World Building: Fantasy Elements

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The fantasy and sci-fi genres may – more than any other genre – allow you to explore people, themes, and issues in larger-than-life scenarios. While world building is an important part of any story, it is especially important to the fantasy and science fiction story. A fantastic world is part of these genre's appeal.

These
genres allow you to develop exotic settings that cannot be found in
the real world. Even so, they typically are grounded in real life in
some way so that readers can appreciate them. This is typically done
blending, taking out of context, or exaggerating subjects found in our
real world.

• Animals:
  What species qualify as
  intelligent or non-intelligent will vary from series to series. Be
  sure to know their eating habits (carnivorous? Eat magic?)
• Races:
  For maximum effect, races need
  to be different in more than appearance. Consider giving them
  different speech patterns, social structures, and abilities.
• Magic:
  There is a whole series of articles on this blog about designing
  your magic system. Don't forget the social, environmental, and
  social effects.
• Alternate
  world: Giant forests,
  floating islands, and multiple moons are all ways to introduce
  fantastical elements
• Technology:
  Whether steam-punk, magic-driven, or futuristic, part of the appeal
  of non-contemporary genres is
  the different
  technology. Alternate technologies enable and restrict character
  actions so choose careful how advanced, wide-spread, and esoteric
  your technologies will be.

World Building: Religion

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      The world you write can be enriched through the existence of multiple religions. Especially in fantasy, religions allow you to emphasize and explore beliefs and questions about existence. Religion can also be a unifying or divisive element in your writing. It can be a tool to illuminate a character's deeply personal life. It can provide background for your world. It can provide another layer of social structure. And the structure of reality. Is there one true religion or is each religion a piece of the whole?

• Deities: One of the defining elements of a religion is the number of gods and the nature of that god or gods. Some religions also have demi-deities, angels, devils, and spirits. All of these have their own names, natures, and roles.
• Beliefs: Beliefs typically include an origin story, a history of the believers, attitudes, and definitions of good and evil.
• Afterlife: Religions also teach what happens after a person dies. Reincarnation? Ghosts? Seven hells? Depending on the book you write, you can tap into a religion's afterlife for a character, scene, or subplot.
• Practices: Are the believers pacifists or crusaders? Know the holy days, why these days are holy, and what is done to honor them. Know the rules followed by true believers. Know what sets true believers apart from false ones.
• Hierarchy: Many religions have a spiritual leader. Some religious figures may also have secular authority. For instance they might own land, collect money, or have political influence. In religions with multiple gods, there may be a ruling god, children of gods, or minor gods. Power can rotate among figures, ebb and flow, or be constant.

World Building: Government

 Heraldic crown of Russian Empire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      I assume you know the different types of government that have appeared thoughout history. You've probably even chosen one for several of your peoples. The decision seems easy on the surface but the effects of this choice are often overlooked. The life of someone living in a theocracy is vastly different from someone living in a communism. Although there are similarities, too.

       Government affects your cultures – and therefore your characters – in very fundamental ways. I've chosen five different dimensions that are frequently studied by political scientists. I hope outlining these dimensions will help you better understand the people who inhabit your world.

• History: Know the history of the nation – how it became its own entity and how it ended up with its form of government. If it had to fight for independence, it is likely to be culturally similar to the country it fought and may still have bad relations with that power. Know what has happened since the nation formed. Common history is one thing that unites its citizens.
• Sociology: This includes national holidays, the national flag/bird/plant/anthem. Any cultural wonders – paintings, buildings, natural features that are a part of national culture. What do they call themselves? How is the government structured and how does it intervene in public, private, and work life?
• Economics: How are taxes set and collected? Is the system cash or barter? How tightly does the government regulate business and trade? What is the attitude torwards foreign money, business, and trade?
• International: Foreign relations go beyond trade. Consider how welcoming the government is of outside influence. What is their style of negoatiation – the pen or the sword? Consider how influential the nation is, the areas of influence, and how it gained and maintains this power. How willing is it to go beyond its borders and how willing is it to let others inside its own?
• Philosophy: This is an element of deep culture. The type of government will subtly but powerfully affect the attitudes and assumptions of its citizens. A government may promote xenophobia or a more welcoming outlook. It may promote the collective good over the good of the individual. Views of community, views of self, views of others. These are are elements of deep culture that may be subtly shaped by the type of government you choose.

World Building: Geography

Lake Nemrut inside the crater of Nemrut Volcano (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      To an extent, you can design your physical world based on the people that inhabit it. Or you can create cultures based on the features of your world. Land and people interact. So when you design one, keep the other in mind.

      I mentioned the role of geography earlier in this series. Since the physical environment is such an obvious and important aspect of world building, let's look more closely at how five physical aspects affect the people who live in your world.

• Continents: Continents are a great way to separate vastly different groups, isolationist nations, and exotic tribes. People living on the same continent tend to share language groups (Portuguese is much closer to Spanish than to Japanese). “New” continents are typically colonized by nations that have ocean access. If you have a world where this happens, remember that land-locked nations typically miss out on colonization and must extend their influence in other ways.
• Regions: Areas of distinct landscapes, like large grasslands or long mountain ranges, influence the types of societies that live there. Lattitude matters too. Cold weather groups live very differently from hot weather groups.
• Water: Rivers offer convenient boundaries for nations. They also aid travel, promoting the trade of goods and information. They also make convenient invasion routes. Rivers also mean a steady source of water for cities and farmland. Oceans, as mentioned, can be a physical barrier. They also are a good source of food, trade, and may hide unknown lands and people.
• Resources: Island nations will rely heavily on trade to get their resources or be reduced to more primitive living conditions. Limited food resources suggests moving tribes unless there is some other abundant resource to trade. Both tend to be vulnerable to outside powers. On the other hand, fertile plains offer lots of food that can support large groups but offers poor military defense.
• Stability: An often overlooked feature is stability of the land feature. Coasts may be prone to tsunamis or the read tide. Certain regions may be prone to earthquakes or tornadoes. Rivers can dry up and oceans can have hurricanes. Mineral resources will eventually disappear and forests can be overhunted. Natural and manmade disasters – the standard precautions taken, the imminant threat, the recent effects – can enrich and complicate the immediate world of your characters.

World Building: Cultures

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     By culture I am referring to the distinct ways that a group lives their lives instead of the group's symbols and creative aspects. Know the differences between the cultures in your world allows for both diversity and potential conflict. Knowing the specifics of a particular character's cuture does the same – as well as helps you bring that character to unique life.

      As a reminder, culture traits are generalities – they are shared by most people in the culture but are shared to different degrees. There is still room for variation within a group even when they share language and dialect, aesthetics, gender expectations, social structure, and religious practices. Whether you are trying to understand your character's surface culture or are trying to create new cultures, these are all key elements to examine. And of course a person can belong to multiple cultures and subcultures.

• Dialect: Writers are encouraged to play with dialect as a way to make dialogue unique. Most often, writers focus on word choice. But grammar is a good way to do this, too – especially if the speaker is not speaking in her native language.
• Aesthetics: Aesthetics will affect how character dresses, what she buys, the places she goes, as well as what and who she likes to surround herself with. Some people's cultures can be identified by these things. Paying attention to a character's preferences can be a quick way to characterize her.
• Gender roles: Your character's gender greatly affects how he will interact with people of the same or different gender, age, and power status. This needs to come across in both spoken and silent interactions. It also gives you an idea of the activities and attitudes expected of him. Knowing your character's culture can give you an excellent template for designing these dimensions.
• Social structure: I consider gender role as an aspect of social structure. To me, social structure is about the distribution of power. A non-mobile structure can give your character something to fight. It gives you an idea of who she respects (or treats with respect) and why. Not only does this affect her inner and outer behavior, it gives you insight into some of her values.
• Religion: How open is this culture to multiple religions? How strictly do they practice? How do they practice? Don't forget that religious faith can affect the naming of characters. A one-religion culture may be antagonistic towards the beliefs of other religions. Whether your character's culture is in the majority or minority, this creates an undercurrent in the wider social situation.