World Building 101

So, Author Forward real quick - I wrote this ages ago and let it waffle because I didn't like how it turned out. However, since I haven't posted anything in forever...I hope it does give you some aid and advice, you guys.

Hello there fellow writers! This is Margaret of the Vinshire Sisters, and I’m sure you’re all asking ‘who?”. Yeah…so, I’m the master (mistress?) of procrastination. If there was an Olympics for it, I’d get a Gold Medal.

Except I’d drag me feet in showing up and miss the medal awarding.

So, incase you hadn’t figured it out yet, you’ll probably be seeing more of Amanda.

Let’s jump right into today’s subject – Basic World Building 101: Why You Need World Building.  World building is something that more and more authors have begun to neglect. Now, before I say anything, no you do not need Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones level of world building…but I kindly point out to take a close look at how popular those books are.

As to how I know what I’m talking about…well, I am a massive fan of world building, for your information. The current story and characters I’m working on have been running around in my head for 4 – possibly 5 – years and I’m still not done with world building. As I’m writing this, I’m working on an extensive family tree that goes back several hundred years and leads up to my main character.

I am also mildly psychotic.

But, we won’t talk about my debatable sanity today.

Now, a recent favorite of authors recently is that they don’t thoroughly explain the what’s or why’s of why something would occur in this world, or they don’t give enough background so something will make sense.

This leaves readers confused and irritated, and in my case, frothing mad.

“But!” You protest “I write fantasy/sci-fi/mad ramblings of an insane mind!”

It doesn’t matter. You still need to make some sort of rhyme or reason or sense. Just squeeing “Science!” or “Magic!” whenever something doesn’t make sense or – even worse – not explaining anything at all and throwing it out there, expecting the readers to accept it, is more likely to make them want to take the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, and promptly beat you into unconsciousness with it.

There’s an awesome quote by that neatly sums it up like this: “The difference Between Fiction and Reality? Fiction needs to make sense.”

This is unfortunately true – sometimes it doesn’t matter if it’s happened in real life, no one’s going to believe it if you put it down in a book.

Now, I will admit that sometimes you can’t explain everything, and that’s alright: all readers, when picking up a book, will have to ‘suspend disbelief’ in order to read it…but if they ‘suspend disbelief’ so much that they can no longer read the book as a story because it’s too dang ridiculous…well, you’ve failed. Sorry. No other way to say it.

I know this seems like it should be pretty obvious guys, and almost all of you are most likely rolling your eyes, but there’s been innumerable times where I stare at a book and go like “…Whaa? Did I miss something?” and flip back several (hundred) pages, trying desperately to find something that didn’t exist in the first place.

So, summary: World Building – DO IT.

How To World Build

World building isn’t actually that complicated. Time consuming to the max? Absolutely. Hard?

No. All it requires is a few simple questions.

The simplest way to world build is to ask questions. Why, What, When, Where, and How are the most basic ones. Know how the government works, know what the culture requires, know when/why people die, know what’s socially inacceptable and acceptable, know the creatures, know the foods, know the jobs, know the history, the legends and myths, know the wars.

To sum it up neatly, know almost everything that’s different in this new world you’re creating. Know it like the back of your hand.

(This is, after all, world BUILDING. You need layers, you need depth, you need a hefty dose of reality to make it believable.)

It’s going to be difficult at first, but the questions will come easier as time goes on. Even now I ask questions about my world.

Something I also recommend though, it is – again – time consuming, is to write a guide book to the World, so you can A. Remember it, and B. See if it makes sense. Think of it like your textbook on Ancient Civilizations. Anything that would be mentioned in a standard textbook about Ancient Greece, you should know about your world.

Amanda is of the opinion that, "History is perhaps one of the best things you can come up with for your world. If you can come up with a history for your world, it will make everything a lot easier to come up with. Partly because almost everything we have in our world related back to history. Our culture, our politics, the types of jobs we do, the things we eat, the way we interact with foreigners... Pretty much everything stems from the past. It doesn't require something extensive, just a basic timeline—the major events. But it can do a lot in the long run."

And that’s pretty much how you world build. As stated before, it’s simple.

It’s also incredibly hard. And Time consuming.

And required, frankly.

So  yes, it’ll take time. Yes, it’ll take work.

But if you’re afraid of that….

Then why are you writing in the first place?

-Margaret V.

P.S. Don’t feel too bad, you guys. Even Amanda is guilty of the “Not Enough World Building” charge.