Creating a World
When you’re writing a fictional novel, be it vampire, romance, historical, science fiction, or something entirely different, you need to create your world. If the world your characters are wandering around in is similar to the “real world” then you’ve got an easy job. You need only highlight any differences between your world and the one we live in.
As an example, in the historical fiction I’m writing based on my grandmother’s life, the world of the book is a world based almost 100% on 1940s Scotland. There’s no magic, no science fiction gadgets, and nothing other than the things that would have been available at the time. In creating the world for my fictional grandmother to travel in, I had to create a home for her based on what existed in Aberdeen during the time I was writing about, but it also had to be fictional enough that I wasn’t risking exposing someone’s real home. I also had to be familiar enough with the real world of 1940s Aberdeen that I could write authoritatively about it.
If your world is “reality adjacent,” meaning the physical world is the same or similar but the rules are different (more or future science, for example, or people have magical abilities), you have to know what the differences are. The more detail you go into, the more realistic your world will seem. Please note, this doesn’t mean that every bit of world creation you do will end up in your novel. Sometimes, you create things and they simply exist in the background. Knowing they are there will help you tell your story better, though.
If your world is entirely different from the “real world,” then you have some work to do. I highly recommend using World Anvil or the Reedsy Studio tools. Both give you the opportunity to create boards and cards, which are basically online sticky notes you can refer to while writing. When I was creating the near-real world for my vampire novels, I made all of my notes in World Anvil, and kept track of all the plot points there, as well. Reedsy offers similar options, though it isn’t quite as visual. Trello also allows you to create lists and cards to help you organize your world.
There are layers that you will need to understand, if you want your readers to become thoroughly engaged in your world. If you’re using magic, it needs to have at least a passing connection with reality. How does the energy for magic work? Does everyone do it? Is it a genetic thing, or an issue of studying? Are there places magic works better or worse?
Writing science fiction is similar, and yet entirely different. If you want to grab the attention of science fiction readers, your science must have a thorough grounding in real, actual science. Your spaceship has to behave like a spaceship traveling through space. Your ray guns have to behave in a way consistent with how energy works in our real world. You don’t have to have all the math figured out for your advanced society, but you do need to know where it comes from, and a general timeline of how you got from here to there.
On top of all this world creation and note taking, you have to remember to sit down and write. This is probably the most difficult part of writing fiction, at least in my opinion. Creating worlds is a ton of fun. You can play with making maps, making races and cultures, languages, rituals and religions, and so much more. It’s easy to get caught up in all the tiny details that make a fictional world seem real. While it’s necessary to have a certain level of depth of understanding, you also can’t let that take over your writing.
With my vampire novels, I attempted to keep this curbed by only creating a little bit more than I actually needed. I knew my world was physically like the real one, so I didn’t need to create anything at the map level. Vancouver, BC is where it takes place, and I can look up Google Maps to fill in any holes. I paid more attention to the magic and blood sucking characteristics of my characters and world. As an example, in trying to figure out how many vampires were living in the greater Vancouver area, I had to know how much blood a single vampire needed in order to survive, and how often. From there, I checked it against the population of the area in question, and came up with a sustainable number. It’s one of those stupid little details that no one would normally ask about, but that I needed to have available to me.
It’s hard to find that balance between research and writing. With fiction writing, you have the undeniable lure of creating a whole world, or even a universe, but it comes at the cost of losing writing time for your story. With non-fiction writing, it’s even more of a balancing game. It’s important to research fully and thoroughly, and to be able to back up any facts you present, but you can’t ignore the work itself. There’s no magic formula for making this work. You just have to feel your way through it, and figure out what works best for you.
Go forth and create, writers and authors! But remember to write as well as create, okay?
Mentioned in this lesson: Homework for the week:
As an example, in the historical fiction I’m writing based on my grandmother’s life, the world of the book is a world based almost 100% on 1940s Scotland. There’s no magic, no science fiction gadgets, and nothing other than the things that would have been available at the time. In creating the world for my fictional grandmother to travel in, I had to create a home for her based on what existed in Aberdeen during the time I was writing about, but it also had to be fictional enough that I wasn’t risking exposing someone’s real home. I also had to be familiar enough with the real world of 1940s Aberdeen that I could write authoritatively about it.
If your world is “reality adjacent,” meaning the physical world is the same or similar but the rules are different (more or future science, for example, or people have magical abilities), you have to know what the differences are. The more detail you go into, the more realistic your world will seem. Please note, this doesn’t mean that every bit of world creation you do will end up in your novel. Sometimes, you create things and they simply exist in the background. Knowing they are there will help you tell your story better, though.
If your world is entirely different from the “real world,” then you have some work to do. I highly recommend using World Anvil or the Reedsy Studio tools. Both give you the opportunity to create boards and cards, which are basically online sticky notes you can refer to while writing. When I was creating the near-real world for my vampire novels, I made all of my notes in World Anvil, and kept track of all the plot points there, as well. Reedsy offers similar options, though it isn’t quite as visual. Trello also allows you to create lists and cards to help you organize your world.
There are layers that you will need to understand, if you want your readers to become thoroughly engaged in your world. If you’re using magic, it needs to have at least a passing connection with reality. How does the energy for magic work? Does everyone do it? Is it a genetic thing, or an issue of studying? Are there places magic works better or worse?
Writing science fiction is similar, and yet entirely different. If you want to grab the attention of science fiction readers, your science must have a thorough grounding in real, actual science. Your spaceship has to behave like a spaceship traveling through space. Your ray guns have to behave in a way consistent with how energy works in our real world. You don’t have to have all the math figured out for your advanced society, but you do need to know where it comes from, and a general timeline of how you got from here to there.
On top of all this world creation and note taking, you have to remember to sit down and write. This is probably the most difficult part of writing fiction, at least in my opinion. Creating worlds is a ton of fun. You can play with making maps, making races and cultures, languages, rituals and religions, and so much more. It’s easy to get caught up in all the tiny details that make a fictional world seem real. While it’s necessary to have a certain level of depth of understanding, you also can’t let that take over your writing.
With my vampire novels, I attempted to keep this curbed by only creating a little bit more than I actually needed. I knew my world was physically like the real one, so I didn’t need to create anything at the map level. Vancouver, BC is where it takes place, and I can look up Google Maps to fill in any holes. I paid more attention to the magic and blood sucking characteristics of my characters and world. As an example, in trying to figure out how many vampires were living in the greater Vancouver area, I had to know how much blood a single vampire needed in order to survive, and how often. From there, I checked it against the population of the area in question, and came up with a sustainable number. It’s one of those stupid little details that no one would normally ask about, but that I needed to have available to me.
It’s hard to find that balance between research and writing. With fiction writing, you have the undeniable lure of creating a whole world, or even a universe, but it comes at the cost of losing writing time for your story. With non-fiction writing, it’s even more of a balancing game. It’s important to research fully and thoroughly, and to be able to back up any facts you present, but you can’t ignore the work itself. There’s no magic formula for making this work. You just have to feel your way through it, and figure out what works best for you.
Go forth and create, writers and authors! But remember to write as well as create, okay?
Mentioned in this lesson: Homework for the week:
- Spend no more than 30 minutes making notes about the world your characters are living in.
