Writability: world-building

Showing posts with label world-building. Show all posts

On Writing Food

Food is one of my favorite parts of world building, both when I'm reading and writing. I think this is partially because food, at least for me, has always been the most visible part of my cultural identity—the Caribbean Cuban food I grew up with had always been something that set me apart from my (mostly white) peers, and it's something heavily celebrated in my family. We love our food.

A very #Cuban Mother's Day dinner was a success! And so very delicious. #foodstagram

A post shared by Ava Jae (@ava_jae) on May 10, 2015 at 5:13pm PDT

So I suppose it's not really a surprise I've found food so fun to read and write about, because I understand how intimately food ties into identity and culture. And honestly, it's just a plain fun part of world building.

What your characters eat will largely depend on their environment, culture, and economic status, so their food can say a lot about them. In Beyond the Red for example, Eros's first exposure to the luxurious, imported food Kora regularly eats is a huge reflection of the two very different lives they led before their paths crossed. In a WIP I'm working on with Cuban and Mexican characters, where their cuisine intersects and diverges is a marker of the way cultures in proximity interact and influence each other.

The nice thing about writing food is you can usually slip it in naturally without much effort—after all, characters have to eat. Meal times provide a great opportunity to build the character's world and culture and subtly reveal details about them. What's their favorite food? What do they hate to eat? Do they like to savor their food, or do they just eat whatever because they have to? Food can be a point where your characters come together or diverge depending on what you want to accomplish with it.

Finally, food provides an easy place to put details that can give the world a sense of verisimilitude. After all, every place on earth has some kind of local cuisine—and your world should be no different.

How do you use food in your writing?

Twitter-sized bite:

What do your characters eat? Author @Ava_Jae discusses this fun aspect of world building and how it can be used. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: How to Make a Fantasy Map

So I've covered world building and fantasy languages, and now I'm adding one more world building tool: fantasy maps! Here's your step-by-step guide to my map creation process.

RELATED LINKS:

Have you ever made a map for a WIP?

Twitter-sized bite:

Think a map may be helpful for your WIP but don't know where to start? @Ava_Jae vlogs her step-by-step process. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: World Building Part 4

Continuing from last week's part three vlog, here's the fourth and final vlog in the mini-series focused just on world building.

RELATED LINKS:

What are examples of your favorite book worlds?

Twitter-sized bites:

Struggling w/ world building? Author @Ava_Jae completes her 4-part world building vlog series with part 4. (Click to tweet)

How do you build the world of your book without info-dumping? @Ava_Jae explains in today's vlog. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: World Building Part 3

Continuing from last week's part two vlog, here's part three of a four part series focused just on world building.

RELATED LINKS:

Have you utilized any of these elements in your world building?

Twitter-sized bite:

Struggling w/ world building? Author @Ava_Jae continues her 4-part world building vlog series with part 3. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: World Building Part 2

Continuing from last week's new mini-series kickoff, here's part two of a four part series focused just on world building.

RELATED LINKS:

What elements do you like to think about first when building the world of your book?

Twitter-sized bite:

Struggling w/ world building? Author @Ava_Jae continues her 4-part world building vlog series with part 2. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: World Building Part 1

You asked, I answered—here's the first of a four part series focused just on world building. Struggling to build the setting in your book? Here's a good place to start. :)

RELATED LINKS:

Where do you begin with world building?

Twitter-sized bite:

Not sure where to start w/ world building? Author @Ava_Jae kicks off her 4-part world building vlog series. (Click to tweet)

World Building: Insider vs. Outsider

Photo credit: daniel.schiersner on Flickr

So I've been reading a decent amount of Fantasy lately (A Darker Shade of Magic, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (for the fifth time!), Sword and Verse, and The Wrath and the Dawn, to name a few), and it got me thinking about world building. Specifically, about two very different strategies various authors take when building their fantastical worlds.

The first provides a sort of outsider perspective, often (though not always) from a neutral, third-person narration, even if the characters themselves are from the world being built. This perspective explains a lot of background and details, delving into why things are the way they are, how things work, etc. while continuing with the story—almost as if the narrator is aware that someone outside of the world is reading the story and could use background information. This can be a really effective way to give readers a large scope of the world and everything involved. The good and bad, past and present, etc. is woven into the text alongside the story, and readers often walk away with a detailed understanding of what the world is like.

The second is a subtler approach, and provides what I like to think of as an insider perspective. Often, (though again, not always), this is done with a first person perspective, in which the protagonist experiences the world but doesn't necessarily explain every detail. Here, the presumption is that the readers will be able to put the gaps together themselves, because the protagonist, who is part of the world, wouldn't realistically feel a need to explain things that are obvious and natural to them. Instead, cultural tidbits are revealed to the reader as the protagonist experiences them, and are often left for the reader to interpret with minimal explanation.

Both methods require careful balance. With the outsider perspective, background information and explanations can easily become tedious and significantly slow down the plot if the author doesn't balance it with enough action and story. With the insider perspective, the world building can be confusing and incomplete if the author doesn't weave enough information into the book—the key is to give just enough information to immerse readers fully into the story world without going overboard.

In my own writing, I definitely tend toward the insider perspective strategy, though I think both can be exceptionally effective when handled well. Ultimately which strategy you'll use as a writer will depend on preference, but it's another way to think about crafting a world that'll live in your readers' imaginations forever.

Which method do you tend to prefer in your writing or reading?

Twitter-sized bites:

Struggling with world building? @Ava_Jae shares two strategies for approaching story world creation. (Click to tweet)

World Building Tip: Holidays and Rituals

Photo credit: mine

So in the US, yesterday was Thanksgiving, and today is Black Friday, both of which include very different rituals that come about this time of year, every year. This weekend and onward, holiday decorations will go up—lights and ribbons and fake presents, etc. will twinkle around public places until they get taken down in January. Soon it’ll be Hanukkah, and Christmas, and Kwanzaa, and New Years Eve—all of which are celebrated in different ways with different traditions.

So, naturally, it got me thinking about world building. Because all of that right there? It’s world building IRL—and each celebration and way of celebrating completely depends on various people’s ethnicities, geography, religion and personal traditions.

For example, I’ve always lived in places with cold winters (with one minor exception of a year of school in the south, but even then my winter break was spent at home). My associations with Christmas, then, involve hoping for snow, hot drinks, evergreen trees, bundling up in winter coats and scarves, and wintry decorations. For most of my life, I celebrated Christmas with the Cuban side of my family, so we’d eat frijoles negros (black beans) and rice, pork, plantains, flan, and we’d finish off the night with café con leche (Cuban coffee latte)—all alongside more traditional American sides and desserts (salad, casseroles, apple pie, etc.).

Those traditions and associations are based off a mix of factors: geography, religion, ethnicity, and nationality. And that’s just me.

While I don’t frequently see holidays mentioned outside of contemporary novels, I do think these kinds of traditions can be a fantastic way to add another layer to your world building regardless of the genre. Holidays and specifically the way we celebrate them are so incredibly varied—and sometimes this can be a really nice detail to add a little verisimilitude to your novel.

Have you considered this aspect of world building in your writing?

Twitter-sized bites:

Have you incorporated holidays and rituals into your world building? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

World building tip: what holidays and rituals does your story world have? #writetip (Click to tweet)

Vlog: On the Info Dump

World building can be tough, especially when it comes to conveying necessary information. But how do you get the info you need across without info dumping? Today I share some tips.

RELATED LINKS:

What strategies do you have for avoiding info dumps and gradually conveying information throughout your WIP?

Twitter-sized bites:

Struggling to build your story world w/o info dumps? @Ava_Jae vlogs strategies for gradually conveying information. (Click to tweet)

When world building, @Ava_Jae says to "think of your information as a cooking spice." What do you think? #vlog (Click to tweet)

Are You Using Your Story World to Its Fullest Potential?

Photo credit: mine

So as I’m writing this post, it’s snowing. Really hard. It’s the perfect silent snow storm with giant white flakes and we’ve got close to five inches on the ground already and it’s not going to let up any time soon. And I’m loving it. (Day later update: we got a foot of snow.)

But it got me thinking about story worlds and settings and how easy it is to forget to use the world itself to its fullest potential. Sometimes—and I know I have totally been guilty of this from time to time—we get so caught up in the plot and character that we forget that, if done correctly, the world can be a character in itself. The world can create problems—massive problems, if we let it—for our characters.

I mean, those of you who live in snowy places know what it’s like to cancel plans because of a blizzard. Or how terrifying it can be to get caught driving on one. Or how easily slippery road conditions can totally mess up your day.

Those of you who live in the coastal south likely know what it’s like to have to hunker down inside during a hurricane. Some of you in the plains know what it’s like to hear tornado sirens, or how scary it can be to hide while the sirens are going. Those over near active fault lines know exactly what an earthquake feels like.

There are loads of examples of the way the world directly affects us—and that’s without even diving into how societal things influence our identities and plans. And yet, when it comes to writing, it can be so, so easy to forget to incorporate those things.

Granted, you have to be careful. It’s also easy to use weather in cliché ways (i.e.: raining during a sad scene, bright and sunny during a happy one), or to not properly set something world-related up before using it. But if properly set up and carefully incorporated, your story world can be a really interesting layer that can complicate the plot and impact the characters in really fascinating ways. You just have to be willing to use it.

Have you utilized your story world to complicate the plot in your writing?

Twitter-sized bite:

Have you used your story world to its fullest plot-complicating potential? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

On Maintaining Suspension of Disbelief

Photo credit: Elias Ruiz Monserrat on Flickr

I’ve been thinking about the books, TV shows and movies I love to consume. Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Grisha trilogy, The Half Bad trilogy, The Avengers, X-Men and so much more. And I’ve been thinking about how so many of them require massive suspension of disbelief, and how easy it would be to break that balance.

I mean, just in that list above we have demons, vampires, ghosts, dragons, magic, superpowers, aliens, and more. And yet, when I’m watching or reading, I rarely, if ever, question any of it.

Suspension of disbelief, is, in many cases, a contract established both by genre and the universe set up at the beginning of the story. When I turn on Supernatural I know to expect, well, the supernatural. When I start Half Lost next year, I know to expect magic and witches and really dark conflicts. When I pick up a fantasy, or dystopia, or sci-fi, or paranormal book, I have expectations for each set up before I even read the back cover copy.

But those expectations are really broad, and exactly what I should expect—and accept—depends very much on the world set up at the beginning of the story.

In the very first episode of Supernatural, we’re introduced to demons, unspecified magic, murder mysteries, ghosts, Hunters (who kill said demons and ghosts) and object possession. From the beginning we learn that Hunters track down all manner of supernatural creatures, and to the Winchesters, supernatural activities are an everyday “normal” occurrence. This then sets up for the rest of the seasons that continues to build on everything from obscure legends to biblical stories to mythologies from around the world. But because it’s set up from the beginning that these out there imaginings are, in fact, real and normal for the Winchesters to hunt down, viewers accept it without question.

In the very first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we’re introduced to the terms “Muggles,” “You-Know-Who,” and “Voldemort,” curiously behaving owls and cats, mysterious people in cloaks, a magic lighter that can take light from street lamps called a Put-Outer, a cat that transforms into a professor, a flying motorcycle and the lightning bolt scar. This sets the stage for magic umbrellas, wands, fantastical creatures and a school of magic—all of which builds to darker and more incredible events that again, readers have no reason to question.

So how do you set up your world in a way that readers won’t question?

Follow genre conventions. As I said, readers kind of begin developing their expectations of the book depending on where it is placed in a bookstore. Granted, these expectations are pretty broad and have loads of room for variation and intricacies, but this is the basic level that you should be working off of.

Set up your foundational blocks at the beginning to gradually build off of throughout. This does not mean you have to set up everything in the first chapter—in fact, if you do, you’ll likely end up with an info dump which is not something you want. But what you do want to do is begin setting up the rules of the world of your book, whether that’s everyday supernatural occurrences or cats that turn into professors.

Don’t break your own rules. Once you’ve established your rules, you need to stick with them. Breaking your own rules is the #1 perpetrator of shattering that suspension of disbelief. Fantasy worlds make sense because they operate within a certain sect of rules; only wizards (not muggles) can perform magic; devil’s traps and salt circles can be used to trap a demon and keep a ghost out, respectively. If Uncle Vernon up and created a patronus or a low-level demon waltzed out of a devil’s trap without explanation, readers and viewers would not be happy about it.

Has a book, movie, or TV show ever broken your suspension of disbelief? Why?

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you create and maintain a reader's suspension of disbelief? @Ava_Jae shares three straightforward steps. (Click to tweet)

Fixing the First Page Feature #15

Photo credit: Dominic's pics on Flickr

So tomorrow is October and I, for once, am so ready for the new month (September, I'd like to say it was nice knowing you, but I musn't tell lies). And! End if September means a fixing the first page critique for you guys so here we go!

As per usual, I'll start by posting the full first 250 excerpt, after which I'll share my overall thoughts, then my redline critique. I encourage you guys to share your own thoughts and critiques in the comments (I'm just one person with one opinion!), as long as it's polite, thoughtful, and constructive. Any rude or mean comments will be unceremoniously deleted.

Let's do this.

Title: SAMANA'S FLAIR

Genre/Category: YA Fantasy

First 250:

"Music beckons the soul from its darkest places. That’s what Demeriz, Samana’s Wanderer-Sister had told her yesterday. Silence surrounded Samana now. The meager glow of the scratch glass torch held by the Flairian warrior behind her and the other slaves couldn’t penetrate the vast cavern’s black corners or the hatred in her heart.

Scrape, scrape, scrape. The wide bone plate she held in both hands rubbed the dry cave bowels, and grit showered her bare toes. She imagined the caverns sheer side as the face of Chief Highest Skies. Since when did Wanderers get dragged into these mines and put to work with Oonans? Anger locked her jaw and clogged her throat; her fingers tight on the tool. She wiped away bits of her black hair and the fine dust that clung to her temples and neck with the back of her wrist.

A triumphant shout rang out and a flash of pure light filled the space. Samana twisted to look for its origin, and was promptly shoved back around by rough hands.

'Keep working flairmaid,' growled Great Claw, her guard. The name suited the way he treated his squad of workers; like a sharp talon digging into their flesh.

Samana snarled under her breathe. How dare he lay a hand on a fellow Flairian. She may be an orphan, but Demeriz had been her family. Tears welled up Samana’s eyes. Where was Demeriz now? Was she forced into these spirits-abandoned shafts of nothing?"

Interesting! I'm definitely getting a lot of world building without info-dumping upfront, which is fantastic, but I do think the first thing I'm noticing is there are a lot of names/proper nouns: Demeriz, Samana, Wanderer-Sister, Flairian, Chief Highest Skies, Wanderers, Ooonans, Great Claw—all on the first page. I'm wondering if maybe there's a way to spread these out a little more, because by the end of the excerpt, it all felt like a ton at once to me.

Still! I do think this is an interesting start. Let's take a second look:

"Music beckons the soul from its darkest places. That’s what Demeriz, Samana’s Wanderer-Sister had told her yesterday. This is a nice image, but honestly I don't see how it relates at all to the rest of the page. My guess is it'll get referenced again later on, but because I'm not seeing an immediate connection, it makes me wonder if maybe another hook would be more effective. Silence surrounded Samana now. The meager glow of the scratch glass torch (Very cool image) held by the Flairian warrior behind her and the other slaves couldn’t penetrate the vast cavern’s black corners or the hatred in her heart. So this here is emotional telling. I've already written a post about how to write emotion effectively, and this is definitely a situation where I think we'd benefit from seeing the emotion and how it affects her rather than being told it's there.

Scrape, scrape, scrape. The wide bone plate she held in both hands rubbed the dry cave bowels, and grit showered her bare toes. So great! Love this imagery. She imagined the caverns sheer side as the face of Chief Highest Skies. Since when did Wanderers get dragged into these mines and put to work with Oonans? Anger locked her jaw and clogged her throat; her fingers tight on the tool. This is close! If you could rewrite this sentence without using "anger" you'd have a great example of shown emotion here. She wiped away bits of her black hair and the fine dust that clung to her temples and neck with the back of her wrist.

A triumphant shout rang out and a flash of pure light filled the space. Samana twisted to look for its origin, and ~~was promptly shoved back around by rough hands~~ rough hands promptly shoved her back (adjusted to make the sentence more active).

'Keep working flairmaid,' growled Great Claw, her guard. The name suited the way he treated his squad of workers; like a sharp talon digging into their flesh. Nice.

Samana snarled under her breathe. How dare he lay a hand on a fellow Flairian.? She may be an orphan, but Demeriz had been her family. Right now, I have no idea what this means. What does Demeriz have to do with the way she's being treated? How does Demeriz being her family change anything? I know this is something you'd probably explain later, but I have trouble sympathizing with her in the next sentence when I don't really understand the connection. Tears welled up Samana’s eyes. Where was Demeriz now? Was she forced into these spirits-abandoned shafts of nothing?" That said, this is written really well. I like the balance between Samana's emotion and her thoughts. I think we just need a tad more clarification so that the readers understand what's going on and thus can really feel for Samana.

As I said above, I think this is really well done and just needs a tad more so readers can really delve into the story and connect with your protagonist. You're almost there! If I saw this in the slush (and, you know, it fit what I was looking for) I'd keep reading. Overall, great job.

Thanks for sharing your first 250 with us, Emily!

Would you like to be featured in a Fixing the First Page Feature? Keep an eye out for next month's giveaway!

Twitter-sized bite:

.@Ava_Jae talks showing emotion and gradual world building in the 15th Fixing the First Page critique. (Click to tweet)

How to Worldbuild (Without Info-dumping)

martinak15 on Flickr

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)

How to Make Up a Language for Your WIP

Photo credit: quinn.anya on Flickr

So I’m a pretty huge nerd.

Over the course of several years, I’ve had more than a couple WIPs that take place in a made-up world, whether an alien planet, some alternate fantasy realm or something of the like. And on three different occasions that I can think of at the moment, I decided that those worlds or peoples deserved their own languages.

So I made them up. You know. For fun.

(I also thought it’d be fun to take Japanese as an elective in college because LANGUAGES, but I digress).

If you’re like me and decide at some point you’d like your made up world or culture to have a language of their own that you will actually put together, then you may be wondering where to start. And since I’ve had some experience with this, I figured I’d share some of my process:

Decide how in-depth you want to get. Just because you’re making up a language for your book doesn’t mean you have to develop enough to become proficiently fluent—but it also doesn’t mean you can’t if that’s what you want to do. Generally, I like to work out very basic syntax, phrases and words that I’ll need for the book right up front, and then develop more as I write the book and need more words in context. Meanwhile, I have a very good friend who is basically a language master and works out conjugations and more advanced syntax and can put together whole sentences in her made up languages like nothing before I’ve had time to figure out “he” and “she.” So. Your mileage may vary.

Decide what you want to model your language after. Do you want this language to flow like romance languages or sound more guttural and harsh like germanic languages? Will their language be made up of characters that represent phonetic syllables and/or ideograms (i.e.: many asian languages) or will it be about stringing letters together to make up sounds? Will they have the same sounds as your native language, or will they have more (or less) sounds? These are all questions you want to have some idea of an answer to before you even begin to attempt at creating words and sentences.

Think about how your language will be written (if at all). I’ve found that learning how a language is written can be a hugenormous help in learning a language, and made up languages are no different. If the culture does indeed use written language, how is their alphabet structured? Will it be like the English Latin alphabet where every letter has a sound and you string letters together to make different sounds? Or will it be more like Japanese hiragana where every kana equates to a sound (i.e.: ka, ko, sa, se, etc.)? Or will it be more like Japanese kanji where the kanji can represent entire words in their own right? There isn’t a right or wrong option, but deciding this ahead of time can really help you develop the sound and structure of the language.

Create a reference document. This is going to be your language bible. I like to use Excel because spreadsheets lend themselves really well to this kind of thing, but what format you do is really up to you. The important thing is that you put all of your made-up language-related notes in this document.

Start with the basics. After I’ve figured out the sounds and alphabet and I’m ready to start creating words, I like to start with subjects and possessives (I, you, he, she, my, your, his, hers, etc.) At this point, there isn’t really a right or wrong—the thing to think about is to make sure that the words you create sound like they fit together. Spanish doesn’t sound like Japanese, and Korean doesn’t sound like English, and Dutch doesn’t sound like French for obvious reasons—they’re different languages with different sets of sounds and you need to make sure that the words you create sound like they belong in the same language. This often requires verbally sounding out gibberish, and your family members or roommates may look at you weird, but hey! You’re a writer. It’s okay.

Bonus:

Take many language courses/study several languages. Over the course of many years, I’ve taken classes in Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. I’ve also listened (and memorized) music in Korean, Romanian and Swedish. I can’t speak any of them perfectly (or even close to it, for most of them), but studying and paying attention to all of those languages has helped me so much when I’ve sat down and tried to create my own. Learning how different languages are put together, conjugated and created can go a long way in teaching you how to put together your own language, and I couldn’t recommend it more.

Do you have any tips for language creation?

Twitter-sized bites:

Thinking about making up a language for your WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae shares some tips on language creation. (Click to tweet)

Want to make up a language for your WIP but don't know where to start? @Ava_Jae shares some pointers. #writetip (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)