world building – Publetariat

Correspondence from the NaNo fields – World building is hard!

November 7, 2017November 7, 2017 by Publetariat

Hello! How are all you writers and NaNo’ers doing? I fell behind on my word count right away as of course all my client’s programs/servers/websites needed attention! But I managed to almost catch up on double Saturday. I also donated because if you enjoy writing whether or not you participate in NaNoWriMo, they do a lot for writing and writers. The kids program is amazing. And I love having a halo on my name.

I have done fantasy stories in the past, that involved some world building but since the world was sort of ye old English based, world building wasn’t that difficult. This year I am doing a science fiction story that takes place in earths future. It is not dystopian! Yet. Actually, we were about to make a huge mess with huge pollution issues and bad weather juju due to global warming when the aliens come and save us. But they don’t look at us like equals, and not even really like pets. They aren’t sure what to do with us on the very back water of the galaxy and we are so primitive to them. They do save us from ourselves and life is good. For now.

The problem is trying to figure out how a world like this exists. We are much healthier and more responsible. So what do we drink with dinner? Soda is bad for you. Water is boring. Tea, coffee? How does an enlightened society deal with alcohol? There are studies to it’s benefits but too much is hazardous.

My characters end up in a restaurant. How do you deal with that? Do you still have a hostess, waitperson, and a cook? I decided that having these type of people were socially important but not economically important so I added them.

That is what world building is. Which is bad and good for NaNoWriMo! Each time I have to make a decision like this I am caught up trying to figure out the social and economical implications of my decisions. Which take time. Which is bad for NaNo when you are just suppose to write like the wind! Then I decided to write my reasoning’s down and voila! I am caught up on my words again!

Have a great day in your world!

Paula

Quick Link: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing: How to Build Fantastic Worlds

April 21, 2017 by Publetariat

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Sometimes it seems difficult to create a few words on a page, nevermind a whole world. But if you write fantasy or fiction, world building kind of comes with the job. Not to worry, guest poster Kameron Hurley shares how she builds worlds. So head on over to The Writer’s Digs to get her great tips!

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Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing: How to Build Fantastic Worlds

By: Kameron Hurley

So, you’re ready to write a science fiction or fantasy novel. But where to start? Lots of writers begin by creating a map, or researching some distant heavenly body. Six novels into my speculative fiction career, I’ve discovered that I create my best work when I begin building my fantastic worlds by starting not with magic systems or geography, but with a single character. Here’s why this method has been so successful for me.

Asking the Right Questions

When you begin your worldbuilding process by creating a character first, then asking what type of world created that character, you focus on the parts of the world that matter most to the people in it. That means spending less time on research that you ultimately aren’t going to use. I look at my worldbuilding and character creation processes as interconnected. They don’t – in fact, can’t! – exist independently of one another. As I flesh out a character, the world, too, will come into sharper focus. If I create a skilled government assassin who’s tasked with bringing in deserters from a centuries-long war, I have to ask myself what the war is about. If it’s about a lack of resources, what does that world look like? Dry, dusty, low in metals? If a planet was low in metals, how would their technology progress? What would they use to power their vehicles? If they had crashed there on a big generation ship, what was the likelihood they would ever get back into the stars, and how would that change their religious philosophies?

Read the full post on The Writer’s Digs

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

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Quick Link: Going Beyond the Default in Your Worldbuilding

August 24, 2016 by Publetariat

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

World building is the frame that holds a story together. If you have ever gone to a Disney park, you will find yourself in another world. The whole park is framed to provide an unique and delightful experience for the guest. And Walt knew what made this concept so important was the details. Every nook and cranny of the parks is filled with whimsy that continues to pull you into the world that is specifically Disney. That is the concept that Juliette Wade is discussing at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University, how to make your story’s setting uniquely yours.

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Going Beyond the Default in Your Worldbuilding

Welcome to NotMcDonalds, here is your McWorld.

June 15, 2016
By Juliette Wade, @JulietteWade

Part of the How They Do It Series

Creating a rich world makes for a great novel, no matter if that world is based on fantasy or the world we know. But all too often, we rely on the default setting for our genre–such as medieval Europe for fantasy–and we rob ourselves of the chance to craft something unique. To share some tips on creating interesting world, please help me welcome worldbuilding guru, Juliette Wade.

Juliette hosts the Dive into Worldbuilding show on Google Hangouts, where she uses her academic expertise in anthropology and linguistics to take discussions of worldbuilding topics beyond the default. Her short fiction explores language and culture issues across the genres of fantasy and science fiction. She has appeared in Clarkesworld, Fantasy&Science Fiction, and Analog magazines.

If you’re a fan of worldbuilding and want to take your skills further, you can also become a part of the Dive into Worldbuilding workshop. Join Juliette’s Patreon and get brainstorming prompts, research links, exclusive peeks into research topics, or even get Juliette to help you with your work directly. https://www.patreon.com/JulietteWade

Take it away Juliette…

Janice asked me to come by and talk about going beyond the default in your worldbuilding. So what exactly does that mean?

To answer that question, let’s start by talking about what “default” means. On your computer, it means an application that your computer opens automatically, without you having to do more than click. In your brain, it means the idea that you go to first, without having to think.

Read the full post on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University

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Fantasy World-building Questions By Patricia C. Wrede

January 7, 2016 by Publetariat

Patricia C. Wrede created this awesome list on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Of America website to help writers create a more realistic world for their characters. Who doesn’t want a world with depth and dimension in their story! I am bookmarking this, as it is a super helpful resource. Thanks Patricia!

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Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

By Patricia C. Wrede

The following list of questions is meant to aid authors of fantasy fiction who are seeking to create believable imaginary settings for their stories. While many of these questions may be helpful or crucial to certain stories, they will not all apply to every story. It is not necessary for an author to answer all, or even any, of the questions in order to start writing, (or to finish writing, either). The idea is simply to provoke people into thinking about the ways their settings and backgrounds hang together … or don’t. If it’s useful, use it. If not, don’t.

Some questions apply to more than one topic, and have been duplicated under more than one heading. This should not be considered as an exhaustive and final list, but as a beginning point from which each individual writer can compile a personal list.

The Questions

Read the full post on Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Of America

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How to Create a Believable Fictional Universe

January 3, 2016June 16, 2015 by Publetariat

This post by Georgina Roy originally appeared on e-Books India on 6/11/15.

A fictional universe is the world where your story takes place. Your story can happen anywhere from prehistoric Earth, to a futuristic world filled with flying cars and funny colored aliens. Even if you decide to set up your story in modern day Earth, it is still a version of Earth that will exist only in your imagination. However, sometimes we can get carried away when creating our stories and come up with worlds that are so extravagant and extraordinary they cross the line of logic and become unbelievable. This is why there are some things that you, as the writer, have to think of when you’re creating your world.

1. Decide on a theme

What kind of a world do your characters inhabit? Modern day Earth, a fantasy world, or do they live in the distant future or outer space? This is important because not only do you have to find the way your world figures into the plot of your novel, but it will also determine your target audience and the genre of your book. The crucial thing to remember is that you have to stick with the theme throughout your book. The world building is always a mark of a great book, and that means that the theme has to be consistent on every page of your novel.

Read the full post, which includes four additional specific steps, on e-Books India.

In Fantasy Worlds, Historical Accuracy Is A Lie

January 3, 2016March 23, 2015 by Publetariat

This post by Tanya D originally appeared on BoingBoing on 3/23/15. Note that while the author is discussing video game world-building specifically, the same kind of argument applies to Fantasy novels as well.

The mythical realms of Dragon Age grow beautifully with the telling, including their representation of Earthly minorities. Even so, something’s missing…

I’d like to welcome you to Thedas, a fantastical place lots of us have lived in since BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins launched in 2009. The borders of this lush fantasy world have sprawled ever outward through the release of Dragon Age II, and welcomed ever more players. With the most recent game, Dragon Age: Inquisition we can end up a leader, whether we’re a human, an elf or a dwarf.

But though almost anything’s possible within Dragon Age‘s beloved world of Thedas, something feels off. Although Dragon Age is a fantasy roleplaying game, Thedas is overlaid with a faux-European sociopolitical landscape — and that means there are few people of color among its citizenry. Why do the sinister old arguments of “historical accuracy” still apply to this fantasy world?

Elves, magic, dragons, shapeshifting and ancient powers of world destruction are somehow totally believable, but the idea that brown people might exist is somehow not. My colleague MedievalPOC‘s blog uses art, history and other resources to regularly debunk the broad but rarely-questioned misconception that only white people were around in medieval times. So if we know brown folks definitely existed in actual Medieval Europe, why are they absent from a made-up fantasy world only loosely inspired by Medieval Europe? Where are the brown folks in Dragon Age‘s Thedas?

Read the full post on BoingBoing.

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Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing: How to Build Fantastic Worlds

Asking the Right Questions

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Going Beyond the Default in Your Worldbuilding

Part of the How They Do It Series

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By Patricia C. Wrede

The Questions

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