Let's Build a World: Day 12 - What If?

[ladyseishou]

If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.

- William Hazlitt



It's Day 12 for Nano Writers's Let's Build a World. Read over Day 12: What If from Stephanie Bryant's 30 Days of Worldbuilding. Time to get out your notebook and consider today's exercise:

If you don't know yet if you're writing science fiction, fantasy, or horror, you should probably decide now (and yes, a blend is a-ok; just be sure to do all the speculative element exercises once for each genre). But the chances are, you have some idea already of which genre(s) you want to work in. You might even have some specific ideas to play with-- a talking octopus, for instance, or a magically-appearing cat.

Write down the snippets and images that you already know you want in your story. Some of these might be things you have already decided on as convenience items-- a faster-than-light drive, maybe, or telepathy; things you want in there to help drive the plot forward and eliminate certain inconveniences as a storyteller. Just remember that these convenience items are always available; it's implausible to have the spacetime drive fail just when the hero needs it, and these things ought to be available to the villain, too, just so your heroes are playing on a level field.

Next, ask yourself the hard questions. "What if?" What if my society could talk to each other instantaneously? What would that do to them? Would that change my plot? What if you could make yourself invisible? Would that require magic, or technology, or both-- and how would you do it with either?

Here's a couple of sites that feature interesting, creative ways to generate questions about your plot:

Mind Mapping Your Plot

Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes

Fairy Tales, Brainstorming Cards and Tarot - links to a pdf file


"What if?" is indeed a powerful question. How did you do, Nano Writer? Bring your notes tomorrow for the next installment!