{"id":371,"date":"2016-03-15T10:14:23","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T10:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/?p=371"},"modified":"2022-05-30T15:41:25","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T15:41:25","slug":"building-a-fantasy-world-101","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/articles\/building-a-fantasy-world-101","title":{"rendered":"Building a Fantasy World 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

The process of creating an imaginary world is vital to fantasy. J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s\u00a0The Lord of the Rings\u00a0<\/em>emerged from an elaborate world building project, setting the tone for much of the genre. Even when you\u2019re making a change to our world rather than building a whole new one, as Stephenie Meyer did with the vampires of\u00a0Twilight<\/em>, there\u2019s still world-building \u2013 thinking through the consequences of what you\u2019ve added.<\/p>\n

So what are the fundamentals to consider when world-building?<\/p>\n

The Big Change<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re planning on writing fantasy then you probably already know what you want to be different about your setting. If not then there are many sources of inspiration, from history to storytelling games. Think about something that will be different about your world, from the existence of wizards to cities floating across the sea, and start from there.<\/p>\n

If you have a lot of ideas for what will be different, then it\u2019s best to focus first on your single biggest change, or the interaction between two ideas. By focusing on the one change that excites you most you\u2019ll create coherence while fuelling your creative energy.<\/p>\n

For an example, let\u2019s create a world where people control electricity using their minds. Perhaps it\u2019s also a place with flying monkeys and something strange in the ocean, but those electricity users are the characters, and we think they\u2019ll transform the world, so they\u2019re our focus.<\/p>\n

Building Out<\/h2>\n

Having chosen your central idea, build out from that. Think about how it changes the world. In our world of people who can control electricity, we might consider how that power is used in society. Do these people work for the emergency services or the army? Does their power mean that they get to rule nations? Are there attacks by super-powered terrorists that leave whole cities without electricity?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking at the interaction between two ideas then expand upon that. How are our electrical people connected to the strange thing hiding in the ocean? Did it create them? Do they fight it? Have they made it up to keep people scared? Keep going, fleshing out the changes to politics, culture and society, adding flesh to the bones of your world.<\/p>\n

John Layman and Rob Guillory\u2019s comic\u00a0Chew<\/em>\u00a0is a great example of building from one idea. They\u2019ve invented dozens of different food-related superpowers, and a whole range of ways they change the world. A single novelty has been spun into something rich and varied.<\/p>\n

Systems of the World<\/h2>\n

Most\u00a0fantasy world building<\/a>\u00a0involves\u00a0magic\u00a0<\/a>or some sort of\u00a0technology\u00a0<\/a>that\u2019s different from our own. Getting this right is one of the most important parts of world building.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re adding magic or technology, think about how it works as a system. If it doesn\u2019t seem consistent and coherent then readers will have trouble buying into it. Creating a consistent system will also create great opportunities within your story, as characters run up against the edges of what they can do. So\u00a0know the rules of your system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two of the most important things to consider are the limits of magic and its cost. Limits include who can and can\u2019t use it, what it can and can\u2019t do, and how it can be stopped. These prevent magic from becoming a deus ex machina solution that removes the challenge for characters and so the tension for readers.<\/p>\n

Cost is one of these limitations, and creates an interesting set of challenges and dilemmas. If characters need certain ingredients to cast spells that will shape the economy of your world, as those ingredients become valuable, and create challenges in the story as characters run out. If characters have to spill innocent blood to cast spells then dilemmas may arise over whether to use their power at all, even when lives are at stake.<\/p>\n

The Wow Factor and Coherence<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re building a fantasy world then you want there to be a wow factor \u2013 exciting things that grab readers\u2019 attention. Half the fun of world building is adding this, so push your ideas further to make them unusual and dramatic.<\/p>\n

The best sort of wow factor doesn\u2019t come from dozens of unconnected ideas flung together in a disjointed mess. It comes from taking a core idea and finding its most exciting consequences. The human electrical conduit enslaved at the heart of a power station. The vast storms of discharged power at night. The city-wide blackouts from those electrical attacks.<\/p>\n

A fantasy world can be both dazzling and coherent \u2013 the best combination to draw readers in.<\/p>\n

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For more on world building, check out\u00a0this episode of the Writing Excuses podcast<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the notes also include links to other episodes on world building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[28,15],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}