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nano_writersLast month, in anticipation of this month's writing theme, Nano Writer cat_rood asked: What are your favourite ways to world build...? and several savvy members responded, providing some great links! This month, building on this earlier discussion, Nano Writers will look a little closer at the topic and begin by asking...
How do you build a world?
Or perhaps the question should be: do we even need to build/prefabricate a world for our story? Aside from the time and effort that this kind of project can require - sometimes an endless process that can actually kill a story -elleth, responding to cat_rood's post, also suggests that:
This is a valid concern.
But first, let's briefly talk about what "worldbuilding" is...
According to Wikipedia:
Often this process is seen as a daunting series of questions, astronomical equations and fractal maps that must be dutifully and laboriously answered by the writer. But as Holly Lisle points out when asked about the worldbuilding process she uses for her novels:
Of consideration of course is Ms. Lisle's response when asked: "Do you do a lot of worldbuilding before you start a book?":
On the other end of the spectrum, Nano Writers looking for a simpler method might consider the five rules Annalee Newitz proposes in The Rules of Quick and Dirty Worldbuilding:
Perhaps a more organic approach to worldbuilding the Nano Writer might take, is what is described as a "bottom-up (or micro-to-macro) approach":
But because we have the time (there are after all 91 days until the start of NanoWriMo), let's investigate instead, a "top-down (or macro-to-micro) approach" where:
We will do this by following the exercises created by fellow NaNoWriMo writer Stephanie Bryant: 30 Days of WorldBuilding.
Over the next thirty days, we'll post the 15-minute exercise as described by Ms. Bryant and invite members to try their hand at the task and share their experience and insights with the community as well as any additional links they found helpful for completing the exercise.
Hopefully, by the end of the month, participating members will have a notebook of fascinating details about their world, an exciting, perhaps dangerous and beautiful playground for their characters to explore this November.
So until then Nano Writer, keep writing!
Bibliography
Boothby, Tim. "World Building: Part 2 – Nobody told me there could be math!" Red Zone Gaming. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://redzonegaming.net/wordpress/?p=375>.
Bryant, Stephanie. "30 Days of WorldBuilding." Stephanie Bryant - Technical Writer. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://www.web-writer.net/fantasy/days/index.html>.
Lisle, Holly. "Questions About Worldbuilding." Holly Lisle--Official Author Home Page. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://hollylisle.com/fm/articles/faqs8.html>.
Newitz, Annalee. "The Rules of Quick and Dirty Worldbuilding - Alternate Reality - io9." Io9. We come from the future. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://io9.com/5039477/the-rules-of-quick-and-dirty-worldbuilding>.
Olsson, John. "Fractal Worldmap Generator." Lysator - Välkommen! Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://www.lysator.liu.se/~johol/fwmg/fwmg.html>.
"Worldbuilding -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/worldbuilding>.
Wrede, Patricia C. "Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions Part 1." Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm>.
cat_rood asked: What are your favourite ways to world build...? and several savvy members responded, providing some great links! This month, building on this earlier discussion, Nano Writers will look a little closer at the topic and begin by asking...How do you build a world?
Or perhaps the question should be: do we even need to build/prefabricate a world for our story? Aside from the time and effort that this kind of project can require - sometimes an endless process that can actually kill a story -
elleth, responding to cat_rood's post, also suggests that:...'planned' worldbuilding often appears too linear and to the point, resulting in a story that feels wrong, probably because it makes your characters less like chance by-products of history, but rather zOMG, the prime objective and justification for everything that's happened before.
This is a valid concern.
But first, let's briefly talk about what "worldbuilding" is...
According to Wikipedia:
Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, usually associated with a fictional universe.
Often this process is seen as a daunting series of questions, astronomical equations and fractal maps that must be dutifully and laboriously answered by the writer. But as Holly Lisle points out when asked about the worldbuilding process she uses for her novels:
You're worldbuilding when you sketch out a floorplan of the house that your character lives in so that you don't accidentally have her bedroom on the first floor in chapter one and on the second in chapter three. You're worldbuilding when you draw out a little map of the town in which your characters live and name the streets and decide that the corner drugstore is on the corner of Maple and Vine.
You're worldbuilding, in other words, when you create some guidelines about the place in which your story takes place or about the people who inhabit the place in order to maintain consistency within the story and add a feeling of verisimilitude to your work. So worldbuilding is essential to anyone who writes.
Of consideration of course is Ms. Lisle's response when asked: "Do you do a lot of worldbuilding before you start a book?":
Oh, man, do I ever. I'm at the very extreme end of the curve on this, but I routinely do hundreds of pages of cultural background, linguistic development, mapping and so on.
On the other end of the spectrum, Nano Writers looking for a simpler method might consider the five rules Annalee Newitz proposes in The Rules of Quick and Dirty Worldbuilding:
- Do a little research.
- Have a few rules.
- Don't obsess over consistency.
- Consider what's good and what's bad about your world.
- Create characters who are plausibly the products of your world.
Perhaps a more organic approach to worldbuilding the Nano Writer might take, is what is described as a "bottom-up (or micro-to-macro) approach":
...where the designer begins with a focus on one small part of the world, possibly with a few elements, not necessarily consistent, needed for fictional purposes. This location is given considerable detail, adding in important facts about the local geography, culture, social structure, government, politics, commerce, and history. Many of the prominent locals are described, and their interrelationships determined. The surrounding areas are then described in a lower level of detail, with the information growing more general and less detailed with increasing distance from the focus location. Later when the designer needs to use other parts of the world, the descriptions of these other locations are then enhanced.
But because we have the time (there are after all 91 days until the start of NanoWriMo), let's investigate instead, a "top-down (or macro-to-micro) approach" where:
...the designer first creates a general overview of the world, determining broad characteristics such as the inhabitants, technology-level, major geographic features, climate, global history, and other details of strategic importance. Once this is complete, the details of the world are developed by gradually focusing on smaller and smaller details, such as continents, civilizations, nations, cities, and towns.
We will do this by following the exercises created by fellow NaNoWriMo writer Stephanie Bryant: 30 Days of WorldBuilding.
Over the next thirty days, we'll post the 15-minute exercise as described by Ms. Bryant and invite members to try their hand at the task and share their experience and insights with the community as well as any additional links they found helpful for completing the exercise.
Hopefully, by the end of the month, participating members will have a notebook of fascinating details about their world, an exciting, perhaps dangerous and beautiful playground for their characters to explore this November.
So until then Nano Writer, keep writing!
Bibliography
Boothby, Tim. "World Building: Part 2 – Nobody told me there could be math!" Red Zone Gaming. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://redzonegaming.net/wordpress/?p=375>.
Bryant, Stephanie. "30 Days of WorldBuilding." Stephanie Bryant - Technical Writer. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://www.web-writer.net/fantasy/days/index.html>.
Lisle, Holly. "Questions About Worldbuilding." Holly Lisle--Official Author Home Page. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://hollylisle.com/fm/articles/faqs8.html>.
Newitz, Annalee. "The Rules of Quick and Dirty Worldbuilding - Alternate Reality - io9." Io9. We come from the future. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://io9.com/5039477/the-rules-of-quick-and-dirty-worldbuilding>.
Olsson, John. "Fractal Worldmap Generator." Lysator - Välkommen! Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://www.lysator.liu.se/~johol/fwmg/fwmg.html>.
"Worldbuilding -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/worldbuilding>.
Wrede, Patricia C. "Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions Part 1." Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Web. 01 Aug. 2009. <http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm>.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-02 03:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-02 04:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-02 04:59 am (UTC)This should be interesting - not only am I not home (I'm at my parents' house), so it'll be interesting logistically for me to remember to check my reading list, but I've also never started work on a nano-thing this early! (Nor, come to think of it, by world-building.)