Worldbuilding

Someone asked me to do a short and to-the-point guide for Worldbuilding, so here's Rae D. Magdon's fast and quick guide to Worldbuilding for Beginners. =D If you're looking for a starting point for your Sci-Fi or Fantasy story, look no further.


1. You get one "freebie".

I give credit for this rule to Holly Lisle, a great author with a great website that you should check out: www.hollylisle.com Anyway, the gist of this rule is that you can only have one unbelievable/illogical thing in your story. In fantasy, this is the presence of magic. In sci-fi, this is warp-speed, inter-dimensional shifting, or whatever method you use to overcome space's vastness so that difference races from other planets may interact. You used your freebie, so everything else in your story has to have some kind of explanation or make at least a modicum of sense. Don't go crazy and use too many deus ex machinas or introduce other unbelievable plot points/characters/additions to your setting, or the reader will just assume that you are bonkers and find a different story.


2. But really, it's not free, because you have to explain it - Magic (part one)

Magic has to have some kind of basic explanation, or at least a power source. Please don't just make your characters omnipotent. This is one of the only things that bugs me about the Harry Potter series, in fact. In JK's universe, magic has no source. A wizard can keep casting spells for hours if they can concentrate hard enough. Orson Scott Card used blood in one of his books. Other writers have used physical energy (you need energy to cast a spell). In the wonderful fantasy book The Alchemyst, characters tap in to their 'auras', which can be depleted. In Sabriel, Lirael, and The Abhorsen, by Garth Nix, characters tap into a vast source of energy called The Charter and use 'Marks' to channel it. These marks can be spoken, drawn, signed, whistled, ect. It's very cool. Anyway, if you're doing a fantasy novel, come up with some explanation for your magic... but remember, keep it short! Show and don't tell.


2. But really, it's not free, because you have to explain it - Inter-dimensional Travel/Power Source (part two)

Sci-fi writers aren't off the hook. You have to explain how your characters conquered space. In Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time, she uses the 'tesseract', which is a separate dimension that you pass through, allowing you to 'fold' time and space like a wrinkle and walk through it... picture folding a blanket so that you can walk from one side to the other in just a step. In one of Holly Lisle's books, I know that she 'folds' space into a decahedron so you can travel to several points. A certain television show *cough cough* uses Warp Speed... come up with something. Oh, and you have to have some kind of gas/mineral/power source for your technology to run on. Even if you never explain this stuff in your novel, you have to know it.


3. NO prologue

For god's sake, even though Anne McCaffrey did it, you are not allowed to write a prologue explaining the setting of your story. It's kind of like Picasso - he was a fine art student that created realistic paintings before he branched out into cubism. You have to know the rules before you can break them. Even though some great authors have done them, that doesn't mean you have to... really, trust me. Instead of writing a prologue explaining the history of the universe/your magical kingdom, introduce it in tidbits throughout the story. This can even be conversation filler or make for some interesting plot points. It worked for J.K. Rowling, after all... she didn't explain the whole Harry Potter universe, she just told the story and let the reader figure it out by showing and not telling.


4. Explain in pieces

This is related to rule three. If you have to explain something about the world in your novel, do it in pieces. Slip information in bit by bit instead of clumping it all together or the reader will get bored.


5. Fill your world

Creating sentient races/species is hard. You want to be original, but not outlandish. If there is some weird creature in your book, find an explanation for it. Show how it adapted to its surroundings in a sci-fi world, or make it the product of a magical explosion or accident. No huge explanation is needed, just a snippet of dialogue or a few sentences will do, but make sure you do SOMETHING before populating your world with spider-bears. The creatures you use have to make sense...


I will post a continuation to this guide some time tomorrow, but here's something to get you started. ^_^ Have fun.