World Building Tips from AAD 2011
Another belated post curtsey of my insane writing schedule lately, I give you World-building tips from the panel I sat at for AAD 2011 in August. This panel was a lot of fun and gave me a lot of good books I wanted to read.
When creating a world from scratch it has to be organic and interesting without sounding like an author's making a Frommer's Guide to a world. A reader doesn't want to read why things are cool and why the character is going to that place because of it's coolness--they have to feel it.Pepper in details of the world through the choices a character makes in regard to that world. So, say an author was making a world where there was an evil meat factory that processed people--what would the main character eat because of that factory? What factions or groups of people would come out with this factory in existence that split up the people? How does this meat factory change personal choice, the economy, social outreach, etc? Make sense?Get solid boundaries in order from the beginning with regards to consistency. If your character decides to start a vegetarian cult because of the meat factory they can't just leave the cult and decide to eat hamburgers one day without repercussions.Take notes on everything. Notes are key to a clean, healthy world and are a real nice thing to have when an author goes to make a World Bible.In order to get started, a good way to warm up the brain is by tweaking modern or historical mythos with facts that can back up every change. Those facts can be made up within your head, but they have to be consistent. Make sure every action has a reaction, but twisting is fun.Use the hierarchy of needs--water, shelter, food to shape a beginning world.Onenote is your best friend.
When creating a world from scratch it has to be organic and interesting without sounding like an author's making a Frommer's Guide to a world. A reader doesn't want to read why things are cool and why the character is going to that place because of it's coolness--they have to feel it.Pepper in details of the world through the choices a character makes in regard to that world. So, say an author was making a world where there was an evil meat factory that processed people--what would the main character eat because of that factory? What factions or groups of people would come out with this factory in existence that split up the people? How does this meat factory change personal choice, the economy, social outreach, etc? Make sense?Get solid boundaries in order from the beginning with regards to consistency. If your character decides to start a vegetarian cult because of the meat factory they can't just leave the cult and decide to eat hamburgers one day without repercussions.Take notes on everything. Notes are key to a clean, healthy world and are a real nice thing to have when an author goes to make a World Bible.In order to get started, a good way to warm up the brain is by tweaking modern or historical mythos with facts that can back up every change. Those facts can be made up within your head, but they have to be consistent. Make sure every action has a reaction, but twisting is fun.Use the hierarchy of needs--water, shelter, food to shape a beginning world.Onenote is your best friend.
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