Building Your Imaginary World
By Mayra CuevasBuilding Your Imaginary WorldMost of my novel is set in an imaginary world. I loved creating it and most days I didn't want to leave it.When I began building my world I compiled a list of key elements that I needed to tell my story, based on the needs of the characters, their story arch and the plot line. But as I came to find out, I was only scratching the surface.I knew that my world building couldn’t be gratuitous. In today's book market editors and readers have little to no patience for long stretches of narrative that build a world but do nothing to advance the story. But I also realized that my world wasn’t living up to its full potential.The initial brainstorming was very helpful as a starting point but it was really a list of disjointed ideas.I needed a plan. So I went to the Barnes and Noble behind my house and sat in front of the fiction writing section. There I found “The Writer’s Digest Guide to Science Fiction & Fantasy” by Orson Scott Card and the editors of Writer’s Digest.
What I most loved about Card’s book is that it talks about world building in terms of cause and effect. Every aspect of your world will have an effect on the characters lives and on society at large.Card said that in order to make our stories more “richer, deeper, more complex, and potentially more truthful and insightful,” we must know the results and the hidden causes.“Yet in your stories you must imagine all these things, not just because it will make the world of your story more complete, but also because the very completeness of the world will transform your story and make it far more truthful,” he said.In his chapter on world creation, Card provided some elements to consider when building your world:
- Developing the rules of your world, especially rules of time, space and magic
- History
- Language
- Geography
- Customs
- Commerce, trade and law
- Races
- Creatures
- Dress and costume
- Army and warrior elements
- Architecture
In order to organize all these ideas, I followed Card’s advice and drew maps of my world. Each version of the map added notes and new details to the various areas and societies living in them. I was making discoveries in my own world. Weaving the World into the StoryLast summer during the Romance Writers Association Conference in Atlanta, I attended a workshop entitled, “World Building Enriching Your Story with Culture and Setting” with authors Jeannie Lin and Shawntelle Madison.My main takeaway from the panel was that it helps to think of the setting as a character - it is alive with its own multi-layered personality, its own way of interacting with other characters, and its own history.The authors said that the worlds that feel real are seamlessly woven into the story. The world is shown through the characters interacting with it and the details come alive through the characters and their story. In this way the details become meaningful.The Rules of Our World Card, Lin and Madison agree that an important aspect of world building is creating the rules of your world.To the readers the rules will be built into your story. They will only notice your rules if you break them. This is why the panel recommended keeping a "rules book" to help with consistency.When writing rules, also include if that rule can be broken, if there is a loophole, the consequences of breaking that rule, and the boundaries.Loopholes can be important as "part of the magic that still needs to be unlocked," one of the panelist said.Rules also can lead to struggle. For example, by adding a rule that no one can have children, you create a culture where there is no future, nothing to live for.
The panel recommended “The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great” by Donald Maass. The book’s Chapter 4 provides advice on world building.What are your techniques to build your world? Leave your comments below.