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Craft of Writing

Joan McNulty Pulver

Let’s Build A World

When I started writing the fantasy novel I’m currently working on, I needed to know how to build a fantasy world and extensively researched the subject. I became enthralled with the research and the different things that started happening in my world because of this research. My characters became more dimensional and the world grew in aspects I had never thought of. I decided I should share the information with others. I developed a worldbuilding class called, “So You Want to Build a Fantasy World, Do You?” and facilitate it online at Writers’ Village University. At first, I solely encouraged writers of fantasy to take the class but then a friend who is writing a Science Fiction story took it and learned from the class. While taking the class, one of the members wrote a horror story with demons, angels, and gods, alternately helping and terrorizing his characters.

It helped them stay on track and keep the little parts of their stories together and consistent. Placement of major cities, states, countries, mountains, etc., need to remain constant throughout your story. Geography and maps keep your muse in the right place at the right time as you write. What will happen if in the first chapter, you tell your reader about the eastern mountain range but in chapter eight, your protagonist travels south and west to climb the heights chasing the antagonist? Your astronaut starts a journey within an antimatter-powered ship but later in the book you write about a fight and the nuclear reactor goes off line.

The future is uncertain. Many things are possible and developing them can be a magical experience. How will your characters cope? What will be in the brave new world you build as you write? Will you have flying taxis? Will people be able to travel through portals from one continent to another? How will the science work? In fantasy, how will the magic work? You need to make it all believable. Rules exist and the rules must be consistent throughout the novel.

Benefits of planning your world before you write:

1. Geography – Mapping out your world lets you know the location of your characters at any given moment. If this is done beforehand, you can glance at your map and keep your characters on track as they travel along with the flow of your words accompanying your muse.

2. History – Back-story explains where your characters came from and how they got to where they are today. We all have history, either our own past or that of our ancestors. If my great grandparents hadn’t traveled to the United States from Ireland, my life would be very different if I even existed.

3. Social Structure and Government – How and where your characters fit in the overall scheme of hierarchy. The life of a peasant stands in contrast to that of royalty, just as a blue collar worker differs from the scientist who develops an alternative fuel that changes the world. This subject includes clothing, customs, and modes of behavior from the different levels of society.

4. Religion – One God or many gods? Is the main deity a Goddess? Does everyone in your story have the same beliefs? If not, how do they differ? Again, you need to look at clothing, customs and mode of behavior as they relate to their beliefs to ensure that they stay the same as in #3.

5. Magic and technology must have two things: rules and cost.

Rules:

a. Magic - How is the magic performed? Use of lei lines in the earth, something inherent to certain people, from the higher beings, or another way your muse may take you?

b. Technology – What fuel does your space ship burn? You don’t want to begin with an antimatter propulsion system and end up having a nuclear reactor go off line later. Rules for technology need to be checked using science and math for the most part, unless they are already a reality. Does the potential for the technology you want to use exist today? Examples of this would be alternative fuels, electric automobiles, improved highways or other means of travel, or smaller, more deadly weapons to be used in warfare.

Cost:

a. Magic - What is the price a wizard or sorceress pays for the use of magic? Do they get exhausted after using it? Does it take rest or food to recuperate? Or is there another cost?

b. Technology – The price of technology can be measured in many ways. How much money will it take to build that space ship or to get it repaired? What is the ratio of the amount of fuel used per mile or how long a supercomputer can keep going without needing replacement parts? How often does a ship have to stop to refuel and how many miles can he travel before then? Time, money, availability of parts, and rate of consumption of fuel are only a few things you should consider about the cost of technology.

When building a world, there are many things you need to keep track of. For this you should develop a way of keeping an inventory of everything in your story, from plants and wildlife to inanimate objects like knives, warp drives, swords, and clothing, as well as your characters. Some items you might consider using are as follows:

1. A journal, notebook binder, or recorder to carry with you. Observe the world around you and take notes. Whichever way you do it, be sure to put it into writing when you return home. I keep everything on my computer and use a disk for backup. I also print a hard copy of things which I deem important.

2. It is a good idea to record everything you think of, whether or not you use it in your story. I use Microsoft Access. It’s a database where I store all pertinent information, from the placement of stars to the location of cities and their position in various countries, on to a list of characters, their hair color, eye color, etc. If you don’t have or know how to use a database, make yourself a table in your word-processing program. If necessary, a handwritten chart or list will do.

3. Poster board and construction paper make a wonderful map to hang on the wall of your office or writing space. Mapmaking software is always an option if you want to get that detailed. Another way is to use your Paint program or Microsoft PowerPoint to draw your own maps. A member of my writing group bought an inexpensive globe, covered it with papier-mâché and used the ridges to denote the outlines for her continents, countries, rivers, oceans, etc. Seeing your world in 3D would be exceptional.

Worldbuilding is a lot of work but truly worth it when you’re done with the finished product. You’ll have the knowledge and wherewithal to write that novel claiming your mind during all your waking hours with disjointed ideas of people, places and things to write about. Here are some links to help you get started on your world building adventure.

Fantasy Worldbuilding Question by Author Patricia C. Wrede.
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm

This is the site of Charlotte Dillon, Romance Writer but she has a wealth of information for all genres on this page.
http://www.geocities.com/charlottedillon2000/ResearchLinks.html

Glossary of Medieval Terms
http://netserf.cua.edu/glossary/home.htm

Here is a site that will give you entrance to the British Isles over the century. Great history site.
http://www.britannia.com

An Illustrated Speculative Timeline of Future Technology and Social Change. How advances in technology may reshape humanity
http://www.jrmooneyham.com/future_history_timeline.html

Designing your own magic system.
http://users.tkk.fi/~vesanto/link.useful/MagicHtmls/magic.html

Life in the middle ages.
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages

Lots of links for horror writers.
http://www.redinkworks.com/horror_resources.htm

Possibility of a future city.
http://www.victorycities.com

Religions of the World.
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html


About the Author
Joan McNulty Pulver, works as an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers writing and editing to be her vocation. Her love of writing shows in her short stories and monthly column, “Recognitions” at The Writers Ezine. She is the Acquisitions Coordinator/Editor at ePress-online and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel.. In an effort to help pass on what they've learned working at ePress-online and to help other writers reach for their dreams, Joan and Donna Sundblad will open the doors to their editing and critiquing business Team Spirit Critique and Editing, LLC in the near future.