World Building, Part Four: Common Plants
Sorry for the lateness, guys. We had a wedding yesterday, and since the post wasn't quite finished it got pushed back a little to today. But here it is!
Now that you have your maps and weather set up, it's time to make some decisions on plants. You'll need your notebook again, with the maps and weather pages. While writing stuff down (or sketching, if you'd like) you'll want to refer back to the maps. You may even want to photocopy your maps so you can write directly on them where different plants are located.
We're not going into a ton of detail today, so don't concern yourself too much with trying to make a huge list of plants you want to use. We're sticking with basics for now, common plants that are seen often on your continents. This is going to help you describe the terrain and background of any scenes that take place in a natural or wild setting. We're doing common plants specifically because these are going to be the ones seen most often. If a rare plant isn't a part of your plot, then it's not likely your character is going to see them. Common plants, on the other hand, are likely to be everywhere.
Step One: Decide what plants are the most common in one of the continents of your world. And by this I mean the ones that are most visible and seen most often, not necessarily the ones that are the most numerous (although that's almost always the case). An example would be trees. They grow in some form almost everywhere on land. Grass is another example. You need to decide which type of plant is the most common. If you have a place that's completely covered in water, it might be water weed, or algae. If it's a desert, it's probably some form of low-growing scrub or cactus. What is going to be the most common thing a traveler would see in this place?
This is one of the places where temperatures and weather come into play. If you have a very hot, desert-like continent, then plants that need water are not likely to do very well there. So consider the temperature and the terrain when choosing your plants. Refer back to your maps as often as you need to. You may also want to have internet access or reference books handy so you can check what sorts of existing plants thrive in different environments.
Tip: Don't forget to take notes. I did this once, where I went into detail on plants and either didn't take notes, or didn't keep track of them. Once I got the information itself settled, I had to go through a rough draft and fix every mistake I had made. Take notes, and keep them together. If not organized by topic, then at least all in the same place.
Step Two: Now, are you going to use an existing plant for this common foliage, or are you going to make one up? Now would be the time to decide which of three approaches toward plants you're going to use. Primarily created plants, primarily existing plants, or existing plants with created elements?
The first approach is to create the plant from your own imagination. This can be a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work, especially if you're also going to be dealing with an ecosystem later. You need to know what the plant looks like, why it looks that way, how it grows, what uses it has, if it's affected by where it's growing (it might, for example, have a different color in a different location but otherwise be the same), and if it has different variations that live in very different environments.
The second approach, primarily existing plants, has its own difficulties. If you're going to use a plant that lives on this world, then you need to be certain that the places you want them are consistent with places they would actually survive. If your characters come across them, you also need to know what sort of things will happen if, for example, they're eaten. This generally requires a decent amount of research, and is (in my experience) usually not the default choice of a fantasy writer.
My favorite is the third approach; real plants with created elements. This allows you to pick a familiar plant, and then alter it to fit with your world. A type of grass, for instance, that grows in a mat floating on the water could be an option for a place that has no land mass. It's a familiar plant (grass) growing in a different place (on the surface of the water).
You do not have to stick with one or the other of the approaches through the entire world-building process. If you choose to do a tree this time, and decide to create your own, you're not bound to make the same choice when you go through again to do a type of grass. I happen to believe that a world is more well-rounded if you use all three at different times, so don't feel like it's a constraint. ;)
Tip: Don't try and cover your world in exclusively created plants. In other words, don't try and create a new version of every plant you see in real life to put in your book. First of all, that would take a lot of time and energy. Unless you need to do that for the plot, I would advise against it. Second, it could be disconcerting to a reader if there is nothing recognizable in the world you're building. It's possible to do something like that properly, but I've rarely seen it done so. Unless you think you can pull off having a completely alien world and having to describe every bit of it so it's understandable, again, I would advise against it.
Step Three: You'll need to make sure your plant would survive in the place you want it. This may require some research, as this step applies mostly to existing plants and existing plants with created elements. If you're going to borrow a cactus, then you need to make sure that it will grow where you decide to put it. You can also use this step to research the kind of survival mechanisms you'll need in a created plant.
Step Four: If you chose a created plant, then you'll need to design its appearance, uses, and, if you want to get really detailed, its life cycle (sketches can be helpful here). If you chose the third option, then you'll need to decide what changes you want to make to that existing plant; if you want a real algae to grow on the surface of your ocean, but want it to be a different color, you should think about what makes it a different color, and how that might change other aspects of the plant. The color could be a result of different minerals in the water, for example. This is the step where you would draw sketches and/or diagrams of your plants. You may also want to examine the temperatures, terrain, and weather of other continents to see if this plant might also be in existence there.
Step Five: Answer the why, if you haven't already. Why is this plant the way it is? You don't necessarily have to answer this question, since there's a decent chance you won't need to know it for your story. But if you do need it, it would be better to think about this now so you don't uncover a plot hole or inconsistency later. It also gives an added realism. If you know why this plant is purple in this area instead of yellow, you can decide that it's because of the minerals in the earth. The minerals in the earth might be rare, and could therefore impact the story. As an example, if the minerals changing the color of this plant are rare, then there might be a black market built around it, and by stepping into this area your character is in a lot of danger.
Step Six: Repeat steps 1-5 as often as desired or needed. You might decide to only do one or two plants per continent, or you might want to do it for every little area. Maybe you only want to worry about the places your characters are going to be, or maybe you want to do it, in detail, for every place on the map. It's your choice. Just remember, we're doing the common plants right now. We'll be doing things like edible plants later. ;)
Now that you have your maps and weather set up, it's time to make some decisions on plants. You'll need your notebook again, with the maps and weather pages. While writing stuff down (or sketching, if you'd like) you'll want to refer back to the maps. You may even want to photocopy your maps so you can write directly on them where different plants are located.
We're not going into a ton of detail today, so don't concern yourself too much with trying to make a huge list of plants you want to use. We're sticking with basics for now, common plants that are seen often on your continents. This is going to help you describe the terrain and background of any scenes that take place in a natural or wild setting. We're doing common plants specifically because these are going to be the ones seen most often. If a rare plant isn't a part of your plot, then it's not likely your character is going to see them. Common plants, on the other hand, are likely to be everywhere.
Step One: Decide what plants are the most common in one of the continents of your world. And by this I mean the ones that are most visible and seen most often, not necessarily the ones that are the most numerous (although that's almost always the case). An example would be trees. They grow in some form almost everywhere on land. Grass is another example. You need to decide which type of plant is the most common. If you have a place that's completely covered in water, it might be water weed, or algae. If it's a desert, it's probably some form of low-growing scrub or cactus. What is going to be the most common thing a traveler would see in this place?
This is one of the places where temperatures and weather come into play. If you have a very hot, desert-like continent, then plants that need water are not likely to do very well there. So consider the temperature and the terrain when choosing your plants. Refer back to your maps as often as you need to. You may also want to have internet access or reference books handy so you can check what sorts of existing plants thrive in different environments.
Tip: Don't forget to take notes. I did this once, where I went into detail on plants and either didn't take notes, or didn't keep track of them. Once I got the information itself settled, I had to go through a rough draft and fix every mistake I had made. Take notes, and keep them together. If not organized by topic, then at least all in the same place.
Step Two: Now, are you going to use an existing plant for this common foliage, or are you going to make one up? Now would be the time to decide which of three approaches toward plants you're going to use. Primarily created plants, primarily existing plants, or existing plants with created elements?
The first approach is to create the plant from your own imagination. This can be a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work, especially if you're also going to be dealing with an ecosystem later. You need to know what the plant looks like, why it looks that way, how it grows, what uses it has, if it's affected by where it's growing (it might, for example, have a different color in a different location but otherwise be the same), and if it has different variations that live in very different environments.
The second approach, primarily existing plants, has its own difficulties. If you're going to use a plant that lives on this world, then you need to be certain that the places you want them are consistent with places they would actually survive. If your characters come across them, you also need to know what sort of things will happen if, for example, they're eaten. This generally requires a decent amount of research, and is (in my experience) usually not the default choice of a fantasy writer.
My favorite is the third approach; real plants with created elements. This allows you to pick a familiar plant, and then alter it to fit with your world. A type of grass, for instance, that grows in a mat floating on the water could be an option for a place that has no land mass. It's a familiar plant (grass) growing in a different place (on the surface of the water).
You do not have to stick with one or the other of the approaches through the entire world-building process. If you choose to do a tree this time, and decide to create your own, you're not bound to make the same choice when you go through again to do a type of grass. I happen to believe that a world is more well-rounded if you use all three at different times, so don't feel like it's a constraint. ;)
Tip: Don't try and cover your world in exclusively created plants. In other words, don't try and create a new version of every plant you see in real life to put in your book. First of all, that would take a lot of time and energy. Unless you need to do that for the plot, I would advise against it. Second, it could be disconcerting to a reader if there is nothing recognizable in the world you're building. It's possible to do something like that properly, but I've rarely seen it done so. Unless you think you can pull off having a completely alien world and having to describe every bit of it so it's understandable, again, I would advise against it.
Step Three: You'll need to make sure your plant would survive in the place you want it. This may require some research, as this step applies mostly to existing plants and existing plants with created elements. If you're going to borrow a cactus, then you need to make sure that it will grow where you decide to put it. You can also use this step to research the kind of survival mechanisms you'll need in a created plant.
Step Four: If you chose a created plant, then you'll need to design its appearance, uses, and, if you want to get really detailed, its life cycle (sketches can be helpful here). If you chose the third option, then you'll need to decide what changes you want to make to that existing plant; if you want a real algae to grow on the surface of your ocean, but want it to be a different color, you should think about what makes it a different color, and how that might change other aspects of the plant. The color could be a result of different minerals in the water, for example. This is the step where you would draw sketches and/or diagrams of your plants. You may also want to examine the temperatures, terrain, and weather of other continents to see if this plant might also be in existence there.
Step Five: Answer the why, if you haven't already. Why is this plant the way it is? You don't necessarily have to answer this question, since there's a decent chance you won't need to know it for your story. But if you do need it, it would be better to think about this now so you don't uncover a plot hole or inconsistency later. It also gives an added realism. If you know why this plant is purple in this area instead of yellow, you can decide that it's because of the minerals in the earth. The minerals in the earth might be rare, and could therefore impact the story. As an example, if the minerals changing the color of this plant are rare, then there might be a black market built around it, and by stepping into this area your character is in a lot of danger.
Step Six: Repeat steps 1-5 as often as desired or needed. You might decide to only do one or two plants per continent, or you might want to do it for every little area. Maybe you only want to worry about the places your characters are going to be, or maybe you want to do it, in detail, for every place on the map. It's your choice. Just remember, we're doing the common plants right now. We'll be doing things like edible plants later. ;)
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