5 Core Rules for World Building

I love making up new worlds. From steam powered alternate histories to dangerous realms in both time and space. It allows me to be creative and Type A at the same time because each 'universe' that you conjure up has to have a set system of rules in which the characters and phenomenon operate.

This is very important. Because it will save you a LOT of rewriting between drafts. I recently had this discussion with another author who has an awesome idea for a plot involving well known literary characters. The problem was, it was unclear whether or not in the 'book universe' she was creating if they were real...had come into existence spontaneously...only existed in their own book worlds...etc.

And because these questions are hard to define after the fact...she put the novel aside. Hopefully it is just for now, but sometimes overwhelming problems with wrapping our minds around our own creations can be intimidating. Which can kill creativity and passion for a project.

So here are 5 Core Rules for setting up a framework for how your book's universe will operate.

• If you have a Magic System...make it well defined so that the reader understands what is possible and what is not. Brandon Sanderson, one of my favorite authors, has a post specifically about Creating Magic Systems in Fantasy.

• Clearly illustrate the political and/or religious powers. What are their goals. What have they done to achieve them? How might that cause conflict with the citizens of that world?

• What is it like for the average Joe to live in the world? This helps to provide a frame of reference for your reader. Is your main character in the elite or are they the downtrodden? Are there classes at all? Is everyone expected to be the same or divided for their differences? Do other forms of intelligent life coexist? Elves and humans...aliens and mermaids?

• What are some major defining moments in your world? What is historically relevant? Natural disaster, plague or sickness, a war that changed the way people thought or lived? What about an advancement in science that changed the world -- for better or worse. Or nothing...just time. Gradual advancement in technology or culture?

• Which brings me to my last point. Define the problem in contrast to the status quo right away. This is crucial in both scifi and fantasy because it prevents you from simply getting lost in world building for the sake of making stuff up. It helps you focus on what part of the world is important for your reader to know about.

There are of course so many other aspects to World Building but these core 5 should help to create a solid framework for you to hang your story.  Let me know what you do to define your novel's universe. I'm always up for some writing tips. 

+Raquel Byrnes 

Photo by shaka

Building and Feeling; What is Lacking Post NaNo?

So it is two weeks post NaNoWriMo and I am still reeling from the whole thing. I had my students participate and am floored at how many met and exceeded their writing goals. A couple hit 50K without breaking a sweat. My hat is off to them!

We're now entering the editing phase and one of the things I'm finding is that in the daze and craze of writing as much as you can...some things fall through the cracks.  Its evident in my students' work and also in my own.

The two biggest deficits are world building and character development...

So the kids and I all wrote either fantasy or science fiction so world building is paramount with this type of genre just to get the reader up to speed with the environment. What I'm finding is that a lot of the descriptions are either piled on too thick in huge chunks to get it out of the way or not added at all. I feel like I'm sort of in a "stock post-apocalyptic" urban scene and that takes away from what I feel are great stories.

I asked them to take out the huge paragraphs and thread them through the scene in dialogue and action beats. That seems to be working for them. I'll keep you posted.

As for character development...well it really is a lack of emotional response to the situation, I'm finding is the problem.  I think so much sweat and blood was spent this past month just getting the scenes out or the plot moving that we all forgot to anchor the character, and by extension the reader, to the moment with emotion.

We are all working on writing the character more present emotionally and to incorporate emotion and internal thoughts like doubt or worry or arrogance into the storytelling mid action sequence.  I hope this helps to cement otherwise frenetic sequences.  I will try this with my own fantasy and let you know how it goes.

What about you? What challenges are you facing now that "just getting it on paper" is crossed off your list? Are you doing massive rewrites...patches...or are you satisfied with your after-NaNo product?

By +Raquel Byrnes