World Building for Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: Start with Questions

Welcome to World Building for Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors

A Craft and Fandom Series

Start with Questions

One of my favorite parts of writing science fiction and fantasy is idea generation through questions.

These questions always start with the basic questions and build from there.

For example: 

A Group of Fantasy Questions Based on a Vase of Fake Flowers on my Desk:

• What if the flowers on my desk were home to a particular species of tiny dragons? 
• What if these flowers were picked by an unsuspecting human from an fairy dragon preserve hidden alongside a farm? 
• What if the tiny dragons are then seen by a human child? 
• Will the laws of fairy and human be at risk? What are those laws? 
• Why would fairy dragons hide from humans? Why would they live anywhere near them? 
• Will the human child need to help the dragons? Will the dragons help the child? 
• What kind of trouble could they get into if the tiny dragons and the human child become friends? This is presuming the tiny dragons can communicate with the human child. 

A Group of Science Fiction Questions Based on the Dark Outside my Window as I Write:

• What if aliens crash-landed and are camped out in the wooded area behind my house?
• Why would aliens actually want to camp behind my house? 
• Would I ever interact with them? What would that look like? Okay, maybe I'm too boring of a subject for alien interaction, but what if...the aliens decided to camp out and do some human research on a familial unit they thought was stereotypical, but then it turned out the familial unit was actually a group of criminal masterminds living together to disguise their nefarious deeds? 
• What nefarious deeds? I'm not sure yet. 
• What if the aliens decided to "help" the subjects of their studies with the unknown nefarious deeds? Would they help/hinder/cause humorous havoc? 
• How would alien technology and human technology mix?

My first tip for World Building for Science Fiction and Fantasy is to generate lists of questions. Use the basic questions we're all familiar with and build on them.

What

What if

Where

When

Why

How

Repeat, and continue the idea generation with questions about the answers found for the first set of questions. 

Exercise #1 Start with Questions for World-Building

Ask yourself a question based on something you can see/interact with in your immediate surroundings mixed with something outlandish, fantastical, magical, technological, science fiction-based, or alien-based. Try for at least seven questions, all building on the first one.

Yes, this can lead you to write ideas like mine above which are a mix of real world and fantasy or science fiction. However, we'll change this up with Exercise #2.

Do not panic if some of your ideas feel like tropes the first time around. It's okay. 

First, tropes are useful. 

Second, tropes can be bent and reshaped into something new as you continue to ask questions.

Exercise #2 Rewind and Twist the Questions

Go back through your list of questions. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What if I change my initial setting? 
• Where else can this take place?
• When else can this take place?
• What is the most important element of this idea? (The interaction, the magic, the tech, the characters?)
• Do I want to age up or age down my initial character ideas, if I have some?
• If I have a trope, how can I twist it to make it fresh?
• What tone do I want to use for this idea? (Serious, humorous, dramatic, adventurous, romantic, etc)
• What do I like about the idea forming so far? What don't I like?

Note: If you don't like any of the ideas so far, go back to exercise #1 and start again. Don't waste too much time on the initial idea unless you love it. Each of these exercises should take less than 15 minutes, ideally, until you land on something that really gels, or you just find yourself itching to start the story or ask more questions. 

Do you have any questions?

Ideas for idea generation?

Please let me know in the comments. I'm building this series of posts with the hope of turning them into a World Building Guide at some future date. 

 

A to Z: R

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

R

Raithan – a Drinaii Captain, loyal to Kalidess

Rhodri Betern – a law-giver apprentice turned Triple apprentice to the Triune Halls

Ryan – first prince of Aerland, brother to Adrian, son of Gwen and Hal

Rrysorria – a kingdom to the North of Aerland, bordered by the Western Coast and the kingdom of Wylandria to the East, and the Bitter Sea in the North

 

 

World Building Thought/Question: Does religion/belief play a part in the world of your story?

 

 

We all believe in something. All of us. We may not agree with each other's beliefs, but we all have a belief that shapes the way that we think, act, and speak. Religion has been a driving force behind most of our world's cultures. It makes sense to have your characters believe in something, whether it's a formal religious practice, or a way of thinking about the world.

 

 

A to Z: Quickly

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

Q

Quenten – a Rrysorrian sent to spy on Lord Uorsin and Shepherd Bujeni – ambassadors from Rrysorria to the Allied Council

Quim – Perren Hawksmith’s nephew and apprentice

 

 

World Building Thought/Question: How quickly do you pace world building information within your plot? Do you spend paragraphs to pages describing the world and the people within it, or do you just drop hints along the way? Or do you fall somewhere in between those two methods?

 

As a reader, I'm a fan of hints of information with a few small paragraph chunks of world building within the action of the plot. So, as a writer, I've tried to do the same. Despite the clunkiness of this glossary, I don't download all this information on the reader in page-length descriptions. Just a little hint is given as my characters run about their business. :)

 

 

A to Z: Politics

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

P

Perren Hawksmith – Royal Falconer of Rrysorria

Petar – a young Lord of Rrysorria, Lady Deredi’s son

 

World Building Thought/Question: Do politics matter?

 

I touched on this with letter "j," but I wanted to mention it again. Politics and the way that people govern themselves matter in books that we write - whether we are working on the "politics" within a group of friends, or world "politics."

Addendum added late: By politics, I don't necessarily mean American type politics or even political structures of government - it can be that, or the kind of government you find in a group of teens - who's the leader, who's the follower, are their two leaders butting heads? Peer pressure? Politics on the large and small scale.

 

In different countries within Aramatir, there are slightly different political structures. Perren Hawksmith, although not a noble, is the highest ranking person in the Royal Mews of Rysorria, and there, he can even give orders to his King. This causes him a few issues with some of the nobles who think that he's trained their birds to pelt them with hawk chalk. :)

A To Z: O

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

O

Odran – A member of the Watch Guard, has an osprey named Louras.

World Building Thought/Question: How much does the world outside of your main character's home affect your character and her/his journey?

From the very first short story rendition of Champion in the Darkness called "The Crystal Sword," my main character, Clara, took up her sword of power to help defend her country against other influences. As the story grew into a novel that grew into a trilogy, more of the "outside" world came into play. Clara meets people from other cultures, including members of the secretive Watch Guard like Odran. These meetings encourage Clara, or challenge her.

A to Z: N

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

N

Nagi – snake-women created by the Dark Sisterhood

Nelson – A Sword Teacher and member of the Sword Council

 

World Building Question and Thoughts: Is your character headed North by Northeast? or North by Northwest? Do you know? Does it matter?

 

Yes, it does. Just as I mentioned yesterday in my post on the necessity of maps, knowing the direction of your character's travels and where things are located in comparison to your character is important. Trust me, if you don't know your North from your South in your book, a reader will point it out to you later and it's . . . extremely embarrassing. And sometimes, if you've written multiple drafts, and you are 70,000 words into your draft, you can become lost. Or at least, I did.

 

Use a map, know your North compass point, and you will be a happier writer. Where is your character headed?

Dragonfold and Other Adventures, my fantasy and scifi short story and poetry collection, is free today for kindle readers!

A to Z: M

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

M

Maedess – Kalidess’s sister and a member of the Dark Sisterhood, failed to take Wylandria

Mermaids/Mermen/Mer-creatures – an army of sea creatures created by the Dark Sisterhood

Mina – an assassin in the employ of King Alexandros

Mochant – a land that parallels the Grandan River which winds between Septily, Rryrsorria, Wylandria and parts of Aerland into the Wild Beyond (Carpthia?) – aaagh!!! (must change! Or figure out how to fix)

 

World Building Thoughts: Having a clear map of your world is extremely important. Keeping it in front of you while you write is necessary. See my crazy notes under the heading of "Mochant." I realized after I had written my first book, and after it was in the hands of readers for several months, that Mochant is not sitting in the right place for the events in the story. Oops. Mochant is actually supposed to be a group of island city-states in a sea. Somehow my sea became a river, and it winds around lands in a way that doesn't quite work geographically.

 

Do you have a map of the world you are creating? Even if you are working with a real world location, I highly recommend having a map. I've read too many books and seen too many TV shows where the locations were "off" in places I know - Portland, Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest in general. Learn from the my mistakes and the mistakes of others: Make a map or get a map!

 

 

A to L: L

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

L

Lazi – lizard creatures of the Dark Sisterhood

Liness – member of the Dark Sisterhood Coven, and caretaker of the Lazi

Liam – 13^th Prince of Wylandria, and last bearer of the Swan Prince curse

Louras – the osprey bonded to Odran of the Watch Guard

World Building Thoughts: Building layers into the fictional world gives it authenticity for the reader. Using legends or fairy tales from the real world and blending them into the landscape of the book world is one way to create layers.

For example, in Champion in Flight (and mentioned in Champion in the Darkness), there are thirteen princes who were under curse - forced to live as swans by day and men at night until their sister freed them from the curse by sewing shirts from aster flowers. The youngest prince, Liam, still bears the curse, partially. It's all based on a fairy tale I love, but then taken and re-set in the world of Aramatir, with the Dark Sisterhood lurking in the background.

How do you build layers into your stories? Do you use legends or fairy tales to do it?  

A to Z: K

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

K

Kalidess – the lead sorceress of the Dark Sisterhood

Kassa – First Princess of Rrysorria, sister to King Stephen and Princess Tessa

Kestran – a Wylandrian Prince, brother to Liam

Klyan – a griffin of Aerland, and Kryssander’s twin (also, the name of their father, Klyan the Bold)

Kryssander – a griffin of Aerland, member of the 12^th Wing, and partner to Prince Adrian, twin of Klyan

Krysta – wife of Klyan the Bold, and mother to the twins Klyan and Kryssander, a griffin of Aerland

 

World Building Thought: Similar-sounding names for twins or family groups can be a killer to manage.

 

I know I'm stretching the "K" letter here, but I just have to say it, especially when I look at this list.  

I have Klyan, Kryssander, and Krysta here - three family members with K names. I managed to swap Klyan and Kryssander's names around for an entire chapter during my second draft of Champion in Flight - and it was painful to fix. To make mattes worse, Klyan is named after his father . . . which makes it a killer to keep them separate.

 

So, from me to you, I urge you, encourage you, plead with you - don't do family names that all start with the same letter. And the junior and senior thing should be avoided at all costs, unless there is a point to be made with it.

 

 

A to Z: J

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

J

Jazeen - a Sword Apprentice with a grudge against Clara

Jennar  - a Drinaii mercenary captain who knows Stelia

Jennas – a member of the Dark Sisterhood Coven, and care-taker of the howlers, also the sister of Jennar

Jerred – the twelfth Wylandrian prince, and brother to Liam

Jordan – Master Shepherd of the Triune Halls, and representative of the Shepherds on the Triune Council

Juliay Severn – Clara’s mother, and wife to Farrald, a Sword Scout, has a secret in her past

Jyssan – Commander of the 1^st Wing of Aerland’s Wing forces

 

World Building Question: What does justice mean in the world you are building?

 

Every world or country built by authors has its own rules about justice and governance. Often, we base these on our own experiences, or we base them on what we hope for in our world. It's something to think about. What does it mean to be just in the world you are building? Who deals out "justice" and what does that look like?

 

On this list from my glossary, there are four characters who change sides in the fight between good and evil, and two characters who are responsible for dealing out justice.

A to Z: I

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

I

Icewynne Mountains – A mountain range that runs down the center of the continent, separating Wylandria and Aerland from old Carpthia

Ioway – one of the governors of Septily

Isobel – a noble pranked by Clara and Salene in their training days

Ivailo (wolf) – Commander of the 10^th Wing of Aerland, gray brown hair, beard

 

World Building Question: Are interesting names distracting - especially if they have a meaning attached to them?

 

Ivailo is a name I found through a name search engine. I really liked it, and when I discovered that it meant wolf, I instantly had a better picture for this character. However, he's a minor character and although he interacts with a few of the secondary characters in book 2, I wonder if he's too distracting. I mean, I have a backstory for this guy . . . and he doesn't really need a backstory (so, of course, I don't mention it much in the book).

A to Z: H

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

H

Hal Treyson – ruler of Aerland, and father of Prince Adrian and Prince Ryan

Hadarath – a griffin of Aerland

Hamneth – A Shepherd who trained under Farrald, Clara’s father

Harthan – a Sword Guard on the Sword Council

Helena – a young Shepherd apprentice, who becomes a triple apprentice to the Triune Halls

Heshani – a young griffin scout

Hest  - a former Champion of Septily

Hesten – a young sailor on Captain Gurnsey’s crew

Hestia – a Lady of Aerland, pranked by Clara and Salene in their training days

Hope – a galleon from Destiny Island

Howlers – a magically created hybrid between man and wolf, subject to the Dark Sisterhood

Huldra – a slave linked to Kalidess

Hylos – a Lord of Rrysorria who does not like Wylandrians

 

World Building Question: How do you deal with a character that steals your heart?

 

Helena, a young (age 9) Shepherd apprentice, stole my heart in Champion in the Darkness. I didn't expect her to. I thought she would be a minor character that came and went in two chapters. But then, she kept coming forward in my imagination, so I gave her a little more and then a little more. She hasn't had any POV chapters, but . . . it's been a close call.  

 

Minor spoiler alert: Helena is one of several characters that I'm considering giving a series of their own. In fact, with Helena, I even have a brief outline for three novella length stories: Healer's Challenge, Healer's Hope, and Healer's Purpose. (all titles subject to change, of course).

 

 

 

 

A to Z: G, Global World Building and Upcoming Giveaways!

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts


G

Galen- Winnifred’s older brother, and Cork’s cousin, Rrysorrian

Garson – A Drinaii mercenary in Kalidess’s personal service

Geoffrey – one of the Wylandrian princes

Gerdun – a Master Law-Giver of Septily and member of the Triune Council

Glythan – Ambassador of Aerland

Grandan River (mentioned in chapter 16 of book 1 with Mochant – and needs to be fixed)

Greymount Castle – once the seat of power in Wylandrian and the capital

Gray, Lord – one of the governors of Septily, of the Desert province, and Salene’s father

Green Hall – the legendary throne room of King Wilstorm, first king of Septily, buried under the new city of Skycliff

Gren  - a slave linked to Kalidess

Gurnsey, James – Captain of a Cog in Book 1, and a Galleon in Book 1, husband of Evalyn

 

Gwen Treyson – of Aerland, ruler of Aerland, mother of Prince Adrian and Prince Ryan

World Building Question: Do you build globally when you build the world for your book?

This is an area I struggled with for The Champion Trilogy. It all started so simply, and then I realized I needed to understand the history of the country of Septily, and then I needed to understand Septily's relationship with other countries. And after that, I felt like I needed to name the "world," although in these books, only two continents, one large island, and an island chain are the setting. Only . . . ha!

And I planned to have a giveaway today, but I seem to be having some tech issues with kindle - I tried to edit a previously planned giveaway, but I seem to be stuck on the dates previously set. Look for Dragonfold and Other Adventures on April 15th and 16th, and Champion in the Darkness in May - hopefully after my second book is out.

A to Z: F

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

F

Faith – Queen of Rrysorria, and Princess of Wylandria, married to King Stephen Merdreni of Rrysorria, and sister to 13 brothers (including Liam) – all princes of Wylandria.

Far Isles – a string of islands South and West of Destiny Island in the Western Sea

Farrald Severn – Clara’s father, Shepherd Teacher

Ferris – a former Champion of Septily

 

World Building Question for the Day: How do you find place names?

 

Sadly, as you may note in my list above, the Far Isles are named for their location. They are "far" away from Septily . . . think about the distance of the Pacific Coast of the United States to Hawai'i. However, when I named them I just couldn't seem to think of a good name so they became the "Far" Isles. And I never changed it.  I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe, they will get their own name in book 3, at least if Evalyn (from yesterday's list) ever gets a say in the matter. She might just have to tell everyone that "actually, in their native language the name of the Island chain is ____" 

 

Since my first book, I have been researching place names and making lists of the ones that I like best or that I think will fit in my books. What do you do?

A to Z: E for Every?

The A to Z Challenge is underway this year, thanks to the awesome hosts and minions. Special thanks to Arlee Bird for starting this amazing blogging challenge!!! For more information about this challenge, go to the website!

Primary theme: World of Aramatir (Setting for The Champion Trilogy) Glossary
Secondary Theme: World-Building Questions and Thoughts

E

Edgar – an eagle owl in the care of Taylor, Perren’s nephew

Elar – the first Champion of Septily

Evalyn – wife of Captain Gursney, under a curse from the Dark Sisterhood

 

World Building Thought and Question: Should every character have a name, even the birds in the care of minor characters?

 

I'm not sure that they should, but yet I have to keep track of the minor characters and their charges somehow, so I stick them in the glossary. Edgar gets a mention in one chapter. He may or may not show up in book 3. If he does, it will be another minor mention. And yet, I don't want to forget his name. What if I need to remember it? So, there it is.

Even the birds have names . . . which might make be a bit of an over-world-builder.

World Building and the Universal Worlds Problem - Guest Post by M Pax!

Please Welcome, M Pax, author extraordinaire!

 

Tyrean and I are switching blogs today... Thanks for letting me borrow yours, Tyrean. The view over here is awesome. A change of scenery is always nice...

Which is why I write about other worlds... whether out in the galaxy, magically hidden here on Earth, or just plain made up. Other worlds in the galaxy seems to be my favorite, though.

A few issues in reality have formed my creation of worlds in the Backworlds series. First, traveling long distances in space... Voyager I is finally about to leave our solar system. It launched in 1977.

Even if we develop faster than light speed or light speed capability, we have no idea what’s out there, and there are probably very few worlds exactly like ours.

So, in the Backworlds, humanity has only spread out farther in the Orion arm of the galaxy and hasn’t gone very far yet in my books, relatively speaking. They use a roadway — the Lepper — that accelerates speed between stars, but they don’t arrive instantly. It still takes days, weeks, or longer – depending on the distance.

People are so well adapted to Earth, that it’d be tough for humans to live and thrive elsewhere. Even if a planet was very similar in atmosphere to Earth, the gravity may not be, and that can be a real sticking point.

In the Backworlds, I figured it’d be easier to adapt ourselves through genetic manipulation to thrive on new worlds than to terraform planets. We can’t even manage our own planet, so I don’t see it as likely that we’ll be able to manage another’s. It’s more efficient and seems like it’d be less work to change the people. That’s what I did in the Backworlds

 The first wave of modified humans, the Foreworlders, were the most like Earth humans and settled world most like our own. The Backworlders were created later, basically because they have more modifications, and were made to settle less Earth-like worlds. After all, there are more planets not like ours than like ours. And we’re pretty good at adapting. So I think that’s what we’d do.

 What do you think? Do you think we’ll ever settle a world beyond Earth?

 

Yes!!! (Just had to throw my two cents in here) Thanks for the awesome post, M Pax!!!

 

If you would like to learn about my own messed up journey with world building and language, come join me at M Pax's blog for a bit about Babel Fish.

 

 

M Pax recently released the third book in her Backworlds series, Boomtown Craze! Check out the Backworlds and take a trip into the wild unknown with Craze, a reluctant hero with a heart of gold!  

M. Pax is author of the sci-fi series, The Backworlds, and the new adult contemporary fantasy The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. A Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.

Website / Blog ~ Twitter ~ FB ~ Goodreads

You can also find M. Pax on LinkedIN, Pinterest, YouTube, and Wattpad

You can try the first book in the series, The Backworlds, for free. All formats for all ereaders and now in paperback (not free). LINKS

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Other Outlets can be found at http://mpaxauthor.com

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?

Want a chance at a free ebook? Just come up with a crazy combo, ie, a dainty flower that devours people, leave your reply either HERE or HERE.