Now that we've covered some basics like discovering what kind of writer you are, how to learn more craft knowledge, and basic story structures, I'm going to shift focus onto the creation aspects of your novel. In this first installment, I will cover everything your need to know to build a world for your characters. Without further ado, let's jump in!
What Will Your World Look Like?
The first thing you need to know is what kind of world you are going to be writing about. You likely need to establish at least a broad genre that aligns with your novel to discover this. You don't need to know that you are writing a new adult slasher mystery novel with thriller elements, but you should know whether your novel is speculative fiction or romance.
Most genres have a specific type of world that is expected when reading a story with the genre. For example, fantasy novels typically take place in a world that does not exist but resembles the terrain of the real world whereas historical novels take place in the real world just in the past. However, some genres have more of a gray area. Many speculative fiction novels can take place in worlds that resemble the real world or are alternate versions of Earth. And who is to say that your fantasy world can't have licorice for grass or rainbows instead of water?
The three main types of worlds are Earth and places that really exist, alternate versions of Earth (dystopian and science fiction novels will likely use this the most), and a fantastical world that doesn't exist. Each type of world has its own challenges to write, so I will give you some advice for each before you decide to try and tackle one.
How Do I Describe the Real World?
So, you have decided to write a novel that takes place on the version of Earth that all humans know. The best part of this is that it is already built for you! The downfall is that people know and love it, so if you get the details wrong, there will be consequences.
Let's start with the positive side: your world is already built. It has its own culture, its own rules, and its own diverse set of people and characters. There isn't much that you need to create beyond the story itself. On the creative side of things, this world is probably the easiest to write.
However, you must be technically perfect with your description of this world. People live there. People have vacationed there. People can look your place up. If you say that a historical landmark is on the wrong street, fans of the place will immediately call your bluff.
How can you fix this issue? If you have a bit of a budget for travel or if you live close to the place you are writing about, go visit it when you are writing. Walk in the footsteps of your character. If there is a hotdog vendor that always sits on the corner of an intersection, include the smell of fresh hotdogs or the sound of them sizzling on the grill. Small details like that will not only immerse your readers into that location but will also prove to them that you know what you're talking about.
If you can't travel there, do proper research. Google Maps is a free resource for anyone who has access to the internet. There are other free websites like TripAdvisor that tell you what some popular landmarks in a specific city are. Look up the culture of the specific place that you are writing about to make sure your people are realistic, too. Use your resources wisely to make the location you are writing about come to life.
What Can I Do to Make an Alternate Earth?
As far as creation and technicality go, creating an alternate form of Earth or an Earth-like world is a fairly middle ground. Since it will be loosely based on something that already exists, you have a basic world already created, you just need to tweak it. On the technical side of things, you have to make it make sense that Earth would change in the way that you are making it.
Most of the legwork in this world will be making subtle tweaks to the rules and laws that currently exist as well as creating a logical reason that those laws would change and explaining how they affected the people on Earth. For example, if the United States gets split and states start to secede from the union, you need to have a believable reason why and show the effect it had on people.
However, if this is not a dystopian or historical fiction novel and you are focusing on the future of Earth, you have a bit more wiggle room, but you still have to have something that makes sense. If you say that we reached the moon and created a moon colony, we need to know what the rules of that colony are. Are the same rules as the United States? Who has governance up there? How did we get up there? Who lives up there? If it's multiple countries, how did they decide on rules?
This is all stuff you need to know and be able to make your readers understand. This does not mean that you info-dump the entire moon colony constitution, but you should be able to insert it when certain rules come up.
Can I Pull Off a Fantasy World?
Fantasy worlds are high creativity with lower technicality. You still have to make things make some kind of sense, but as far as the world itself goes, readers will believe almost anything in a fantasy novel so long as it's cohesive. I once read a middle-grade novel that had a pasta world.
When talking about the technicality of a fantasy world, your laws and rules have to make sense. It doesn't have to make logical sense, but it has to be able to be explained from the point of view of an irrational monarch. Your readers should be able to understand the thought process if something doesn't make sense.
Creativity is definitely where you have your work cut out for you. The biggest section of this will be creating the people and their culture, which will be covered in a subsequent blog. In this blog, I will take about how you can get inspired to create this world.
You will likely be basing your world on something that already exists within the real world or multiple places in the real world. Whether that be in climate, culture, or terrain, you will likely be inspired by a real place. The trick is making it slightly different. The climate and terrain aren't quite as important to make unique as much as the cultural practices are. For example, you can have a group of people who eat haggis but don't have them wear kilts or play bagpipes in an area that resembles Scotland.
Another difficult thing in creating a fantasy world is creating the races that will live there. You can just have humanoid races that resemble the ones on Earth today. Most fantasy novels have some sort of mystical creatures and races, though. There are so many more things to choose from besides elves and dwarves, so do a little digging into mythology and incorporate some fun and uncommon races.
Are There Examples of These Worlds?
The best way to learn how to write about these worlds is to read or watch them in practice. There are millions, possibly billions, of movies and books in the world. Here are just a few examples I know of these types of worlds.
Earthly Worlds
Fury directed by David Ayer
Alternate Earths
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan
Fantasy Worlds
Star Wars created by George Lucas
Avatar the Last Airbender created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Any of these books, movies, or TV shows are great examples of how you can create your own unique world whether it is set on Earth, an alternate Earth, or a world of your own creation.
Until Next Time,
Ally Mac
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