So, you enjoy writing? Find it fun to just ponder “what if” questions? Love getting creative? Fantasize about finally sitting down to write that novel you’ve always wanted to write? Well, now’s your chance to learn the basics.
Today: building your story world.
Every story, whether it be fantasy, science fiction, or adventure, takes place in its own universe. You control what happens in this world; as a writer, you hold that power. But unless your story is about someone who falls into a universe where anything can happen, not just anything will make sense in your world. Your universe needs to have a balance, some form of logic, that holds it together.
You have to have some form of geometry, biology, physics, and that sort of stuff. This doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in any of these things (which I’m certainly not), and you can even make up a few of your own rules–you know, magic, different gravity levels, whatever. You just have to make sure you stay with your rules and not have your world be inconsistent (unless, of course, that is what your story is about).
Example: if, in your world, your character explains that when it rains the ground rips apart, you must stick with that. Otherwise, if you don’t stick with what you set your rules to be then your readers will say: “Hey, didn’t that character just say that the ground rips apart when it rains? Why didn’t that happen?” Other than that, feel free to imagine up your universe in whatever way you desire.
The Three Components of Your Story World
There are three things to think about when creating your world.
- The Natural Things: The World Around Your Character
This is you creating a sense of the universe around you–the descriptions you give when showing your reader the world your character is in. This includes everything that your character can physically see and touch, whether it’s a rock, a huge monster bird, or something like that. Usually you don’t change things like the physics or chemistry (who does anyway?) but things like the weather and the geometry for your world.
- The Types of People/Culture
This all depends on what you want to write. If you’re writing a story on this world, then that includes all the different ethnic groups, cultures, and so on. If you’re writing a story on a world you made up yourself, then go ahead and create your own humanoid being.
- The Conflicting Backdrops
This is what drives your story world. The conflict is what drives a story. This is how your story starts, where your story begins. This is where your character is on the brink of change. (Like if the people in your world are about to go to war with each other.) When the story starts, there is peace, maybe an uneasy peace, but peace. Then something or someone comes along and stirs up the peace and (let’s just stick with the idea of war for the moment) makes the peace end, and a declaration of war is made. This is where your character begins his/her quest, and he/she must choose to make a change, therefore starting your story.
I hope I’ve given you enough information to start your own story world, but here are the main points of what you need to know when creating your universe:
- Your world’s geography (e.g. the layout of your world, rivers, mountains, continents)
- The climate (e.g. weather patterns, sunny year-round, rainy, snowy, and so on)
- History (what has already happened in your world to make it what it is now?)
- Religion (if you want to put one in your story)
- Cultural groups (explained above)
- And of course, the languages (Elvish, English, Dwarvish, Spanish, and so on. It really depends on the novel you’re writing.)
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