Worldbuilding Wednesday

Fantasy is often filled with unexpected things – double suns or moons, flying dragons, strange creatures that live under the surface of the planet, maybe even a waterfall that flows in the wrong direction. In your worldbuilding process you may want to factor in an explanation that allows for these phenomena. This is often revealed through back stories of the created world’s history.

There are some excellent books that can help you with these types of facts; two of my favorite resources are World-Building, by Stephen L. Gillett, and Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold. World-Building is geared more towards the science fiction genre, teaching about star systems and geology. Worlds of Wonder is a guide to both science fiction and fantasy, describing the difference as “science fiction is about what is possible, fantasy is about what is not”. In either instance you are creating a world that must follow certain rules.

There is a lot of research involved even if your created world is similar to the real world. As a matter of fact, the closer you stay to “real world norms” the less likely it is for problems to leap out at the reader. To ensure the best results, stay consistent and learn all you can about similar real world models. For instance, in geographic areas that are wooded you may need to know there are more than trees and deer that live here. You may want to study basics such as the type of flora and fauna that can be supported by this type of physical location. The goal is not to make you an expert on these facts, but the way these facts support the characters and activities that may occur in your book. Remember, while your world may appear as a fantastical array of pure imagination to your readers, it has to be realistic to the characters living there to give it a credible depth.

Think of the imaginative world of Willy Wonka in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Once you step inside the doors of Willy’s world, you totally leave behind reality as we know it. Suddenly, there are flowing chocolate rivers, strange little creatures called Oompa Loompas that work in the factory (and the back story of why humans aren’t trusted with the candy maker’s most treasured secrets and why the Oompa Loompas came to live in this scrumpdillyicious world), and elevators that travel in every imaginable direction besides up and down. The world springs to life and what seems incredible to the reader is the everyday norm to the characters in the book. Don’t be afraid to experiment to see what will work at the culmination of your research and imagination. Take advantage of the differences between your creation and the familiar – let your imagination soar. Be detailed, you don’t want your reader to miss a single thing in this creative wonderland.

What will be different in your world? What bearing will it have on your story? This technique works in any genre you are writing. Not all world builders write science fiction or fantasy. Perhaps your story takes place in a fictitious town where an old abandoned well has been forgotten by everyone in the town. On the surface it seems innocuous enough except…the shady stranger who seems oddly attracted to it, compelled to guard it in a town where it’s already been forgotten. Which way will this story grow? Is it the beginning of a mystery and the stranger is hiding a murder weapon there? Maybe the well is just outside of a lovely summer home deep in the forest and the owners have moved away making it the perfect locale for a romantic rendezvous. Add a few darker details with a dash of supernatural and sudenly the same lacation becomes the backdrop for a horror story. Looking for a different direction to go? Perhaps the well is really a portal to a parallel universe. The possibilities are only limited by our own imaginations. What will you find in the places you create?

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Worldbuilding Wednesday

As I mentioned last week, Wednesday’s theme over the next several weeks is going to focus on the art of worldbuilding in your fantasy or science fiction story. A good source of questions to ask yourself when deciding elements within your created world can be found in Patricia Wrede’s Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions . This is an excellent guide to help you determine what factors you will need to consider.

Worldbuilding is a lot like character development in the sense that the more detailed you are in its development, the more you will learn about its history. For example, in character development many writers will build an entire back story for their characters or have a conversation with them to get to know them better. Often this process will bring out details we were originally unaware of that can explain some of the behaviors and personalities of our characters. With worldbuilding, the more detailed you are with the creation, the history behind this realm emerges. The writer then gets an understanding about how this will affect the emerging cultures of the beings that inhabit this realm. Learning the “whys” in your world will lead to a depth that you never expected and open additional potential story threads that will add dimension and credibility to the story.

Worldbuilding goes much further than drawing a map, naming the geographic locales (lakes, forests, towns and determining a geographic locale – it is building the personality of your world, deciding how everything is interconnected and how different elements will interface with each other. Knowing things like the geography of your world will help you determine things like the population of your world. Often the writer already has the main characters for a particular story in mind, but it may be prudent to wait until a little later in the process before creating your secondary characters. This way you can create beings that fit into not only the story but the world being created for them. You can then make certain you have laid out an appropriate route for your character to take on his quest making sure your characters will run into realistic obstacles to heighten the tension through the storyline.

One area that helps not only in defining your world, but in character development, is cultural differences. This is an area that can bring conflict into a story that happens in any world. Living in a world of diverse cultures that are appropriate to your plot can open horizons for rabble-rousers and malcontents inciting tension throughout your story. And in fiction, tension is a good thing.

What about other genres? What processes do you go through in determining your setting in the real world? Just a thought...



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Writing in a Fantasy World

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
~Albert Einstein

Fantasy is a genre filled with enchantment, alternate worlds, quests, epic battles between good and evil, and mythical creatures (such as those found in the fantasy guide, The Destineers Journal of Fantasy Nations ). In addition to the unique characters, the element of magic sparks the most active parts of our minds and imagination takes flight.

Magic, by definition, is a conceptual system that asserts the ability to control the natural world through a supernatural means. It is often associated with a specific artifact, a magical item that allows the hero of the story to complete his quest, or stems from powers that a certain individual possesses. Often this power has no way of being duplicated and cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. The race to control this power leads to conflict in the story and the potential to lose this power keeps a thread of suspense running through the story line.

As fantasy writers we are charged with finding a way to create believable magic in our stories. We have to create a system for how the magic will function in our fictitious world, complete with very specific rules that control it and consequences that must be adhered to when these rules are broken. Consistency is very important. When you are developing a magical system and considering elements to include in building your imaginary realm, Patricia Wrede’s Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions is an excellent guide. Keep in mind, not all questions will apply to your world or need to be answered; these are simply issues to keep in mind to help you devise the world of your dreams.

The inner workings of magic within your fabricated realm is one particular area of your story where it is critical to show your reader how things work in this world you have created. If you tell them the rules (as opposed to showing them) it comes off as an overwhelming jettison of information which quickly will take the reader out of the story and straight into the land of boredom. However, when you subtly weave your tapestry of magic and fantasy you bring the reader solidly into your created world. Imagine how the story will come to life for the reader if they are totally immersed in the magic – allow them to hear the rhythm or chanting of a spell being cast, to see any hand gestures that may be involved with the ritual, to feel the rush of air as the magic unfolds. Is there a scent of incense or perhaps the bitter taste of a potion that may be involved? As the effects of the spell begins, the reader is pulled in, shoulder to shoulder with the characters, eager to be enveloped in your world of possibilities, anxiously following to see what happens next.

Imagination. It’s inevitable in fantasy. It’s very powerful and more important than knowledge... just ask Einstein. Where will your imagination take you?

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