Tag: world-building
-
Writing Programs Review: yWriter
As a novelist, something that I’ve learned along the way is the importance of a good writing program. Similar to the reading experience, any tools that a writer can utilize to making writing and keeping track of information will ultimately help keep the creativity flowing. I have most extensively used Google Drive throughout my writing…
-
Setting Study: The Dells from Fire
Although not a particularly rich world, The Dells from Kristin Cashore’s Fire (Graceling Realm #2) touches on many world-building elements that give it a realistic feel. The Dells, set apart from the Graceling Realm by nigh-impassable mountains, has its own unique magic system that comes simply in the form of its so-called monsters. The novel…
-
Setting Study: The Harbor from The Starless Sea
The Harbor from Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea is an interesting place as far as Narnia-esque places go. Set beside the honey-filled titular Starless Sea, the Harbor isn’t exactly one place, but one of many. Set apart from the “real world” by magic doors, it is a place of wonder and beauty. As the years…
-
The Nonsense Factor
When building a new world from scratch, a lot of elements can be determined based off of a pre-existing sense or understanding of the world. I’ve discussed this approach in previous blog posts: start from the known, and work your way out. Know you want a moon deity? Then also know that there’s going to…
-
NaNoWriMo 2019: Setting
It starts next week, guys. The big 50k challenge is right around the corner. I hope at this point that you have a pretty good grasp on your project, whatever it is. But if you’re otherwise finished with plotting and characters, then take advantage of the last week of prepping to flesh out your world…
-
A God’s First Love
An ancient tale of Mesmua, written by Lesedi Ukaleq. Everyone speaks of their gods as if they are something to fear. Truly, what an unfortunate life to live, always afraid of a divine child who tantrums if she does not get the attention she craves. God is not a woman. It is known. He is…
-
July Reading Reflections
Every once in a while, I like to go back to older stories. As the genres change with the passing of time, always in pursuit of originality while fleeing the cliche, it’s important to remember the history of the genre itself, whatever that genre might be. That is, in large part, why I returned to…
-
Time to Plan the Narrative: Building Your Plot pt. 4
In the last three months, we’ve taken some time to figure out the basics of our story through its abstract, as well as discussed what should be taken into consideration when crafting your characters and your world. Now, it’s time to put them all together and create the most fundamental piece of any novel: the…
-
Crafting Your World: Building Your Plot pt. 3
I’m so excited to talk about world-building this week. There is just so much potential when you’re creating your fictional world. You can make mountains bright red or create people who spend half of their time in the skies. Just look at stories like the Wheel of Time or even simply Lord of the Rings…
-
Building Your Plot: An Introduction to Your Abstract
I’ve already confessed (multiple times, admittedly) that my favorite part of writing is the world-building. If I could, I would immerse myself in one world or another and build, build, build. Like Tolkien, I would know the people, their beliefs, their sense of fashion, their ethics, their language, their history. You can, I think, find…
Katie Bachelder 