For a full and updated list of writing advice, click here. All advice is by Marina Montenegro and originally posted on Writing the Words blog. (This list is updated to include August’s Romance section)
I’m having trouble worlduilding. Building a society, let alone a whole universe is overwhelming. I feel like i’m going in circles trying to have my setting make sense. Any advice on how to start or where? Research methods? I’ve been stuck for weeks.
First, take a deep breath! I know it’s overwhelming, but world building can be incredibly fun, too. 🙂
Second, you do not have to plan out every detail of your world before you start writing. All you really need to figure out are the basic details and anything really important to the story. The rest can be figured out along the way or after your first draft. You will be amazed at how much develops naturally as you get a chance to explore your new world in the first draft. Plus, you can flesh things out and add details when your first draft is complete.
So, what are the basics?
1) Where does the story take place?
Universe > galaxy > solar system > planet > continent > region, nation, or kingdom > city, town, or village > important “sets”
Focus on the thing that are important to your story. If the solar system doesn’t matter, don’t bother with it. Just know the basic details of the planet (is it earth or a planet like earth?) and the continent where the story is set. Then, the closer you zoom in on the locations where your story actually takes place, fill in more detail. Have a general idea about geographical details like mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans, What is the specific setting where your story mainly takes place? Is it a high-tech futuristic metropolis? Or maybe a ramshackle civilization built on the ashes of a scorched earth? Is it a city, town, or village? Or perhaps an entire kingdom or nation?
You may want to think about doing a general map of the areas important in your story. I love these maps from Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha universe and Mary E. Pearson’s Remnant Chronicles:
When it comes to figuring out specific settings, you can look to Google for help. For example, “what were medieval villages like” or “castle layout.” You may want to look to the real world for inspiration. Leigh Bardugo modeled Ketterdam after a cross between Las Vegas and Venice. Tumblr can also be a fantastic resource for picture inspiration. Just search tags for things like: city, cottage, castle, winter, abandoned places, etc., and you can find any number of photo blogs with endless visual inspiration.
2) When does the story take place?
If you’re writing speculative fiction, like fantasy, sci-fi, or dystopian, you’ll need to figure out exactly when your story takes place and what things are like at that time. A lot of fantasies are modeled after medieval and renaissance England, but there are lots of other eras and places that would make for interesting fantasy inspiration. You may want to do a general timeline of your story’s events including important dates and events in the back story.
3) What is this place like?
Once you know when and where your story are set, and once you have some inspiration for the when and where, you can start to look at what your world is like.
What level of technology is available in your world? Is it the same for everyone or dependent upon location or social class? What sort of transportation do they use? What type of military technology do they possess? What kind of technology is used in the home? Do they have television or radio?
How do they get around? Is there magic? Do they live in castles or sky scrapers? Are there important details in the history of this place? What are the people like? What different cultures can be found? How do these people live their daily lives? How are their basic needs met? What type of medical care do they have? Do they have a religion? Are there any gangs, guilds, or other important groups? Do they have an education system? What language do they speak? What plants and animals live in your world, and how do people interact with them? Do they hunt and fish? Do they have livestock? Do they have pets? Do they gather plant life? Do they cultivate crops?
4) Government and Infrastructure
What type of government does your world have? Who are the important players? What about the government makes it oppressive? (It isn’t easy to find unbiased information about oppressive governments. Whether you agree or not, this article has some ideas about things the US government is doing that qualify as oppressive. This article discusses ten steps to a closed society. Between them, you should find some ideas for things your government might do. How does your government relate to other governments? Are there any current conflicts?
What type of economic system does your world have? What currency is used? What industries bring money into your world, and who buys the products? What is imported and what is exported? To and from where?
What is the system of law? What are the laws and how are they enforced? Is there a judicial system? Lawyers? Police? Prisons and jails? What are the consequences for breaking the law?
This should be more than enough to get you going. Anything else you can figure out along the way. And remember, even with all of the things I mentioned above–if they’re not important to the story, don’t worry about them. Don’t feel like you have to flesh out every single plant and animal that populates your setting.
——————————————————————— Have a writing question? I’d love to hear from you! Please be sure to read my ask rulesand master listfirst or your question will not be answered. 🙂
A few followers have asked for tips on writing romance into their stories or as the basis of their stories. Here’s a list of sources that might help out.
First and foremost, know your cliches. In this case, that means watching and reading all the werewolf stories that you can get your hands on. Grab some popcorn, take a break, it’s research! Patterns will probably start to appear pretty quickly.
In a similar vein, I recommend that you look into all the mythology about werewolves that you can find. What’s become the current popular canon for werewolf mythology is actually a kind of distilled and selected version of some of the older myths. For example, in The Graveyard Book, I thought that Neil Gaiman did a lovely job pulling from the old stories of ‘Hounds of God’ to create a werewolf character that wasn’t a bit cliche.
Finally, I’d say to top it off with some real world research- werewolves are mythical creatures that are grounded in real world stuff- clinical lycanthropy, serial killers, wolf-dog hybrids, hallucinations, actual wolves. Read up about it! Figure out what parts interest you. In particular, I find that a lot of stories about werewolves lack an understanding of how actual wolves work (I’m looking you dead in the face, Twilight series), which, I mean, if you want your werewolves to be humanized or a different beast from wolves entirely, that’s cool, but at least know what’s what so that you don’t flop misinformation/misunderstanding around.
Now that you are an expert on the werewolf mythology that your work will be in the context of, decide:
– What you like about the existing stories. (Your creation doesn’t have to be 100% different from other werewolves to be fresh and not a cliche!) Do you think that a weakness to silver is nifty? If so, keep it! Nobody’s gonna stop you. Just be careful to only pick the parts that you REALLY like and find interesting. Don’t toss it in there just because it’s status quo. And maybe try adding your own spin on it, based on what seems logical to you (does the silver act more like an allergy, or lead poisoning?)
– What you think the current stories are lacking. Did you notice that most of the werewolves seem to be male (or are presented very differently than females)? Do you think that that’s lame? Make some lady werewolves! Do something different, or correct something that you don’t like about the stories that exist already.
– Finally, and I cannot stress this enough- figure out your unique take and angle. What do werewolves mean to you, personally? What could they represent in the context of the story that’s a new way of looking at things? What parts of your research stuck out as being interesting and unique to you? Build up your own ideas, and create something that really comes from you.
-Evvy
I recommend The Complete Book of Werewolves by Leonard R.N. Ashley as a good reference point to get you started. It covers historical lore, fictional werewolves, European, American, and world legends, and werewolves on the silver screen. This one is just a compiling of legends, historical lore, and modern fiction. It’s more akin to an encyclopedia, but if you want an in depth look at the history of werewolves this book is an excellent starting place. It’s got everything from Scooby Doo episodes to the werewolf legends surrounding the British Royal family.
There’s also Monsters: An Investigator’s Guide to Magical Beings by John Michael Greer. Unlike Ashley, this one is written by a self-proclaimed monster hunter, so take some of what he says with a grain of salt. However, it does provide some interesting suggestions on how it could potentially be possible and different shapeshifter legends, including the concept of astral projection and modifying the body’s electrical field to create the appearance of a wolf. If you want to develop a story about werewolves and monster hunters, this might provide you with some interesting insights.
If you’re looking to do wolves in a modern setting or play in the Fantasy Kitchen Sink, I suggest looking at White Wolf’s Werewolf: the Apocalypse roleplaying game, especially for the way it discusses and coaches integrating these characters into (or out of) society. If you’re looking for a Princess Mononoke style approach of Nature versus Man, I suggest going through this setting. The concept of the Delirium is especially worth looking at if you’re thinking Urban Fantasy because it works around the concept of a mystic magical field that hides supernatural beings from human sight. (Yes, it has a Tropes page.)
I’ll give two honorable mentions to my favorite sourcebooks:
Kinfolk, Unsung Heroes: which discusses roleplaying as and creating characters who exist in the shadows and backdrop of their special relatives. It discusses the important roles the mortal werewolf kin both human and wolf play in World of Darkness werewolf society. What is it like to stand close to greatness and glimpse a spectacular world that could have been yours if only your genetics hadn’t rolled wrong? This is a great toolkit for creating supporting characters, antagonists, or protagonists and fleshing out the possible friends and family of the characters in your setting.
Ways of the Wolf: Do you want to write a story about a man (or woman) who is sometimes a wolf or a wolf who is sometimes a man (or woman)? If it’s the latter, then this Werewolf: The Apocalypse sourcebook has got you covered. In Werewolf, lycanthropy can occur in both humans and wolves. These wolf born werewolves are an interesting concept that rolls against some of the common werewolf mythology. The book covers wolf and pack behavior from the perspective of writing a wolf who has become more than a wolf, but is still a wolf at heart. It talks about how they interact with their wolf brethren and the human born Garou. Which makes it an interesting read while trying to get around some werewolf cliches.
I also recommend Wolves at Our Door which is a phenomenal documentary by Jim Dutcher about life with the Sawtooth Wolf Pack, whom they raised from pups to develop a better understanding of pack life and wolf family structure in a way that cannot be done with these shy animals in the wild. It’s a treasure trove of information and more importantly may lend some nice visual inspiration. For someone working with werewolves, watching wolf and man live together in harmony might be a great jumping off point.
Wikipedia and TV Tropes are (well, might be) great starting sources but as they are crowd sourced and anyone from anywhere can edit them, you’ll have to do a lot more research (and watch/read the suggested media yourself) to get anything really useful out of them.
-Michi
I’m going to toss two of my favorite Werewolf: The Apocalypse source books on here because they can give you some more ideas on getting away from werewolf clichés.
First is Player’s Guide to the Changing Breeds: this covers all the non-wolf based were-creatures in the setting. It includes wearbears, weresharks, werehyenas, weresnakes, and a bunch of other possible creatures. There are separate guides for each specific group, and if you find one that appeals, then their sourcebook will be more useful, but Guide to the Changing Breeds gives an overview for all of them.
The second is Project: Twilight. This isn’t actually about werewolves, it’s about federal agents who hunt the supernatural, and how to run them. If you want to write urban fantasy, I’d almost say this is a must read. If only to get you thinking about how law enforcement would deal with your characters’ actions and behavior.
What do dragons look like? >Are there different types/subspecies of dragons, or is there only one? >>If there are different subspecies, what are the similarities? Why are they all dragons instead of being classified as different species? >How large do dragons get when fully grown? >What size are they when they’re babies? >What is the general shape of a dragon? >>Short and fat? >>Cow-like? >>Lizard-like? >>Long and skinny? >>Snake-like? >How many legs do they have? >Do they have wings? >>How many sets? >Do they have horns? >Spikes? >Antlers? >Claws? >>Are their claws for digging or for tearing? >What does their face look like? >What shape are their teeth? >>Or do they have beaks? >Do they have feathers or scales? >>Both? >>Neither? >>>What do they have instead?
How strong are dragons naturally? >Can they do anything to increase their strength? >>What? >What does their hide protect them against? >>The heat? >>The cold? >>Water? >>Scrapes from rocks? >>Animal attacks? >>Is their hide strong enough to protect against human weapons? >>>How strong would the weapon have to be to penetrate the dragon’s hide? >Can dragons fly? >>How high? (Remember that air gets thinner and colder at higher altitudes.) >Can dragons swim? >>How long? >>How deep? (Remember that water gets more pressurized and colder at lower depths.) >Can dragons breathe out fire? >>Can they breathe out something else? >>>Does this happen every time they exhale, or do they have to consciously decide to do it? >>>Are there any times when they can’t? >>>>Underwater? >>>>Above certain altitudes? >>>>When they’re tired or malnourished? >>>>When they’re juvenile?
What do dragons eat? >If they can breathe fire, do they cook their food first? >Where are dragons located on the food chain? >>Are they apex predators, or are they derpy little lizard babies that get eaten by bears and condors?
Where do dragons live? >Do they live mostly by themselves, or in family units? >How much space do they take to nest in? >How much territory to they claim as their own outside the nest?
Do dragons hoard things? >What kinds of things? >Do they like shiny things? >>Do they like worthless things too, as long as their shiny, or can they tell the value of an item? >>>Is this dependent on the individual dragon in question? >>>Does it depend on the dragon’s age? >>>The dragon’s subspecies? >Where do dragons keep their hoard? >>Do they keep it in a back room? >>Do they use it as a bed? >>>How do they not damage the items with their weight?
Can dragons use magic? >Can dragons shift into a humanoid form? >>For how long? >>How often? >>What determines what their human form will look like?
How intelligent are dragons? >Do they have their own names? >Do they have rulers? >Do they have a culture of their own? >>How far apart do dragons have to be before there are noticeable regional differences? >Do dragons have a sense of humor? >If dragons aren’t intelligent, can they be/have they been domesticated? >>Can they be trained? >How do dragons communicate? >Are dragons antagonistic towards humanoids? >>Any specifically, or all of them? >>If not, will they allow humanoids or others to ride on their backs? >Are dragons antagonistic toward other dragons? >>Only ones they aren’t related to? >>Only ones from other subspecies? >>Only ones that trespass? >>Only to ones from different regions? >>Only to ones with different politics? >>To ones that smell bad?
Are dragons more reptilian or mammalian? Keep in mind that if they are mammalian, the females will have mammary glands.
How do dragons reproduce? >Are they live births? >Do they hang out in a pouch for a while afterwards, like kangaroos? >Are they up and about almost immediately, like horses? >Are they pretty useless, like human babies? >Do they hatch from eggs?
If they do hatch from eggs how long is their incubation period?
Does each parent take turns watching the nest?
Are the baby hatchlings dangerous or vulnerable when newly hatched?
How many eggs does a female dragon lay? (Per year/life)
How do they treat their hatchlings?
Does this treatment differ as they age?
starry-eyed 