Grisha clustered in their vibrant kefta. Some stood talking, others lounged on cushions drinking tea. Two were bent over a game of chess. From somewhere, I heard the strings of a balalaika being plucked. The Duke’s estate had been beautiful, but it was a melancholy beauty of dusty rooms and peeling paint, the echo of something that had once been grand. The Grisha tent was like nothing I had ever seen before, a place alive with power and wealth.”

—Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, page 40.

One paragraph. That’s all Ms. Bardugo uses to describe the bulk of the Grisha tent, and yet I think we can agree that by the end of the paragraph, you have a great sense of not only Alina’s current surroundings, but how it differs from the surroundings she’s accustomed to (ergo: the Duke’s estate).

The fact of the matter is, you don’t need very much to build a rich setting. You just need to describe a handful of the right details and let the reader fill in the rest.

What are some of your favorite settings from books? Do you remember any of the telling details that made it stand out to you?

Twitter-sized bites:

Is describing everything necessary to paint a rich setting for the reader? One writer says no. (Click to tweet).

What are telling details and why are they important? Writer @Ava_Jae explains. (Click to tweet)