Thread: The World Builder Within You

I'm writing today about world building. In one way or the other, we all create worlds and settings where our fictional (and sometimes not- so fictional) characters reside in. From this we create the daily lives of not only our characters, but also of those unnamed extras that we would see in the background milling about if our stories were movies.

This is great for fantasy enthusiasts, but about authors of other genres? I've been sticking to horror lately, and have started to develop my vampires according to mythology and my own imagination. I've developed a working list (ie it's subject to change) of what a vampire can/cannot do, what kills them, etc., as well as the laws that govern them.

Vampires are unknown to most humans in my world, as are other supernatural creatures, so my vampires are sort of a society existing within a society. Their laws are strict and their judgements swift, with their own heirarchy and "police/execution" force. They have their own gestures of insult: hissing (likening someone to Abomination, or something impure), harming one's pet (can you guess what "pet" means?), and other things. I've gone a little overboard with their terminology and the types of vampires that lurk in the shadows.

The world my characters live in is our world, and in a real city. I live in Phoenix, and I've decided to incorporate it into my story. Of course I can't write it out "as is" but I can make it "believeable" and "unique" through my descriptions. I don't want someone to go online to see where my main man Alan has his shop out in Litchfield, when really there's a Walgreens or something there instead!

So, what's the point of all of this dribble? Well, I just wanted to point out that everyone does it. Everyone ends up being a world builder, even if they didn't mean to.

With that said, enlighten us on your own worlds and societies, if you will.

Oooo I like the concept of world-talk! ^_^

I'm highly familiar with this, as I usually write my own worlds in every new project. I have so many, I don't know where to begin...

I have a vampire story who's world sounds similar to yours, where there's a sort of 'world within a world'. My vampires have what they refer to as a Society. In such, the laws there are much different from human's. (Manners, traditions, law-enforcement, etc...) One example is that it is essential to an individual vampire's survival to be a member of one of the 4 Families. (And the Families in their Society are practically the law.) This way, if a vampire hunts humans too obviously, or endangers their race's covert existence, it is the responsibility of the Family they're a part of to handle them--and no one else is to get involved. The families all have specific scents, as well, so they never not know if a vampire is of their lineage or not. Being part of a family also detours stray, 'berserk' vampires from being able to harm them so easily--vampires get a major stat boost if they're part of one of the 4. Not to mention support from dozens of other vampires...)

((And I lol'd at the Walgreen's comment! I can see a fan now,

"Hello, and welcome! How may we help you today?"

"Yeah, um...where's Alan?"

"Excuse me?"

"Alan! You know, your boss?"

XD Okay, I'd hope none of the fans out there would be that brain dead...))

It's funny because I was thinking of Forks, WA and Twilight. I wouldn't doubt that there have been some fans who've gone there searching for Bella's house. :-P

But back to the topic: I have gone wild developing fantastical flora and fauna for some of my (older) fantasy stories. I guess I just love the creativity that goes into building a world. It's a project all on its own!

I really like the concept of your vampire-inhabited world, Sapphire. I too have my own "rogue" vampires, which I've labelled "Orphans", as they are the progeny of vampires who have been put to death for breaking the laws. These Orphans are either put down along with their maker or are given over to a Keeper who acts as their protector/mentor. You see, Orphans are punished for their makers' sins, even if they weren't involved. Everything revolves around the laws and so on and so forth.

My world is seeming to be inhabited by more supernatural things that humans at the moment. Which, this couldbe a good thing, but I've got a few human-filled scenes planned. However-and I haven't explored this population yet-my were-beasties will be just as complex as my vampires in the end.

I am somewhat leaning on Billy Shakespeare for how my vampires are "made", and will probably draw on mythology on animals and shapeshifters to build the anthropomorphic side of my world. I do know I don't my world to be, well, Underworld-ly.

I guess that's the easiest and most difficult thing about world building. You have the freedom to do what you want, but you may also fall into that trap of "That's sooo been done ten billion times!"

The world I created for my novel Flank Hawk is post apocalyptic, set a little over 2000 years in the future. This world is inhabited by wizards/necromancers/healers/enchanters/seers/etc., ogres, dragons, fallen angels, goblins, humans, lycanthropes, giants, sea serpents, souled zombies (and mundane ones), m'unicorns (horse/unicorn crossbreeds) among many others, where magic and technology from before First Civilization’s fall clash.

The continents and geologic features (mountain ranges, oceans, etc.) remain much the same, but forests, cities, countries, governmental structures and cultures resemble very little of what exists today.

When setting out to write and complete Flank Hawk, I established the basics, the framework with enough details that I could build and expand and refine as the novel progressed. Much of the depth and details never actually grace the pages of the novel (some are coming to light in the sequel I am now writing), however, such a background helps support what is written. There is consistency and the reader can learn/discover and understand/comprehend the structure of things-why they were the way they are and how they work.

Just like it was discussed, creating flora and fauna, such things are important for there to be a natural balance. There better be something for the giants and larger creatures to feed upon, and their numbers should reflect this limitation. If, for example, lycanthropes are superior to humanity in many ways--why haven't they overrun and destroyed them? The basics of these concerns were addressed early on in the formation stages, but refined as the story progressed.

My concern for some writers is that they get so caught up in the world creating, that they never accomplish the ultimate goal of bringing the world to the reader through completion of one or more novels. So much creativity and great ideas that are never explored by others.

My novel is set over 200 years ago so to a degree I too am a world builder though my imagination is constrained by a sense of historical reality.

I love worldbuilding. I'll happily spend hours and hours on creating a world. For my current project (commonly known as the Novel-That-Isn't, because of how long it's been in the works), I have maps, culture guides, a world history -- which, because I'm obsessive, actually goes into the future of where the world is currently -- and goodness knows what else. My MCs can happily relate legends and 'local flavour' stories from their childhoods and cultural histories.

Said MCs come from all over the world: two are from destroyed cultures -- one was a cliffside fishing village which dropped into the ocean and another's entire country disappeared a lá Atlantis; another's city has developed from late-mediaeval to early-Victorian steampunk throughout his (several hundred year-long) lifetime; another came from a matriarchal forest culture into a bustling familial society... Then there's the werewolves, whose pack has evolved and amalgamated the traditions of at least one other pack in the past few hundred years, though the present ones still recall the legends of the olden days. I hope that each one brings their own distinct personality and the hallmarks of their upbringing to the group, making it all the more interesting for the reader. In fact (apart from the sheer fun of it) that's why I bother to worldbuild at all -- I figure if it's real to me, it'll be real to the characters, and from there we can work on making it real for the reader, too.

I'm keeping this post in here as it partly has to do with world building, but also has to do with my blog. My blog is, well, boring, and I just have one short story up. However, I've been thinking about adding little bits and pieces from my current story to it because it would add something to the blog. In my world I have the laws in which vampires must followed entitled Covenants and I was thinking about putting them up, as well as other things that have to do with my world. And, because I like graphic design, I was going to display everything as an image (meaning, the Covenants would look like old paper, etc.)

Unfortunately, I feel I might be jumping the gun as I don't have anything written beyond the outline. What should I do? I'm pretty sure I haven't had visitors to the blog, so I guess this would be for myself, but what about those potential visitors? Should I do it for them even though nothing is difinitive?

I've been working on a story for a while now which needed its own fantasy universe, so I've been fleshing out its aspects, its layout and geography, its countries, its races, its pantheon of gods, its history. It's definitely something that has evolved as I've worked on it. When I set about making a name for it, I wanted it to be Norse inspired, and the old Scandinavian word for world was Midgard (middle earth, lol), so drawing from that I came up with Avengard, which has a nice ring.

How do vampires live in your world if it's only them? Do they have farms of humans they feed off of? I have them in Avengard, and they're fully integrated with the other races, not lurking in the shadows. The good ones drink Bovine, which is commercially harvested cow's blood.

Vampires do "lurk in the shadows" you could say in my world. I'm trying very hard to not have an Underworld or Sookie Stackhouse type world in which vampires are at war with were-beasts, or they live out in the open as "mainstreamers". There is a tentative peace between vampires and the weres, mainly for the same reason. If they stay "hidden" from society, they'll be safer (or so they feel). Werewolves are the dominant branch of weres, but I've decided to incorporate more desert type beasts because my story takes place in the desert.

Vampires do keep humans on retainer, but only under special circumstances. Vampires don't just reveal themselves to humans. Usually a human is aquired through some deal the human made with the (then unknown) vampire, and is then made to pay off the debt through indentured servitude. Or, in the case of my MC, he's seen too much and will either be killed, or given to the weres as repayment for the death of a were at a vampire's hand.

I actually just finished writing out my Covenants. I had been hung up on the first four, and have decided that there will be seven total. I drew on the Ten Commandments (Christian) and the Islamic versions for inspiration. My vampires aren't religious-let me just point that out. These are just the laws set in place to protect them.

Hmm... I'd like to get in on this "World Building" thing. How exactly does one go about doing it? Do you just sit down and start naming things? Or is there some sort of process you use? I'm pretty bad at organization, how do you go about "worldbuilding", exactly?

World building is one of my favorite parts in the writing process, which is really a problem in and of its self. Once I finish with my world I have a tendency to leave a project, even when the story has not yet been told. Currently I working on a story set in the near future; scientists discover that a Texas-sized iron asteroid travelling extraordinarily fast and will hit Earth in the mid 2050's, turning the crust into slag and annihilating all life. The story is about how people react from all corners of the world, all ages, all disciplines. The ultimate goal is to turn the idea into a novel series that follows one family for multiple generations (similar to John Jakes's The Kent Family Chronicles). Not that I will likely finish that (I'm still in the outline stage) but it's something to work towards.

I have a problem with world building love too. I like to write short scenes about everyday life in my worlds. Sometimes I will do this to get to know a minor character I plan to use to get to know them better and get used to writing about them. I'll write a dozen of these ramblings about various places and ordinary things in my world, just to make it more real for me, but never get around to putting the main event on paper. Instead I wind up with several somewhat boring stories about throwaway characters.

Originally Posted by RedEmbassy

Hmm... I'd like to get in on this "World Building" thing. How exactly does one go about doing it? Do you just sit down and start naming things? Or is there some sort of process you use? I'm pretty bad at organization, how do you go about "worldbuilding", exactly?

Well, I've been using a different method of world building than I normally do. When I've dabbled with high fantasy, I would draw out my worlds and would name the countries and important towns. I'd also develop the races as completely as I could. This included daily life, government systems, mating, anything that went with the race, I wrote it. I developed creation myths, plants, etc. I still have all of the paperwork I put into my worlds, but unfortunately, no story to go with that work.

For this current story, I'm drawing on the "real world". My story takes place in Phoenix so the geography is pretty much done for me. I'm in the outlining process right now, but I have developed the laws of vampire life, a skeleton of the vampire heirarchy, and other things. Some of the things I'm fleshing out may not be used as I write, but it helps me to understand the world my characters live in.