Last week, we talked about the three different worlds that you can create to house your story. One of those worlds was one that doesn't exist. When you are writing something where you have your own unique world, there is a lot of creative legwork that has to go into the planning for your novel. Think about all the things in this world that make it what it is. While you don't have to explain every little nitpicking detail, your readers should be able to easily visualize your world and the people in it. In this article, I will cover some of the aspects of the world that you need to have a clear vision of.
Read Works in Your Genre
There is a reason that tropes are tropes. Things that work with a specific genre work for a reason. It is important to read up on what the other authors have written and succeeded at to be able to create your own world. If you notice common things within the world across multiple books in the same genre, either ensure it is in your book or find a new way to incorporate it. Obviously, don't copy their world but see what the formula is and replicate it.
To be able to do this, you need to determine what your genre will be. Of course, you can always blend genres. it is extremely hard to narrow your novel down to one defined genre just because there are so many sub-categories to genres. If you are really struggling at narrowing it down, The Book Genre Dictionary has a great tool to help you determine your genre.
Decide Where to Begin
If you are like me and you are much more of a pantser, you will probably find it difficult to begin by planning your world. However, to save you headaches in the future, you have to know what your world is like. If there is something you already know about your world and are excited about, start there. When you are excited about a topic, it will make it easier to do what doesn't come naturally to you.
If you are a planner, the same goes. It will be easier to start if you are excited about it. Try not to get bogged down by what you should be planning and focus on what is coming to you. Don't be afraid to not know everything before you start writing. You need to know the main ideas but not the nitty gritty ones to be able to give the world to your reader.
Explain the Landscape
It will likely be easy to know what your world looks like. You have probably been visualizing your world in your head when you think about the scenes that are playing out for your characters. If that is the case, it should be relatively easy to start by describing your world.
This includes climate, geography, and routes of travel. If it helps, you could use some form of map-making service to visualize your world better. You may even be able to start filling in where resources come from (e.g. coal from the mountains and lumber from the forests). If you are looking for a free service to help make maps, Inkarnate offers quite a few items in their free package to allow you to visualize your world.
Set Up Laws and Rules
If there are different groups and or kingdoms in your world, there will likely be different laws that constrain their actions or that lead their actions. This should probably be your second course of action so that your people already have defined laws to follow before you make their characteristics. You also probably have a decent idea of what these regulations will look like. In this portion, you may find yourself describing some of the culture by defining who will be the people who enforce the rules and the hierarchy of the government.
Define Your People and Their Culture
Now that you have rules to follow and a world to live in, you can focus on your characters. No, I don't mean your main character. They may come in, but this is more of a general idea of people and culture. What do the people that fill the world around your main character look like? Are they the races we are familiar with? Are there mythical races? How does their culture differ from your main character's?
You don't need to know that the townsperson that lives at the end of the road has two sisters and he's always felt pressure to carry the name of the family and do stereotypical male role in his house (unless that impacts the story). But, you should have a general idea of what a collective group of people believe and how they behave based on their beliefs. For example, maybe Kobolds are very traditional and strict families, so their children are always doing what is expected of them.
There are always exceptions to the rules. If you are basing your people and cultures on ones that already exist, be sure to do proper research. Sit down and talk with people of that race if you can. If not, try to find writings from someone of the culture or read books about what it is like to be a race that is different than your own. Sensitivity readers can be great resources to catch possible issues in your story.
Learn Your World's History
The past is what shapes us in the present. You should know some of the past events in your world as they will likely play into the current storyline. Obviously, don't fall into the info-dump way of delivering it to your readers unless it is productive and entertaining like the beginning of Lord of the Rings. Though there may be details that don't come up in your story, you should still know the history.
Discover the Hierarchy and Power
There is a certain order of leadership whether you are in a kingdom setting or our modern-day government with presidents. Somehow, there is a way to make decisions in your world. How does it happen? How do they reach the top of the hierarchy? Who is at the top of the government? Is there balance in the government?
The second thing you might have to figure out is magic. Is there a system/order of your magic? How do people get magic? How do the rules and laws contain/restrain magic? Is magic even legal? There are so many questions that will need to be answered, especially if your reader uses magic. Your magical system will likely need to be organized to help explain it to your readers. Your main character doesn't have to know how it works when the story begins, but that should be figured out by the time to story ends.
Figure Out the Details
There are so many tiny aspects of your story that may end up being important to the plot. But, you can (and should) begin your writing process when you have those three main areas figured out. If you over-plan, you will likely turn to info-dumping, which will just be cut in the editing process.
What I like to do when I am writing and I run into something I don't know is to place an obvious text filler to be replaced later. This allows you to keep the story going without getting sidetracked in the planning process again. You also never know when the right answer will come, so it is a great placeholder until that inspiration strikes. It looks like this:
"Gwen handed the blacksmith [CURRENCY TO GO HERE] before taking her freshly forged sword."
This is easy to see when scrolling through your story, so you can fix it before sending it to an agent or editor. If you aren't sure what you need to figure out, this questionnaire from The Novel Factory gives plenty of questions to answer but don't feel like you have to answer them all.
All in all, you need to know your world well. My best piece of advice for you is to tell you to explain it to a trusted friend or family member and see what questions they have. If you can't answer them, you should probably fix some things. If you can, you're probably good to go. Alpha, beta, and sensitivity readers can be great resources before you send your novel to an editor or agent to ensure that your world and culture make sense.
Until Next Time,
Ally Mac
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