You Too Can Build a World

Worldbuilding: it sounds so intimidating. But it doesn't have to be this huge production in which you lay out every single detail of your world from beginning to end in one sitting. Sometimes you have an idea of what you want your world to be and then, as time goes on, you fill in the blanks. As long as you put some thought into how your world works, that's okay. For myself, the world of Rukan has evolved as I have added books to the series. In fact, the magic system in the world wasn't figured out until the third book and wasn't solid until the fourth book. I knew how certain characters interacted with the magic of the world, but I needed more characters in order to really nail down how everything worked. Now I have a magic system and rules that work with my characters and make sense within the world itself.

So how can you build an interesting and full world of your own? One thing I like to do is to make notes of things that work in my world and things that with be something to remember throughout the series. I created sheets for everything I commonly need information about, such as characters, species, myths, and rituals. These help me keep track of important details, all in one place, which makes it easier to reference when I need them. You could make your own or I have them available on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/TheLorkeepersCodex If you are interested in using any of the forms I created for your own work,

The important thing about worldbuilding is you need to have some idea of how all the pieces of your story fit together within the world. You can't say one character floated through the air while another character has to trudge through the mud. Why is it different for the two characters? Maybe one species has the ability to negate gravity, but the other is more affected by it. Whatever the reason, realize that just like this world, your world with has its own set of rules that people in that world have to follow. That is the main key to worldbuilding, to know how things work. You can do as much or as little as you feel you need, but you should be able to answer questions about why things work the way they do within your world. And remember that most times you won't need to use every piece of word building you do, but having too much detail for yourself is better than not giving your readership enough information to get lost in your world. And at the end of the day, that is the goal of any fiction writer. To create a way for their readers to leave this world behind for a little while and enjoy something different and new. Hope this helps you and happy writing.