Digging Deeper: Worlds

Welcome back to the Digging Deeper series!

Last time we talked about how to create a character that was deeper than just the cartoon flick you read in the daily paper. But everybody has to live somewhere, which leads us to our next topic.

Worlds

    To start with, you have to know where on earth (or not) your world is!

Fantasy Writers: The job for you guys is actually pretty simple! Wherever you need a place to be you get to make it! No questions need to be asked at all. But this can get really confusing without a proper guideline. The answer: a map! (They aren't just used in the books you know.) Map making can be extremely helpful in organizing where all your cities are, the roads that connect them, major landmarks, and other important facts that give this world its authenticity. If everything just takes place in one city... you might need to get out more. With a map you can be realistic about how long it takes to get from one city to another and give the reader a chance to be familiar with their new home. 

Realistic Writers: The job for you guys is much harder! Unless you are writing a modern-day story, you're going to have to keep your book accurate. (Or just cross your fingers and hope nobody looks up the city you invented) This will require a massive amount of research, depending on what time era you are writing in. By sticking to the true nature of the country and its original names you are able to pull the reader back in time to a real world!
Both Writers: You can create a wonderful world by investing the time to make it real.There is a balance between describing the surroundings to give your character a backdrop and giving a geography lesson. On the one hand, you don't want to have your characters moving through an empty scene with just the few props they directly interact with; but you don't want to bore the reader so they skip to the next dialogue scene. If you just stick to the here and now you'll create this mental picture in your reader's mind:

 

When you want to create a world that looks more like this:

  This brings us to the next point.

  I'm just going to assume that at the moment you are sitting at the computer reading this post, (Just a wild guess) and if you were to look around you will probably notice a random assortment of items lying about. You might even notice something that wasn't there before! But all this is kind of irrelevant since you are trying to read this post within a decent amount of time. Congratulations! You have just discovered the next important key to creating a world. Sure, if you sit down and write down every nook and cranny that is in your character's field of sight, you're going to get a pretty detailed setting. (think Les Miserable) But not all of those things are relevant to the story. You're character most likely isn't investigating every corner of the butcher shop while he's talking to a persnickety butcher about a strange blue rock. (if you catch the reference, please comment!) There will be a few things that the character notices right away - like the bad lighting, the smell, or even the strange way the butcher keeps the shop - but he wont identify every pork chop on display or how many windows there are. 

   Giving the character a world to interact with draws the reader in so they can actually see what the character sees. But the way the character sees things will change depending on the mood the character is in. The same rain storm can be a dismal downpour for a heartbroken young man and a refreshing and life giving shower for a traveler crossing the desert. Same rain, different view. A bedroom can be a prison or a refuge depending on if they are locked in by their evil step-mother or hiding from the chaos of the family with six siblings. Everything is subject to how the character perceives it; and as the author, it is your job to step into your character's shoes to visualize it and write it down for your reader.

    Here is another simple checklist to help make your world real for you and your reader!

1. Does your world have a capital city with surrounding tows/villages? (This applies to fantasy and realistic writers alike.) Everything has to have a home base, and obviously this is where most of the story will be taking place. But to make a true world there is more out there than what the village boy can see. Even if your story takes place in one city alone, bringing in a few travelers that mention other cities can help broaden the view.
2. Is every town different? If every town offers the same stores and shops then the character should have just stayed at home. Some cities are more beautiful than others, while some might be more sketchy. Depending on how far your character travels the people might even change! (especially for fantasy writers!) 
3. Are you paying attention to the weather? I know this might sound a little weird, but nothing gets more annoying than the book where it is always one weather. Changing up the forecast can present some great challenges for your character. Who knows! A heavy rain could cause a landslide that changes your character's whole life!
4. Is your character noticing his/her environment, or are you sounding like a narrator? This falls back on that old and familiar saying, "Show. Don't Tell." I don't care how many times you've heard this said! Everything should be seen and perceived through the eyes of the character.
5. Does the mood of the scenery change? If your story is starting to sound monotonous to you, it's going to bore your readers to tears! As the author, you should be one of the most interested people in this book! You already know everything about your book so make each scene give you that same heart thrill that the last one did or break your heart worse than before. 

  Take some time to give your book a fresh look every time to sit down to write! The story line is important, and so is the character, but they need a world for them and the reader to live in! The fog infested field ripe for battle may be setting your heart thumping with the next battle scene, but it will leave your character lost if you don't explain it!

Well, that's all for now! Stay tuned for the last post in this series. The story is next!

If you have any ideas and thoughts, please share! Wisdom and experience grow when they are passed along to others!