After noticing several hits to my blog looking for worldbuilding information, I thought I would try to accomodate.
Note: I am not a professional author, and all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. Or a bag. However, maybe some of the things I use / have used might help someone. This is also extremely basic, and I will post some links at the end to help direct you nice folks to other places to look, if I haven’t helped you all that much. lol
So, here we go!
- First and foremost, what I do is determine the genre of the world… Fantasy / Science Fiction / Historical / Etc. While there is no rule saying you can’t have lasers and demon summonings, it’s a good place to start. Since I prefer Fantasy, I’ll pick that for mine.
- Next, determine the type of time period / level of technology for the main setting of your story / game / etc. Medieval fantasy, alien space opera, whatever. For mine, I’ll go weird and choose futuristic fantasy.
- Now, you need some maps. Get some paper (this doesn’t have to be pretty or shown to anyone else, so inhibitions at the door if you please) and a pen (yup, pen. not a pencil). Now, draw. Aim for something continent-like shaped. You can add islands, or not. Whatever floats your boat. The important thing is to not mark out anything, even if your hand slipped. It’s all viable.
- After you have a land mass, add in a river or three. Maybe a lake. For now, don’t mark jungles / forests / mountains / etc. Stick with rivers and lakes.
- Now mountains. And remember, gravity is your friend. Water flows down, not up, so don’t have a river coming from a lake that flows up into the mountains. The source of water will need to be in the mountains themselves — or higher mountains.
- Now that we have a basic map of a land mass, randomly add a few dots. These are going to represent major cities. I would suggest placing most of them by a water source, since water is life and whatnot. Not to mention the boost to trade and naval warfare. If you choose to put cities away from water sources, you will have to address how that city thrives — does it have an active alliance with another faction, where water is a main import? Rain collectors? Mystics prevalent, as they douse for water? Desert, and desperate people will kill for an Aquafina?
- Now that you have a few cities, a land mass, a genre and a general idea for the basic type of world, it’s time to expand. Go and fetch a pencil, and start drawing national borders. If you have a large concentration of cities in a small area, is that the border between more than one nation? The hub of the most powerful? Highly contested and continual open warfare? I suggest a pencil since nations’ borders can fluctuate via conquest, alliance, treaty, etc.
- Okay, for now, that’s enough with the map. Time to zoom in a bit. Choose the starting area for your story. This doesn’t have to be where the first word in chapter one begins, but where a lot of what will be happening in your first few scenes will be. If you’re electing to do a space story, you could be starting out on an interstellar frigate, and the land mass is the main character’s home planet. Makes no difference. Once you’ve picked it, it’s time to look around.
- Try to place yourself in this town / area. Are there other people? What are they wearing? What do they eat? How advanced are they? Weapons? What’s their outlook on their neighbors — at war, striving for peace? A town of scholars, magicians, demi-humans, demons, lawyers? How do they bathe? Do they bathe? Sexually liberated, where gay and lesbian relationships are accepted? Sexually repressed where no one has sex for anything but the strictest terms of procreation? What instruments do they play? Do they sing? Do they weave? Answer every question that pops in your mind — and allow your muse to ask you new questions. This is, by far, the largest amount of time you’ll be on a step, so enjoy it! [Warning: don't OVERbuild. Leave yourself some wiggle room. It's good to know that the stardrive is powered by Goren dust, which is only found in the mines on Goren -- but knowing its molecular structure at this point? Not important. If it's vital to the story you're going to tell, you can do that later.]
- From here on, it’s a matter of continually refining.
Approach the entire process as folding paper. You cannot fold any piece of paper in half more than 9 times (don’t believe me, try it!)… You begin with the whole sheet, and pick the genre [fold]. You pick the era [fold]. Map [fold]. A culture [fold].
If you’re mapping the DNA structures of the Bojinti Beast that is rumored to scour the forests to the far east — and said beast is mentioned almost once in passing — you’re trying for that 10th fold. Let it go.
Now, the links.
1 – Holly Lisle’s Website. Far and away my number one recommendations. As of this post, she has created two ebooks in her worldbuilding series (Create a Language, Create a Culture) and has two others I also highly recommend (Create a Plot, Create a Character). I have personally purchased all four, and they have each helped me tremendously. You can find her site at http://hollylisle.com/.
2 – Patricia C Wrede’s Worldbuilder Questions. This is a close second for me, and is fantastic to use in the questions step of the above process. The questions she pose are sorted by categories, and they can lead you to some very interesting places. Her site can be found at http://www.larseighner.com/world_builder/.
These links are by no means exhaustive, but they are a most excellent place to begin — and I can personally say I use them both.
Well, I hope this has helped someone! Any suggestions, or feel I left out something, drop me a comment!
Filed under: Worldbuilding, Writing | Tagged: building, drawing, fantasy, folding paper nine times, holly lisle, maps, sci fi, world, Worldbuilding, wrede, Writing | 1 Comment »
