R.M. Archer's Blog, page 19

Elements of Culture for Worldbuilding

There are a lot of elements to consider when you’re building a fantasy world. It can be hard to know where to start. Which elements of culture are the most important? Different authors might have different answers, but here are the four elements I think operate as the pillars of a fictional culture.

Element #1: Worldview

The worldview of a culture colors everything that culture does, so it’s an important element to develop. I talked about this more in-depth a few weeks ago, but worldview is the axis on which a culture turns. Without an awareness of what that axis is and how it moves the culture, you might end up with a culture that feels off-kilter, like it’s just barely off the mark. If you feel like your fantasy world is missing something, it might be that you’re not digging into the goldmine of worldview.

Element #2: Religion

Religion is closely interwoven with worldview, since the worldview of a religious person or culture will be influenced by their faith. The prominent religion in a culture will affect how its people act, what laws it passes, and what sorts of taboos it has, among other things. It might also affect what type of government the culture chooses and what the culture believes about science. It might affect their interactions with other cultures. It’s up to you whether you want this religious view to be the correct one in your world. A strong fictional religion is one that impacts the lives of its followers and operates like a real-world religion, with faith at the core and works forming the shell that others see.

Element #3: Traditions

As with the other elements of culture, tradition is tied in with its neighbors. Tradition is born out of worldview and religion and reinforces both, as I talked about a couple weeks ago. Traditions are a big chunk of what bring your culture’s worldview and religion into the tangible so that you can make them accessible to your readers through your characters’ actions. As with most things in writing, worldview and religion need to be shown rather than told, and traditions are a great way to do this. Traditions could be things like holidays and festivals, or they can be simple everyday things like prayers before a meal or chanting a mantra when you get up. Traditions are consistently repeated actions, no matter the frequency or size of the action, that reinforce beliefs. And these ought to be present throughout your characters’ lives, just as they’re present throughout our own lives. We take them for granted, our characters may take them for granted, but our readers will appreciate the glimpse into your character’s world and values.

Element #4: Education

Like tradition, this is an element of culture that both stems from and feeds back into worldview and religion. Education passes on both information and values, and it can encourage or discourage certain worldviews and faiths. This then impacts character voice, as you determine how your characters would have been trained to think. Education will also impact your character’s everyday life in your story. If they’re still students, it might impact their flexibility. If they’ve completed their education and they’re looking into careers, what education they had could impact their prospects. Are they content with their available options, or would they rather have a job they’re not currently qualified for?

Education can give a great look at the values of a culture, since education systems can and should differ significantly based on the values of a culture, as I explored last week. Education is an underutilized tool in displaying culture.

Bonus Element: Government

Government draws its influence from all four of these core elements of culture, which is why I didn’t make it a pillar itself. Government is decided based on a culture’s worldview and religion, and maintained through the influence of all four pillars. While it does feed back into a culture’s worldview, education, and even religions and tradition, I see it as secondary to these four. If you want a quick guide to government types and what cultural values they go along with, check out this post I wrote for Lavender Bleu.

What are your thoughts on these elements of culture? Are there any more important elements you think I missed? Do you develop these elements first, or do you prefer an inside-out approach to worldbuilding? Or do you mix and match? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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Fantasy School… or Not – Worldbuilding Education

Education is an often overlooked aspect of worldbuilding, even though education defines our individual worldviews and skill sets and also supports society as a whole. After all, people can’t occupy trades or other societal roles if they don’t know how. Today I want to explore how to develop the educational systems of your world… and why “fantasy school” isn’t always the answer.

What is Education?

I want to start out by defining “education.” The first definition in Google puts it this way:

the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.

Let’s explore that word “systematic” a little bit more. The first thing that comes to mind when I think “systematic” is a consistent, set time for going through a specific topic in a specific way. But that’s really too narrow. “Systematic” really just means there’s a thoughtful process behind it, which can be implemented consistently and routinely or simply as it becomes relevant. For instance, my parents never set specific times to watch movies with me, but when we watched movies they brought up critical thinking questions about whatever we were watching. They did this routinely, so that the concepts were repeated. In this way, they systematically (through established use of discussion questions) taught me (educated me) to think through the media I consume and to pay attention to the content I’m taking in. But, though it was systematic, it was also very relaxed and interwoven with everyday life. So as we talk about education, I want us to have that loose definition in mind.

If this sounds like my definition of tradition, that’s because the two are closely interwoven. Though tradition often focuses more on values and education often focuses more on information, both are repeated behavior to reinforce concepts, and education is deeply influenced by (and has deep influence on) values as well.

How Do Cultural Values Shape Education?

Cultural values will not only shape what is taught, but also how it’s taught. A culture that values strict adherence to rules will have a very different education system from a culture that values the learning of skills and trades. The first culture is likely to have a centralized education system where one teacher teaches the rules to a large group of children; strict rules don’t require much of a personal touch. The second culture, on the other hand, might have a larger focus on apprenticeships and the careful passage of trade knowledge from a tradesman to his apprentice.

This concept was a big turning point for me as I was writing Calligraphy Guild. I’d fallen into the trap of shaping my fictional education system to look like the U.S. public school system (even though I was homeschooled and that wasn’t even the starting point I was personally familiar with), and I realized as I was reading Unschooled by Kerry McDonald that this model was a) boring and b) out of touch with the rest of the established culture of Virilia. It was actually a lot of fun to realize that I had more freedom with my education system and I could make it look more like what I thought education should look like rather than what I thought the world thinks education should look like.

When building education systems, we can sometimes get stuck in a rut of what we’re familiar with or what we think is expected of us, but thinking about how a culture’s values shape its education system allows for a lot more freedom, a lot more fun, and a much more dynamic world.

What Do Children in Your World Need to Learn?

Obviously a core thing you need to determine for your world’s education system is what is being taught. This will differ by age, but I’m going to focus on the children of your world since they’ll be the most directly educated. What are the sorts of things that children need to learn early on? What are inherent risks or tools of their world that they need to be familiar with? Children in the U.S. need to learn not to run into the road, or not to touch a hot burner, or not to give their names and locations out to people on the internet. What are these common lessons in your world? Are there goblins in the forest that need to be avoided? Are there certain plants that children need to be familiar with, either because they’re harmful or because they’re good for healing? Are there skills that children need to learn so that they can start to be part of society?

As another facet of this, are there common values that are taught to children? How are these conveyed? Hebrew law, for instance, was an important part of Israelite education. Parents were instructed to teach their children this law throughout everyday life.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:6-10

Are the important values of your culture taught through everyday discussion? Through direct instruction at a set time, as in school? Are they taught through tradition?

Another key stage of life for education is the transition from childhood into adulthood, but that could be an entire post to itself. In brief, what skills are considered necessary for a child to know before they’re ready for adulthood? How do these differ between men and women? What values do parents aim to instill in their kids before they move into adulthood?

Who Teaches?

This is another thing that will be influenced by your culture’s values, as a part of the “how” of education. A culture that values family will likely entrust the training of children to their parents, while a community-centered culture might have truly public schools, and that rule-based culture might intentionally remove children from their parents to be trained by specific teachers so that there’s less risk of other values being taught over the rules.

What system of education you choose will also have an impact on this. In an apprenticeship system, people will be taught by whoever is an expert in a given field. In a system where concepts are taught through everyday life, family or community might both be acceptable. In a curriculum-based system, it could be a community (e.g. early public schools) or it could be a chosen elite. Or, for that matter, the parents, like in more structured homeschool cases. (In that case, who creates the curriculum? Is it built by the parents, by the community, or by trained elite? How much flexibility is there for choosing different curriculum?)

Does Higher Education Use Fantasy Schools?

What vocations (or skills) in your world require more specialized education? Where can someone go if they want to learn more than they can glean from everyday life and their communities?

In the real world, doctors, lawyers, and pastors are a few examples of people who have to get specialized training for their vocation. Thus, we have more specialized schools. What vocations might need more training in your world? Is this found through fantasy schools? Or can they learn from people already in the vocation, through mentorships or apprenticeships? How much can they learn on their own? Do they have the resources to do so?

You might have a fantasy school for doctors… or you might have apprenticeships with healers. You might have a fantasy school for anthropology… or you might have a group of anthropologists who let interested young adults tag along on their expeditions.

And what about when it comes to simple curiosity? What if someone isn’t looking to go into a complex vocation, but simply wants to learn more than they can learn from their communities? Are there libraries? Museums? Are experts open to questions or to students shadowing them? How accessible is travel, if a student wants to learn from different cultures or communities?

Is Fantasy School the Only Way to Teach Magic?

A common example of a skill that might need more direct attention in fantasy is magic. This is where you’ll find the most fantasy schools; Harry Potter is just one of many “magic academy” stories. Fantasy school is a reasonable way to teach magic if you have a magic system that works the same for everybody, and enough experienced magic-users who want to teach. But it would be fun to see more people consider how these teachers were found, why the school was begun, how the founders built the school and decided for it to be structured, whether there’s an expense to get into the school or if it’s a non-profit situation… Honestly, I’d love to see a book about the beginning of a fantasy school.

But I’d also love to see more worlds that veer away from this model, even when it comes to magic. For one thing, not all magic systems do work the same way for everyone; there are plenty of systems where magic is unique to the user and they have to figure out their powers more-or-less on their own. In these cases, are there resources in place for them to practice and learn safely? Are there books about the general laws of magic and maybe examples of past manifestations? Are there open training grounds that have been cleared for safe magic practice?

And what about apprenticeships here, too? Are there any experienced magic-users who take young, inexperienced magic-users under their wing?

Or community education. Does the old lady with singing magic open her home every Thursday to a local group of kids who want to learn how to use their own singing magic?

Or do parents often pass on their own powers to their children, so they teach their own kids?

Fantasy School Limits

Are there limits to your world’s education? Does your fantasy school only admit one gender, or people with magic powers, or people from a certain culture? Is there an admittance fee that makes it nearly impossible for the lower class to attend? Do tradesmen only take on apprentices who fit certain criteria? Are those criteria difficult to attain?

Or are there limitations due to resources? Are there few teachers, so they can’t take as many students as they’d like? Are books time-consuming to produce, so students don’t have as much freedom to teach themselves? Does your character want to learn a skill that’s rare in their own community, so they have to travel to learn it?

Are Fantasy Schools Always Bad?

I’ve probably sounded anti-fantasy-schools in this post, since I’m trying to encourage you to explore the different possibilities. But fantasy schools aren’t all bad! They can make sense with the culture they’re part of. They can be the best way to teach a certain set of skills. They can also be more flexible than we always give them credit for. For example, an academy with set classes but that’s open to the public and allows for people to come and go as they please is just as much a fantasy school as one with a rigid schedule and attendance expectations. If you’re writing a fantasy school, don’t be discouraged by this post. Use it to strengthen your fantasy education system. Maybe mix multiple systems. Make sure your fantasy school and the culture it’s part of fit together. But if your fantasy school works, by all means, use it!

Is education something you’ve considered in your world? What sort of system(s) do you use? What are some things people in your world learn that are unique to your setting?

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May 2021 Wrap-Up

A bit of an early (and brief) wrap-up this month because I’m leaving tomorrow for my summer camp job! So here’s a quick update and a rundown of what to expect over the next three months.

Writing

I’ve been hard at work over the past several weeks writing up posts for this summer and I’m super excited for them to go up! Unfortunately, I won’t be around to see your comments right away, but I’d still love for y’all to share your thoughts and I’ll respond to them as soon as I get back! I have some great posts lined up, including a couple of guest posts, so keep your eyes open for those!

I’ve also done a bit of worldbuilding for Deseran, and I’m planning a Calligraphy Guild-related short story to write in the not-too-distant future, both of which have been fun.

Reading

I haven’t read much this month. I did finish the books on nouthetic counseling and sibling relationships that I mentioned in passing last month. I also read Tom Sawyer Abroad, which I enjoyed. But mostly I’ve been focused on prepping for my trip, so I haven’t gotten a lot of reading done.

How was this month for you? Do you have any cool plans for the summer?

See y’all again in August!

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Culture and Tradition in Fantasy

Culture and tradition are crucially interwoven. Tradition is the means through which culture is preserved and reinforced, which makes it the ultimate tool for exploring fictional worldviews. I’ve talked about building festivals and holidays before, but today I want to focus on how to use both “special” traditions (like holidays) and everyday traditions (like nightly worship) to emphasize and support a cultural worldview.

What is Tradition?

The first definition from Google is as follows:

the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

Author Max Florschutz goes into more depth about what tradition is in his post on the topic, but the basic idea is that tradition is a repeated action that reinforces a belief. For example, Christmas is an annual reminder of Jesus’s birth. Thanksgiving is a specific day that we set aside to be grateful (its historic meaning having been largely dropped in celebration over the centuries). I’d make a comment on Halloween but I’d make people mad, so I’ll refrain from using that example. The same is true of smaller-scale traditions. If a family does nightly worship, that’s a way of passing on the faith from one generation to the next and reinforcing a family’s beliefs. If someone gives a donation to the same homeless person once a week, that might be an intentional reminder to themselves to be kind and generous, or to slow down and connect with strangers, or to consider the importance of their community. Traditions are repeated actions that reinforce a belief.

How Do Culture and Tradition Connect?

Now you’re wondering, “Okay, but what does this have to do with a whole culture? How are culture and tradition connected?” I’m glad you asked. The biggest examples of cultural tradition are holidays. Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Independence Day… Why do we celebrate these days? Sure, on some level it’s likely because we individually value what they celebrate. But why are they nationally (or even internationally, in some cases) acknowledged? Because, at some point, our culture valued them, as a whole. The United States values freedom (nominally, if nothing else), so we celebrate the anniversary of our independence. Christians all over the world acknowledge Christmas as a reminder of Jesus’s birth; and non-Christians who celebrate Christmas acknowledge it as a reminder to value family, or giving, or whatever the case may be. These traditions are ingrained in our culture and steeped in our cultural values.

Values are just as important for smaller-scale traditions. Families do family worship because they value their faith. Family dinner comes about because we value family. Weekly study sessions indicate we value learning (and likely the friends we study with). The list goes on.

Culture and tradition ought to be just as deeply connected in your fantasy world. What does your culture value, and what traditions do they have in place to reinforce those beliefs? Does a culture that values unity have an annual festival to promote cooperation among differing sub-cultures? Does a faith that values action organize a weekly day of missions, or send new adults on mission trips as a rite of passage? Does a culture that values community have a weekly community dinner?

When Culture and Tradition Gradually Disconnect

As I hinted at when I mentioned Thanksgiving, culture and tradition don’t always line up perfectly over time. Sometimes we begin a tradition for one reason, and then over time it loses its original meaning and takes on a new one. Thanksgiving doesn’t commemorate the harvest or remember Plymouth, in most cases, but simply acts as a generic day of thanks. Even Christmas has become more about gift-giving than about Jesus, in the context of American culture as a whole.

The same can be true on a smaller scale. Let’s take family worship as an example again. Are there stages where this is no longer a genuine reflection of the family’s beliefs, but simply going through the motions? Is a family’s faith evident in their everyday life, or do they only have this tradition as the last vestiges of a dying faith?

How have the traditions in your world lost their original meaning? What meaning do they now hold? Are there any traditions that are simply empty now, and no one knows what they originally meant?

Harmful Tradition

Sometimes traditions come about for more malevolent reasons than to support cultural values. Sometimes traditions are put in place by the elite to control or manipulate those below them. Consider the era when the Bible was only available in Latin, allowing the clergy to twist its meaning without the knowledge of the laypeople. Or consider how veils have been used by various cultures to dehumanize women. (Yes, wearing a face covering is a repeated action to reinforce a belief. Something as simple as clothing can operate as tradition.)

How do such things occur in your world, and how are they received? When the underlying motivation is revealed, does your culture rear up against it or brush it under the rug? What values were these traditions masked behind in order to be established in the first place?

Historical Events, Culture, and Tradition

“But what about traditions based on historical events? How do those fit in with worldview?” Remember how I mentioned the U.S.’s value of freedom when I commented on Independence Day? That’s a prime example of cultural values and historical events weaving together to create a tradition. Christmas, too, whether a direct anniversary or not, is a mix of historical event (Jesus’s birth) and cultural value (Jesus Himself, Christianity, the Gospel).

What we value determines what historical events we remember in tradition for years and years to come. Sometimes, two different values can lead to commemoration of the same event. For instance, a militaristic culture might remember an invasion as the birth of their strength, whereas a theocratic society might remember it as an attack on their faith that they had to stand firm against.

What historical events have birthed traditions in your world? How do your culture’s values color their interpretation of a given historical event? What historical events have been forgotten because they don’t line up with your culture’s values?

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Sunshine Blogger Award #6

Another Sunshine tag has come my way! This one is from Grace over at Gabbing with Grace, so thank you Grace. :)

Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.

2. Answer all the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.

4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your blog post.

Questions

1. What was your worst childhood experience?

Ummm… There was one time we were on vacation and I went down a water slide with my aunt and fell out of the inner tube at the end, which was really scary at the time. I… can’t think of much by way of negative childhood memories? XD

2. What was your first ever blog post?

Oh hey, I think I’ve answered this in another tag. To quote that post…

“My very first blog post was an itty-bitty review of Frozen. So small, in fact, that I can feature it here:

Yesterday, March 25th, I finally got to see Frozen. I liked that it had the right underlying message, true love is putting others’ needs before your own. I liked Anna because of her excitement and peppiness.

Elsa should have learned to control her powers rather than hide them.  She could have done wonderful things if she had learned to control instead of conceal.

Part of the movie almost made me cry, I mean, poor Anna, she was separated from her sister when they had been best buddies, and they didn’t even tell her why, so she thought that Elsa didn’t like her anymore.”

3. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Officially, mint chocolate chip. Unofficially, we’d be here all day while I tried to decide. (Black cherry is really good, though.)

4. If you could be allergic to anything, what would it be?

This is a peculiar question. Um… I… can’t think of anything off the top of my head that wouldn’t make me consistently miserable. Maybe procrastination, so I wouldn’t do it so often? XD I don’t know.

5. What is your least favorite song ever?

Well… see… I have this awful habit of hating super catchy songs, so if I were to say I would probably get it stuck in my head (and yours, if you know it). So. Let’s just say it’s an Ed Sheeran song that was very popular a couple years ago but which is disgusting.

6. If you could meet any US president, living or dead, who would it be?

Either Washington or Reagan. Probably Reagan.

7. You have three wishes—but there’s a catch: you’re wishing for another person. Who and what would you wish for?

I’d wish for my mom.

No more health issuesA bigger house (including a huge space for our library) that’s fully paid for and comes with cleaning helpA lifetime supply of dark chocolate Hershey kisses. XD

8. Can you sing the full lyrics of any song(s)? If so, what is it/are they?

*laughs* Are there any songs I’ve heard more than once that I can’t sing the full lyrics of? (Okay, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is pretty tough.) Seriously, though, I memorize lyrics really quickly and sometimes by accident, so… I know lots of songs.

9. What do you want your mansion to look like in Heaven?

Probably a lot like I want my real-life future house to look. Wide open, welcoming, with lots of natural light and plants throughout. Always set up for guests. But also, I’d like to spend a lot of my time outside of that mansion, exploring the New Earth with limitless energy. :)

10. If you could change the course of any historical event, which one would it be and how would you change it?

This might be controversial, but… I’d change the ending of the Civil War and have the South win their secession.

11. You are given the choice to pick your dream spouse—from FICTION! Who will you be picking from any book, movie, TV show, etc.? Why them?

Too many options! If we lower it down to Christian characters that limits it significantly. But now I’m struggling to think of anyone. XD Ooh! Maybe Matthew from The Eleventh Hour by Michael Philips? He’s a sweetheart. Orrrr… *grins* You didn’t specify that it has to be a published book, which means I could marry one of my own characters, in which case Halder from The Masked Captain immediately comes to mind. He’s a (fantasy equivalent) Christian and a musician and storyteller, he’s a big brother (and part of a big family), he likes plants, he probably dances… OH WAIT. JEEVAN. I’ve literally said that if Jeevan actually existed I would marry him. XD XD Jeevan is from The Shades and the Elect and he’s essentially my ideal guy. Spontaneous, fun, but also grounded and able to take things seriously, always ready to lend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on, would absolutely be a youth leader, also a musician, definitely dances even if he’s not good at it… Plus, his friend group is amazing and I’d love to be friends with all of those characters.

Nominees

Okie doke. Now that I’ve gone on for way too long about my characters. XD The folks who get to answer this tag next!

Allie at Of Rainy Days and Stardust VeinsBleu at Always Write the Good WriteMaple at Maple Quill Penning MagicFarren at Pen & QuillEdna at Bleeding InkSyberyah at atTAGirlAnyone who likes sunflowersAnyone who dislikes horror moviesAnyone who has a playlist for every situationAnyone who has an overflowing email inboxAnyone whose favorite season is summerNew QuestionsWhat’s your favorite song at the moment? Why do you like it?Favorite book at the moment?If you were sucked into the world of your current WIP, what would you do? How would you make a living? Which characters would you get to know?What book is tops on your TBR right now and why?What subjects are you fascinated with these days? What’s the latest fun fact you’ve learned on that topic?If you could go to any three places in the world, where would you go and in what order? What activities would be on your “must-do” list?If you could do anything with your hair for a day and have it go back to normal the next day, what would you do?What’s your favorite tea? (Or coffee, if you’re a weirdo who likes that bitter bean water.)If you were to grow one type of plant, what plant would you choose?Your thoughts on dancing?What’s your favorite summer activity?

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Why Cultural Worldview in Fantasy is Important

In the past I’ve discussed how to use fantasy worldbuilding to explore worldview (and why it’s important to include real-world worldview), and I’ve talked about how to build the foundation of your world (which is what will form the basis of worldview). But I haven’t actually talked about why a cultural worldview is important as an aspect of the worldbuilding process, so today I want to fix that.

Worldview Colors Everything

This is the core point. Everything else is secondary. A cultural worldview colors every aspect of a culture, influences how your characters think, breeds conflict when worldviews clash… Everything within and surrounding a culture is going to be influenced by that culture’s worldview. Therefore, it ought to be an intentional consideration. A culture’s worldview is the axis on which it turns. Since realizing this and becoming more intentional about cultural worldviews in my own worldbuilding, I’ve come to struggle to develop any culture that I haven’t found the axis of. Only once I discover the driving beliefs behind a culture can I figure out how it behaves, because its behavior is driven by that cultural worldview.

Let’s take an example from Deseran. Piradin’s cultural worldview stems from its origin myth:

According to Havanir religion, the god Havani came upon a fully formed earth and saw its great potential as wasted. Desiring to fulfill the world’s potential, Havani created men. For a time, men lived in peace as Havani intended. However, Havani eventually discovered that something was missing from man’s life, and that men also had no way to procreate like the animals did. Havani developed the idea of woman, but he only created one at first, to confirm that his plan would work. Thus, the first fight broke out. The men all clamored for the woman’s time, attention, and body, disrespecting her and fighting each other even to death. Havani tried to remedy his mistake by creating more women, but the damage had been done. Men had discovered the lure of competition, and continued to fight over even small things, and women endured continued disrespect from many men.

Havani sent a group of pure-hearted men to intervene, but they were unsuccessful. Havani withdrew the pure-hearted men, and the few women who remained unadulterated, from the rest of mankind and walked with them personally, teaching them how to live in peace and nurture and protect the earth as intended.

It’s this myth that leads to their practice of pacifism, their matriarchal society, their courtship practices, their hierarchy of crimes (abdication of family responsibility is one of the highest offenses), their approach to the treatment of animals, etc., etc. All of their behavior stems from this cultural worldview. And so does their opinion of neighboring cultures. Piradi relations with a neighboring culture that does a lot of hunting are strained because the Piradi believe hunting should be engaged in only when it’s necessary to control the size of the animal population

Cultural Worldview Influences Character Voice

As Kristen Kieffer mentions in her post on developing character voice, the culture a character lives in is going to influence how that character thinks and speaks and behaves. The degree of influence may vary. If a Piradi character were displaced to the U.S., they might cling to their Piradi culture and reject U.S. culture… thus displaying the influence of the Piradi culture and the lack of influence of U.S. culture. Just as we are influenced in real life by the cultures that surround us–whether primary cultures or sub-cultures–your characters ought to be informed by the cultural worldviews around them.

Cultural worldview is as much a character consideration as a worldbuilding consideration. Considering your character’s worldview, as informed by the culture around them, will enable you to create a stronger and more unique character voice. And the influence on character voice, in turn, will help your worldbuilding to seem more organic and meaningful.

Worldviews Conflict

Worldbuilding, character… The next cornerstone is plot, right? And cultural worldview contributes to this, also. Worldviews are a natural source of conflict. Take, again, the example of the Piradi and their hunter neighbors. One culture believes that humans shouldn’t injure animals unless it’s necessary, the other believes that hunting is a natural part of life. This produces external conflict. And this external conflict could provide internal conflict, as well. What if one of the Piradi struggled to reconcile their positive experience with individual hunters with their belief that hunting is a grotesque offense? Might they have trouble understanding how such good people can be so evil? Or perhaps how hunting can be evil if the people who practice it are so good? Internal conflict.

You could also have a character whose worldview shifts over the course of a story, first drawing its influence from culture A and then coming to see culture B as the right one. Or you could have a character who blends different worldviews and is spurned by members of both cultures.

Or you could go larger-scale and write about one nation that seeks to overthrow or conquer another in order to squash their conflicting worldview. Or a nation that tries to win others over to its worldview, with mixed results.

As with character voice, using cultural worldview to influence plot not only strengthens your plot, but also strengthens your world and makes it invaluable to the story. Worldbuilding ought to be an integral part of a book, and utilizing cultural worldview can be a great tool to ensure that it is.

Let’s chat! What are some of the most prominent worldviews in your world? How do they impact the characters and stories within the world? How do they conflict with one another?

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Worldbuilding Process: Three Examples

I’ve said this before, but there are many ways to approach creating a fantasy world (or sci-fi world). Should you work outside-in or inside-out? Should you use vignettes? Beyond the basics, what is the best order to take things in? Those are questions that are going to be unique to each writer (and potentially each world), so I can’t give you a concrete answer, but in this post I’ll show you a few of the processes I use for my own worlds. (And if you want a guide on how to develop your own answer, check out my course Worldbuilding Toolbox!)

Example #1: Aleruus

Aleruus is the world (or pair of worlds, rather) that I began building when I was first starting to write fantasy. It’s a world that drew a lot of inspiration in its early days from classic fantasy worlds such as Shannara, Hyrule (roughly Twilight Princess-era), and Landover. As such, it fits a lot of the classic fantasy tropes.

When I started out, Aleruus existed primarily as a vehicle for the stories that took place within its borders (though my fascination with worlds was clearly budding, as one of my kingdoms was built in large part to explore the areas of Hyrule that I was unfamiliar with and wanted to imagine more about). It didn’t have a lot of depth and I developed various aspects of the world as stories called for it; there were few elements that came about simply because I wanted to develop the world itself.

Nowadays, Aleruus is a bit more interesting. As I’ve reconstructed pieces of it, I’ve made an effort to develop unique details that set it apart from “every other fantasy world,” since I’m aware of its inherent weakness in that area. A lot of these elements have come about simply because I wanted to know more about the world, rather than to serve specific stories. I’ve also developed more concrete central values for each of the kingdoms in Aleruus, so that I have a very basic framework to go off of. But Aleruus remains largely story-driven. The largest number of its new developments occur as I’m writing and details come up that I need to explain or as I want to give characters a certain backstory that doesn’t make sense yet. Occasionally I’ll branch out from those details, but as I build Aleruus it’s largely a practical project.

Since it’s helpful to have all these practical notes in one place, they’re often immediately turned into World Anvil articles or added to my orderly Google doc of Aleruus notes. There’s little chaos involved in the process.

Example #2: Esleon

Esleon is my sci-fi world, and my method for this one is sort of a cross between my processes for Aleruus and Deseran (which I’ll talk about in a minute). Esleon has gone through some serious changes over the years; it was originally a fantasy world! At some point, stories came together and I decided to update some of my story ideas to take place in a sci-fi/fantasy version of our world. Thus began an exploration of how the world was significantly remolded, how survivors of a world-wide apocalypse rebuilt afterward, and how magic and mythical creatures would impact the development of society afterward.

Unlike with my other worlds, my focus with Esleon is primarily on a single nation: Concordia. So instead of a framework of cultural values, I mostly work off the timeline of Concordia’s gradual development. The worldbuilding starts out more of a post-apocalyptic fantasy blend and then gradually works its way into a more solidly sci-fi style (with superheroes and still a hint of fantasy).

Esleon is often story-driven, like Aleruus, with various elements appearing and being reconciled with existing details as they crop up in short stories or novels. But I often explore modern cultural issues (sometimes exaggerated) through the lens of this superpowered world (both technologically and magically speaking), thus exploring some details independently from any written stories. These can be inspired by current events, conversations with friends, hypothetical questions, philosophical dilemmas, media I’ve been consuming recently, etc. These most often impact the development of the world’s history and values rather than its technology or other tangible elements, but sometimes there’s overlap.

Since Esleon is a younger world than Aleruus, I allow myself more freedom to explore brand new ideas. There’s less fear of ruining what’s already established, simply because less is established. So it strikes a comfortable middle ground.

Notes on Esleon’s worldbuilding might end up slightly scattered as I jot things down in notebooks or various documents, but they (will) all find their way back to World Anvil eventually so that they’re all in one place when I need them for story reference.

Example #3: Deseran

Deseran is my favorite fantasy world. You’ve probably heard me use it as an example in many of my worldbuilding posts, since it’s the world in which I feel like I’ve hit my ideal process (and it’s the one I personally find most interesting).

While I call Aleruus and Esleon “story-driven,” I’d consider Deseran more “story-building.” Deseran started off small. I started with the core values of a small handful of cultures and began building from there. (I recommend cultural values as a starting point for development, since they’ll inform everything around them.) For a while, those few cultures were all I worked on. I explored the various facets of their culture; how they interlinked with one another, their history, their religions, and their conflicts both internally and externally… and over time those developments led to the creation of neighboring cultures, which then went through the same process.

Other cultures were developed based on the principles and habits I’d learned from my earlier work. I learned that free-writing about a given culture works really well for me (at least for this world), and that my habit of asking questions upon questions about interlinking issues can be super powerful when I just let my brain run. I learned that I love exploring worldview through fantasy cultures, since fantasy allows you to use a focused lens on a certain concept in a way that is difficult to achieve in different types of worlds. That led to the creation of entire cultures centered around concepts like pacifism, duality, exaggeration of focus on different elements of worship, etc.

I also give myself a lot of freedom with Deseran. I have a sprawling map that I’ve barely even started to develop yet, which leaves tons of room for additional cultures as I build, and they can be as varied as I can imagine. Shapeshifters who use animal skins to change shape? Why not? Put them in conflict with the culture that doesn’t believe in harming anything living. A nocturnal species that’s light-years ahead of its neighbors in astronomical knowledge (pun intended)? There’s space for them, too. Which means that if I come upon a seed of an idea, I can almost always fit it into Deseran somewhere.

With core values and concepts in place, questions will often crop up, either as I’m going about my day or as I’m writing stories. For instance, my legend of the Scarlet Wraith came together thanks to the question of whether one of the characters in Calligraphy Guild would know of any legendary heroes to name a pet dragon after. (The Scarlet Wraith turned out to not be a character Sairsha would name a dragon after–or even a hero at all–but the question was the necessary spark.) Having core values also allows me to use tools such as worldbuilding prompts to a fuller extent, since I can see a prompt like, “What is the most famous art piece in this culture?” and answer it based on what I know of their values. The best-known art piece in my artisan nation is very different from the best-known art piece in my military-led nation.

Notes for Deseran are much more free-form than my notes for my other worlds… and yet get into World Anvil more consistently. Deseran notes (almost) always start as ramblings in one extremely long Word document. A given ramble might only consist of one topic (one of my entries is only one sentence), others might jump around a good deal. Afterward, as I feel like it, I scroll through the document until I find a topic that catches my interest and I work on inputting everything I have on that topic into a World Anvil article so I have all of my related notes in one place later (and so I can share Deseran with others between now and when I’m able to publish more stories set there). If my notes don’t start as rambles, they start instead as World Anvil articles, either based on a World Anvil prompt (as was the case during a couple of their community events, in particular) or simply because I think a template would be more helpful for the particular worldbuilding element (for example, the Scarlet Wraith).

Common denominators

A few things do remain consistent over all of my worlds.

Have a framework in mind (cultural values, a cultural timeline, etc.)Ask questions about the worldKeep notes together (World Anvil is the ultimate destination for all of my notes, but there are several organizational options)

These are what I would say are the core of any worldbuilding process, regardless of what method you find works best for you.

Hopefully this was a helpful look at some examples of worldbuilding process! There are other methods I haven’t personally used that thus didn’t get into this post, but you can explore more about worldbuilding approaches and what core concepts to focus on in my Worldbuilding Toolbox course for just $15.

What does your worldbuilding process look like? What is your favorite part of the process? What worldbuilding tools do you use?

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April 2021 Wrap-Up

Writing

I wrote around 27k on The Masked Captain this month (a little over half what I was aiming for), plus several thousand words of a just-for-me project that I worked on when I was bored. I also did a bit of worldbuilding, and I’ve still been working on scheduling posts for this summer. Despite not getting done all that I’d intended to get done, it’s been a decent month. And I’m working on ironing out some of Calligraphy Guild based on sensitivity reader feedback (though so far I’ve gotten no negative feedback on the chronic illness rep! just some feedback on the overall story) so that I can send it to beta-readers tomorrow! I’m super excited to get more feedback and see what readers think of it. ^-^

Alsooooo, I made a Calligraphy Guild character quiz yesterday! Occasionally I do random CG-related things to keep myself from getting too antsy about not being able to share it yet, lol, and this was a super fun project! You can find the quiz on my Calligraphy Guild page, and I’d be curious to hear which character you get. ^-^

Blogging-wise, this month put a wrap on my Enneagram Authors interview series! So if you were following that series and haven’t finished yet, here are the links to types 7-9:

Type 7

Type 8

Type 9

Reading

I only finished three books this month:

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie BrennanA Time to Speak by Nadine BrandesCloak of Night by Evelyn Skye

The Tropic of Serpents was good, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first Lady Trent book. I’m not quite sure why, it just didn’t resonate as much.

A Time to Speak was excellent. I love this series so much, and I highly recommend it. The relationships were handled beautifully, the faith elements were realistic, the character struggles were believable, and there were so many great lines! I never underline in my fiction books, but I underlined at least one line in this book and I want to go back and underline a couple more. There were so many lines that made me pause and think or agree or just otherwise appreciate the writing. So good. This is definitely one of my favorite books now.

Cloak of Night was also good, but not spectacular. I took a break after the first book in this duology because I was annoyed with the way a couple of character relationships had turned out and I wanted to cool down. The break was effective. I cooled off so much that I barely remembered the characters and didn’t really care. Which was… not the end result I’d been going for, lol. But I warmed up to the characters again eventually, and I was pleased with how they handled the relationships in the end. The worldbuilding was still one of the main selling points for me, and I found the mythos behind the magic systems to be especially fascinating.

Currently reading

The Riven Realm by Deck MatthewsThat Hideous Strength by C.S. LewisJ.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion by Richard L. Purtill

My reading motivation has still been all over the place, and I’m still having the most success with nonfiction. I’m making the most progress, lately, on a couple of books I haven’t listed here about sibling relationships and nouthetic counseling, respectively. I’m disappointed that fiction isn’t keeping my attention as much, but I’m trying not to force myself too often so that reading doesn’t start to feel like a chore.

Life

There’s nothing particularly out-of-the-ordinary to mention in this category for this past month, but in this coming month I’ll be spending a lot more time and energy prepping to leave for camp at the end of May. Making sure I have everything I need, making sure I get blog prep done (for both blogs), wrapping up anything I need to wrap up before I go, etc. I feel underprepared at the moment, but I’m hoping to turn that around… at least most of the way, lol.

Plans for MayContinuing to prep blog postsGetting ready for camp

And that’s about it!

How was your April? Any wins to share? Do you have any big plans for May?

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Enneagram Authors: Type 9 – The Peacemaker

This week we’re wrapping up the Enneagram Author series with the Type 9. This happens to be my type! It was crazy seeing how many of Kate’s answers to these questions were things I could relate to, lol. Anyway, I want to say a huge thank you to the authors who were involved in this project, and thank you readers for following along! Without further ado…

About the 9

Description from The Enneagram Institute

Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also tend to be complacent, simplifying problems and minimizing anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbornness. At their Best: indomitable and all-embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts.

Basic Fear: Of loss and separationBasic Desire: To have inner stability “peace of mind”

Interview with KateHi, Kate! Can you share a little bit about yourself and what you write?

Well, I’m currently a student in high school, and have wanted to be an author since I can remember. When I was younger I would make up random silly stories with everyday objects, personifying them. I first won NaNoWriMo in eighth grade, writing a fanfiction. Now I’ve moved on to developing original stories and worlds. I haven’t won any NaNoWriMo since due to school, but it has helped me figure out my writing style and how I best work with my writing. As of right now, I write strictly fantasy. My current project is a long-term project for a series, and I’m still working on the niches of developing the overarching plot and worldbuilding.

Other than writing, I really enjoy drawing and reading. I’ve doodled since I was 10 and right now it’s just a really relaxing hobby. Some of my favorite books are The Mysterious Benedict Society, How to Train Your Dragon, A Mango Shaped Space, and Wonder.

What is your enneagram type, and how do you feel about it?

I’m a type nine. I like my type, although maybe that’s just because I can relate to it so much. I could go on for a long while about how I connect with the nine’s uncertainty about who I am, and what I’m actually feeling. Knowing about my type (and about the other types as well) also helps me understand where others are coming from and why they may not have the same open-mindedness or opinions as me.

Do you find that your enneagram type impacts your writing process? How so, or why not?

I don’t think it does. It’s not because my type isn’t that much of an influence, but because there’s not much in my writing process for my type to influence. I’m a definite planner. I’ve tried pantsing before and it was awful. I need to know where my story and characters are headed before I can actually write a half-decent scene. I can’t think of any way my type really has any significant impact with that. Maybe I’m missing something, but as for the process itself, I don’t think my type has too much of an impact.

What strengths do you find in your writing or process that tie in with your enneagram type?

I find that I’m usually pretty good at creating three-dimensional characters and relationships. A character is usually the spark I first have that develops into a story idea. And it’s generally easy for me to create a diverse cast and make sure everyone is different in one way or another. Something that helps me with this that I chalk up to my enneagram type is often putting myself in other people’s shoes when a disagreement comes up or their mood is confusing to me or clashes with mine. I like understanding where others are coming from, and my practice with this helps me better develop and understand the multiple viewpoints of my characters and how/why they work or clash with one another. And knowing where my characters are coming from helps me empathize with them, which is something that in real life I use to dissuade myself from getting into conflict.

What weaknesses do you find in your writing or process that tie in with your enneagram type?

While I’m good at characters, I’m not that good at figuring out plot. And now that I’m thinking about it, that’s probably because as a type nine, I don’t like conflict, a.k.a. the very thing that generates the plot. It’s usually not even the actual conflict I have a problem with developing; it’s the forces around that conflict and how that conflict drives the plot that I struggle with more. This especially happens to me with internal conflict. I don’t like being internally conflicted, and I’m very oblivious to many conflicts I can have within myself. And not being willing to look at my own internal conflicts prevents me from really understanding them on a level that I do other things like points of view. So while external conflict and relationships are clear for me to visualize and write about, internal conflicts are a lot more foreign and I end up writing them really awfully and cheesy.

One other weakness I’ve found that relates to my type also goes along with my dislike of conflict. I try not to get into conflict with others as much as I can, and I’ve started to be able to see when I’m going along with things just to avoid having to deal with opposition. And in my stories, my characters tend to do the same thing! A lot of it isn’t even intentional on the character’s part. They just naturally keep any deep feelings about things to themselves for one reason or another, and it builds up to an explosion (usually in a character’s relationship with someone else) around the climax. I hadn’t even realized I’d been doing this until I started thinking about it. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, just something I need to keep myself from repeating too often because then it gets predictable and annoying.

Do you think your type impacts how you create characters?

Like I stated in the strengths question, I don’t often have a hard time creating characters with different views because I spend a lot of time trying to understand others’ views in real life. I think another part of my type’s impact is I want to understand where my characters are coming from, protagonists or antagonists. I’m fine with the “evil to be evil” kind of villain (I have one, actually), but it’s much more satisfying for me for a villain to have a reason behind what they’re doing. It doesn’t have to be a justifiable reason; it just has to be an understandable one. And for me, an understandable reason doesn’t take that much work.

Do you think it impacts how you worldbuild?

I wouldn’t say how I worldbuild as much as why I worldbuild, or why I worldbuild fantasy only at this point. For me, worldbuilding is like an escape from reality. I can do anything I want inside my world, and I can fix or improve many things from real life in my world. This tends to especially show with different nations or species in my worlds. My “default” for those is usually peaceful relations, and I have to deliberately work at creating conflict between them. Aside from my general nine-ness of not liking conflict, a reason my default is set that way is because of all the conflict between countries and races in our world today. My desire to avoid the national conflict in the real world has subconsciously infiltrated my worldbuilding. I say subconsciously because it was only after I had created multiple nations/species with this attitude of non-conflict that I realized what I was doing, let alone why.

Do you think it impacts how you outline?

Not particularly. Like with my writing process, I can’t see much my type really has to influence with my outlining process. Needless to say, I like having everything outlined (usually mentally) before I start writing.

Do you think it impacts your prose or writing style?

I’m not too sure on this one, because I’m still trying to figure out my exact writing style. I can say that, although I have not tested this out, my writing could very easily take the shape of the style I’ve just been reading/listening to. Whenever I’ve been immersed in a particular style/work for a long time, I tend to think and run my internal dialogue a lot like the style of that work. As a nine, I feel detached from myself a lot, and this kind of imitation stems from that uncertainty of who I am and my desire to be like others so they like me. While I can only say for certain this happens with my thoughts/internal dialogue, I can see how that can also easily impact my writing style.

One other thing I’ve found is that sometimes, if I’m “done” or fed up enough with something I’m writing (usually some sort of school assignment), my tone gets more sarcastic and/or rant-y.

Do you find that many of your protagonists are a similar type to yours, or very different?

It’s funny, because this past summer I actually decided to take on the project of typing my main seven characters from my current WIP for both MBTI and the Enneagram. I already had a pretty good idea of what type(s) most of my characters could be, and in the end absolutely none were a nine. I actually had a pretty spread-out typage, although three of the seven are sixes. Even taking characters from my other stories into account, I don’t have many nines.

If you have a strong wing, how does it impact your writing process, if at all?

I have a (very) strong wing one. And while my nine-ness doesn’t impact much of my writing process or outline, my one wing deeeefinitely does. I have an internal editor that I have no clue how to shut off. I have to go back and fix any spelling/punctuation/grammar/sentence structure errors the second I find them, and I’ll often re-phrase sentences or paragraphs right on the spot and trash the old ones, or just cut out stuff entirely. And all of this happens in the first draft. You know, the draft where you’re not supposed to care about all the errors and just write.

Having a strong one wing is also what makes me more of a planner and in need of outlines. I need to have every (or most) detail perfectly worked out in my head so I know where I’m going. Even if I don’t write it down, I need to have a mental outline of what I’m going to do.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process (plotting, writing, editing)?

I’d say my favorite part is outlining the story. I usually do this mentally, at least at first. And figuring out the order of all the plot points and where this dramatic scene or that revelation will take place is fun for me. And I often get epiphanies about certain scenes or plot parts as I fully formulate the story path, which is even more exciting for me.

My least favorite is revising/rewriting, because by the time I’m done I’m usually sick of the story and sick of writing the same scene(s) over and over and over again. And whenever I revise I usually end up knowing in the middle of the revision that I’m going to need to revise again.

What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of the writing craft (setting, characters, theme, plot, prose, etc.)?

My favorite is definitely characters. I love making a character with a vibrant personality, and then add on the backstory as to why they’re like what they’re like, and then further figuring out their relationships with other characters based on their personality and background. It’s always fun for me to play around with a character’s hobbies or little quirks, and figuring out their personality types is also really fun for me.

My least favorite aspect is plot, mostly because I can’t seem to ever get it to work the exact way I want it to. This may seem a little contradictory with outlining being my favorite step in the process, but for me plot isn’t just all the big outlining events; it’s everything in between as well. And it’s all those parts in between that I can’t seem to be able to smooth out well until I write the story and revise it a bajillion times.

Do you have any writing “rituals” (drinking tea, lighting a candle, putting on music) to get you in the mood to write?

I don’t always do something special with snacks, but if I’m in the mood I’ll make a large mug of hot chocolate to sip on. I’ll always have music on while I write, and if I’m doing a word war or a timed challenge, I’ll make a specific playlist for the length of time with songs that fit the mood of whatever I’m writing. Those playlists really help me when I need to get into the mood.

What most inspires you to write?

What inspires me the most is my own characters in my stories. I get to look at them at the end of their development, and I want everyone else to know how they got there. And recently, other people’s excitement over my story has been a huge inspiration. I never realized how excited others could get over my story until I started introducing them to random characters and scenes. I can’t stop writing now because it’s not just me who wants the story to go out there; there are others who are actually excited about my story as well.

What is your reason for writing?

I love the freedom you’re given in your writing. In my story I can do whatever the heck I want, and the options are limitless. Of course, if I want it to make sense I need some sort of structure, but there’s no absolute rule for even that. Along with creativity, I like writing because it’s a small escape from reality. The world doesn’t have to be like this one, and I can get a breather from everything real life daily throws on me.

Anything else you want to share?

I think that’s it! Thank you so much for the opportunity!

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Enneagram Authors: Type 8 – The Challenger

About the 8

Description from The Enneagram Institute

Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, straight-talking, and decisive, but can also be ego-centric and domineering. Eights feel they must control their environment, especially people, sometimes becoming confrontational and intimidating. Eights typically have problems with their tempers and with allowing themselves to be vulnerable. At their Best: self- mastering, they use their strength to improve others’ lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and inspiring.

Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by othersBasic Desire: To protect themselves (to be in control of their own life
and destiny)

For the 8, I had the privilege of interviewing author Kellyn Roth!

Interview with Kellyn

Hi, Kell! Can you share a little bit about yourself and what you write?

Hi! I’m Kell, and I write historical women’s fiction and romance. Right now I’m working on a Victorian family saga, and in the past I’ve published a historical drama series starting during WWI and ending after WWII. Mostly, I like writing about my passions – history, children, mental health, why people do what they do – and adding a lot of feels. (Yes, yes, I am overcompensating for my inability to express my own emotions outwardly by placing them in my stories. Why do you ask?)

When I’m not writing, I like to stress about the fact that I’m not writing, but I also enjoy hanging out with my border collies, rambling about just about everything because I’m a rambler, hanging out with friends, and doin’ my day jobs. I also really like talking about myself, so I’d better cut this thing off before it gets out of control.

What is your enneagram type, and how do you feel about it?

I’m Type 8, and I’m pretty happy with it. I sometimes wish I were Type 5, which I had thought in the past thought I might be (primarily because it’s pretty common for ISTPs to be Type 5), but I don’t give a darn about useless knowledge, and I never will. I find observation useless without implementation, even though I really express the evil geniuses of this world. I’m just more of a mad scientist than an evil genius is all. *insert Dr. Doofenschmirtz reference*

The only thing I really dislike about being Type 8 is that it frustrates me at times that I don’t relate to the general population, which is primarily emotion-driven. I’ll overcompensate with a lot of “feely” talk when I can (especially when writing, because that’s my default at this time), but most of the time I don’t bother. I’m not particularly sorry I am brusque, but I dislike other peoples’ inability to process me being brusque which in turn makes me dislike being brusque. (Makes sense, right?)

Do you find that your enneagram type impacts your writing process? How so, or why not?

I’m not that writer who “waits for inspiration” or rewrites a sentence a thousand times, and I rarely relate to more writing memes, though I still find them funny. I get things done, or I don’t do them at all. I don’t see writing as some high, far-off art that will somehow change the lives of millions after I’m dead. I don’t want to do it if it ain’t gonna make me a millionaire while I’m alive. ;-)

Well, okay, I would do it, but I would do it a lot less. I’d focus in on things that would make my life on earth livable rather than chasing a dream – I might go to college and get a degree in early childhood education if I didn’t think writing would pan out. I can’t be happy in mediocre obscurity, and I can’t be happy being one in millions of writers whose name never lived past their death.

Basically, I want to create quality novels that share something I love to people who, in turn, will love it. And then I want people to write fanfiction about it. And I want to make smart business choices that will allow that to happen. :P

What strengths do you find in your writing or process that tie in with your enneagram type?

Oftentimes I’m able to make myself work quite hard, and I’m quite comfortable being independent. I get things done, and I don’t ask anyone to hold my hand while I do it. In fact, my worst nightmare is finding out I can’t do things without other peoples’ help – so I do my best to remain independent.

I also feel like I really enjoy helping other writers because of being Type 8 – I genuinely enjoy reaching behind me to help someone up. (Though at this point, I’m not far enough along in the whole writing chain to have a ton of people behind me, but you get the point.) I want to be independent, yes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see literally everyone else around me succeed! (I have a very “teach a man to fish” mentality.)

What weaknesses do you find in your writing or process that tie in with your enneagram type?

Exhaustion. I’m constantly stressed and worn out from pushing myself too hard. I also never meet my impossibly high standards, and I probably never will. Also, this world and everything in it (including writing) is 100% out of my control. That is an 8’s nightmare! So here I am, grasping at straws of what never will be. (Help?)

Do you think your type impacts how you create characters?

Characters are 100% my favorite part of the writing process. I see people, real and fictional, as puzzles to be carefully placed together, and I delight in making all the pieces click just right.

I’m not sure why this is. Whenever people come from my writing to me, they’re surprised that I’m ISTP Type 8 because of where my writing focuses. Whenever people go from me to my writing, they’re surprised by that, too! But there it is. I write what I read as a child – I read character-heavy classics/vintage books.

I think a lot of the reason I write the way I write is that I’m on a constant search for maturity and independence (even as I refuse to conform to “adulthood” in other ways – I’m basically a youngest child only with a lot more pressure to be an adult on me). Because of the way I was raised, to me, maturity is that kind of character-heavy, thematically deep book that delves into emotions heavily.

Do you think it impacts how you worldbuild?

I couldn’t build a world to save my life. I have tried to, too, and it’s inevitably flopped. Thankfully, I write historical fiction, so my worldbuilding is already done. All I have to do is research! (Which I am able to do fairly well.)

Do you think it impacts how you outline?

Hmmm … I think that’s probably the biggest area it does impact. I love outlining, and I do it in excess for every novel I write. This allows me to push through when I don’t feel like writing and so on, and I also enjoy writing out my plans (not just for fiction novels – I like writing out plans for my life, too!), which makes it a pleasing process.

Do you think it impacts your prose or writing style?

I’m sure it does, but I can’t pick out how. I’m bad enough at describing my writing style!

Do you find that many of your protagonists are a similar type to yours, or very different?

All different types! I purposefully go for a lot of personality diversity in my characters. My favorite characters couldn’t be more different from me, though I do have at least one Type 8. I have a lot of Type 7s, too (I’m so sick of seeing them indirectly insulted – they’re not shallows, and y’all are snobs).

If you have a strong wing, how does it impact your writing process, if at all?

I haven’t looked into it enough to know that I do, but I believe 8w7 would be most accurate. If so, I think that’d be where I get my stupid sense of humor (and it is stupid; I’m not just being humble – I am never being humble) which oozes its way into my manuscripts from time to time, and it’s also one of the big reasons I chose to go indie. I just need that freedom, even if I choose to follow genre trends and suchlike. But I don’t know if it otherwise affects my writing process.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process (plotting, writing, editing)?

I dislike editing. A lot.

I don’t know why. Maybe it’s that I like accomplishing things and editing feels like going back to something I accomplished? Or maybe I just want to write perfect first drafts. Whatever the reason, I hate editing.

I love both writing and outlining, though at times either can feel a bit frustrating. However, since that’s true of anything one ever does on this earth, well, I’ll say writing and outlining. Probably outlining more so, just because it’s “easier,” sad as that is to admit.

What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of the writing craft (setting, characters, theme, plot, prose, etc.)?

Characters are the reason stories exist! In a way. But I do love characters. I would happily read or write pages of fluff about my favorites. But I suppose not everyone likes that.

I definitely struggle with making my plots cohesive – for the above-mentioned reason – though I’ve gotten a lot better at it as I grow and learn. Setting is probably my greatest weakness, if only because I forget that not everyone understands Victorian romantic morality, and I just … can’t be bothered to explain it. Despite the fact that, in article format, it’s one of my favorite things to discuss.

Basically, I don’t know what my least favorite aspect of writing craft is. I’ve come to have a hearty appreciation for all of it!

Do you have any writing “rituals” (drinking tea, lighting a candle, putting on music) to get you in the mood to write?

Not really. I write at my desk, on the couch, at the dining room table, in my car, at my work, at family events, at restaurants, while my nieces and nephew are making ridiculously loud noises in the background … I’m a big believer in training yourself to write wherever and whenever. I make my own moods.

However, I do put effort into creating these moods every time I write – e.g. I’ll make a mental list of what I’m doing while I prepare, and that will be my “writing ritual” for the day. But generally I won’t repeat it. (Things like turning on certain music and so on.) I’ll get bored if I do it more than once. 83% of “creating a writing mood” for me is eliminating my own mental distractions by turning on the TV, boosting the music, finding someone to talk to while I work, going somewhere where it’s loud, or so on. Otherwise, my brain does stupid things. Sensory stimulation for the win!

What most inspires you to write?

I mean, I have to do something with this brain or I’ll just die. Honestly, I don’t really know. I always have written, and I get my ideas from all sorts of places. I’ve always wanted to create stories like my favorite authors – from Beverly Cleary to C.S. Lewis to Maud Hart Lovelace to Gene Stratton Porter and onwards. They have always made me want to create my own stories! I think I also, in part, like the control of creating my own perfect universe where nothing can go wrong.

What is your reason for writing?

Well, that seems to be about the same question to me as the one before it, so I’ll answer the same way. I write because I must!

Anything else you want to share?

No, I think that just about covers it! Thank you for allowing me to participate in this interview. :)

About Kellyn

Kellyn Roth is a Christian historical women’s fiction & romance author from North-Eastern Oregon who has independently published multiple novels, the most notable being The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy series. You should definitely call her Kell.

Kell lives on family-owned property outside an unmemorable but historical town with her parents, two little brothers, arbitrary cat, precious border collies, a dozen cows, and lots of chickens. She also possesses a classic, vintage aesthetic which does not at all speak to her country girl side, but such is life.

When not writing, Kell likes to blog, teach writing to her various students, have day jobs which allow her to keep her car properly insured, and spend lavish amounts of money on Dairy Queen french fries. She also likes to talk about Keira Knightley and her own books. Just … way too much. You’ve been warned.

Want to know more about her? Well, she has a website: https://kellynrothauthor.com/

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