Worldbuilding
July 29th 2008 02:22
Every writer does varying levels of worldbuilding. Fantasy and Science Fiction writers especially. Currently, I'm struggling with my own worldbuilding, so I've decided to post a series of blog posts about, well, worldbuilding.
Why? Because I really don't have much else to talk about right now. I will, eventually, post a series of links to some wonderful worldbuilding sites that I've seen-and there are quite a few of them-but for now, I'll describe the three basic levels of worldbuilding that I myself do. Each one is meant to be alone, but each is just the one before it with additions.
1-A map with some locations and a few ideas about those locations. I did this for East Wind Road, because with the spontaneous insanity feel of the story, details and map after map would just bog the story down. For me. With a story like this I need a lot of wiggle room to create any random stuff I like as I go along. But a map is necessary so I have some clue of how many times I can actually legitimately have her say 'I've been here before'.
This is ideal for stories with a lot of spontaneity and a lot of oddities. Things that are so out there as to be almost unbelievable. Why? Because of the wiggle room. It's beautiful.
2-A map with locations, ideas, and cultures. I use this for a lot of Nanowrimo projects because I started planning um... two days early... or halfway through the month, depending. I don't have time to go into too much detail, but I need to have some idea of what the world looks like and the people. Sometimes the culture is even just implied with the character sketches, but not always. It varies.
I use these when I NEED more background, but don't have the time to invent everything before I start writing. I did this for Moonshadow's Guardian. And in Moonshadow's Guardian, the history pretty much wrote itself, and more details, because of who Riana was. It might not happen that way in all the stories, and you'll have to fill in later. But it seems to always work out one way for me.
3-A map with locations, ideas, cultures, and history/mythology. This is for when I have plenty of time to plan in advance-and need a world. I do enjoy writing this. Normally this excludes minor details-those are done in the story or the aftermath. But worlds are fun to build, and I use it for stories where I need a sturdy background and have time to make a really well detailed one. I haven't done much of this in the last year or two, but I'm doing it right now for two of my Nanowrimo novels.
The history isn't really coming to me, but the maps have been good so far and the basic ideas for the cultures seem pretty well done. I have all the proper prejudices in place that I need for my stories to work. I haven't done the Vampire culture or the Werewolf culture yet, but those are somewhat-integrated with human culture and I have a fair idea of them. I just haven't written it down.
Worldbuilding can be fun. In the next few posts, I'll show some example notes and review some really useful sites, articles, workshops, and the like.
Why? Because I really don't have much else to talk about right now. I will, eventually, post a series of links to some wonderful worldbuilding sites that I've seen-and there are quite a few of them-but for now, I'll describe the three basic levels of worldbuilding that I myself do. Each one is meant to be alone, but each is just the one before it with additions.
1-A map with some locations and a few ideas about those locations. I did this for East Wind Road, because with the spontaneous insanity feel of the story, details and map after map would just bog the story down. For me. With a story like this I need a lot of wiggle room to create any random stuff I like as I go along. But a map is necessary so I have some clue of how many times I can actually legitimately have her say 'I've been here before'.
This is ideal for stories with a lot of spontaneity and a lot of oddities. Things that are so out there as to be almost unbelievable. Why? Because of the wiggle room. It's beautiful.
2-A map with locations, ideas, and cultures. I use this for a lot of Nanowrimo projects because I started planning um... two days early... or halfway through the month, depending. I don't have time to go into too much detail, but I need to have some idea of what the world looks like and the people. Sometimes the culture is even just implied with the character sketches, but not always. It varies.
I use these when I NEED more background, but don't have the time to invent everything before I start writing. I did this for Moonshadow's Guardian. And in Moonshadow's Guardian, the history pretty much wrote itself, and more details, because of who Riana was. It might not happen that way in all the stories, and you'll have to fill in later. But it seems to always work out one way for me.
3-A map with locations, ideas, cultures, and history/mythology. This is for when I have plenty of time to plan in advance-and need a world. I do enjoy writing this. Normally this excludes minor details-those are done in the story or the aftermath. But worlds are fun to build, and I use it for stories where I need a sturdy background and have time to make a really well detailed one. I haven't done much of this in the last year or two, but I'm doing it right now for two of my Nanowrimo novels.
The history isn't really coming to me, but the maps have been good so far and the basic ideas for the cultures seem pretty well done. I have all the proper prejudices in place that I need for my stories to work. I haven't done the Vampire culture or the Werewolf culture yet, but those are somewhat-integrated with human culture and I have a fair idea of them. I just haven't written it down.
Worldbuilding can be fun. In the next few posts, I'll show some example notes and review some really useful sites, articles, workshops, and the like.
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