This book has a more intricate "world" than any I've worked on and I need to map it all out before I can really dig in to the book. I need to know the mythology, the history of the feud, the characters. I need to figure out the overall series goal so I know how far I want each book to go with the feud.
Just so you know, I'm pulling my hair out at this very moment. Yes, I'm incredibly talented being able to type and pull hair. I keep telling myself that once all the work is done, it will be a huge relief and the rest of the books will be easier to write.
In case any of you are trying to worldbuild, here are some resources I've found that have helped me:
Some quick things to consider when trying to create a world - be it completely fictional or just a spin on real life: weather, transportation, politics, religion, fashion, other creatures, history, special skills/abilities, mortality, etc.
What are some of your worldbuilding tips?
8 comments:
Lisa--Interesting topic.
I suppose all writers do a certain amount of world-building with every book, but what you are talking about is a major creation and reinvention, like Lord of the Rings, etc...
I have only done minor ones. The most difficult one for me came earlier this year when I was writing a book called Royal Heir. I needed to create an island kingdom, and so I needed all the elements you mentioned: history, weather, politics, government, etc... It was a bit daunting but at least I only had to make it work for one book and not a series.
I'm glad you have a project that you are excited about and hope the minutiae doesn't swamp you, but I believe you are right, you do have to create the world, the playing field on which you build, before you can create a story that fits.
And that's true of every book, as every book begins, so to say, in the middle. Things have happened, balls have been set in motion, dialogue has started. It's understanding what happened a generation, a decade, fifteen minutes ago that propels the characters forward and fuels their story.
Heavy thinking for a Wed. morning. Thanks! This is going to be a hard one for me to follow tomorrow!
Alice
Hey, Lisa, this sounds like a challenging but fun project. 8^) I love reading stories that take place in alternate worlds. The Kim Harrison stories, for example, take place in this world, but its history is different, allowing for paranormal creatures and cultures to intermix with the regular human population. She does a superb job, having created an event in the past that killed off most humans and allowed the more secretive "inderlanders" to come out of hiding.
I had to create my own world for my first published novel, PROJECT RESURRECTION. It was set in future Alaska, and I made up a fictional city there. But the real challenge was the afterlife world I created because there's lots of astral travelling going on, near death experiences, purgatory, etc. I did a lot of research for it. At least I didn't have to worry too much about physical differences because it's an ethereal dimension, but it does have substance and its own unique inhabitants.
I'm currently writing an urban fantasy that takes place in our world as we know it, but the majority of the story happens on an island off the coast of Yemen that's like the land that time forgot. My biggest challenge is my main character who's human with special abilities that conflict with a normal human lifestyle, so compensations have to be considered all the time. It's really, really hard to do, but she's worth the effort. 8^)
Good luck with your series, Lisa. Great blog topic.
This is a reason why I tend to shy away from ideas that require much world building--I'm afraid I'd go all Tolkien and never stop world building--it's so much fun! But, my main advice is to draw! Make maps, family trees, floorplans etc--visual representations of your world can be really helpful. I know more than one writer who has laid out a whole city in SimCity to have a visual reference or used another territory mapping game to great a topography for the story. You can also create a master outline in Word and use subheadings to easily move between sections and see what details are missing. My mother made a website to keep track of her world building for her historical WIP. (Note, I wouldn't neccessarily recommend this route--it's easy to let the research overwhelm the fiction!).
I hope you leave some hair on your head! And have fun with it!
Your series sounds interesting! With writing historicals I have to do some sort of world building in that I need the learn what happened at the time and place I am writing about and I need to know what happened before.
I am sort of world building in my spirit trilogy because I'm making up the rules the spirits have to abide by and their abilities.
A thought provoking blog! Thanks, Lisa!
I've never worldbuilded, ha! But some people still say I live in my own little world....
Good for you, Lisa, for taking on such a project. My hat's off to you. It sounds like a fascinating series.
My dd and I started a YA fantasy story together, but didn't get very far on it. She's so busy now, we probably won't finish it until she's retired. ha!
Karen, the book you're working on also sounds interesting.
Alice, it seems to me it would almost be tougher to do worldbuilding for one book because the writer is still creating a whole new place, but only gets to use it for one book instead of milk the work over a series ;)
I like what you said about understanding what has happened a generation, decade or fifteen minutes ago. It's so easy to just think in terms of the present with our characters and the future they may have. But the past has shaped them and will bring the characters to life.
Karen, I imagine it would be difficult to create an afterlife because so many people have what the afterlife is in their own mind. The way you have created it may be totally different than what someone imagines, would be a tough balance. It seemed to be like that with the vampire boom. Some could go in sunlight, some didn't always need blood, many weren't dead - challenged what we believe when we think of vampires. Not that they are real...but you know what I mean ;)
Wavy, that's a great idea! I've never played the Sims but from what I know about it, that could really work. Much of my book will take place in the normal world, except for the meeting place of the Gods. Something like that would really help me create that. Thanks!
Paty, it would be so tough to write historicals (I know I couldn't do it...). Trying to stay historically accurate while taking worldbuilding liberties because well, we didn't live during that time! Then it seems it would be easy to be criticized by sticklers if something didn't seem accurate.
Danita, hahahaha! The YA fantasy sounds really interesting, I hope you both find time to get back to it :)
You are a silly girl. We go and discuss world building yesterday and you don't even hint that you'd blogged about it!
Now that I'm contemplating a paranormal RS, I can see the headache world building could cause. But at the same time, I think you can take a lot of liberties those of us who write in the "real world" can't. For example, I can't have a character die and come back to life in my RS's - it just doesn't happen. Readers wouldn't "suspend belief" and keep reading if I did that. But in a paranormal, basically anything goes. You create theworld. You create the characters. You determine how things work. The sky's the possibility.
Hey, Lisa!
If you haven't already found this Web site, try Patricia Wrede's world-building site at "www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm".
She has questions, questions and more questions to consider as you build your world, fantasy or not.
I printed out the questions, but haven't started a new book since I visited this site, so it would be interesting to see how it works in practice.
Good luck on your project. It sounds like fun!
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