In the simplest of terms, instead of detailing different countries, you may be more concerned with different planets. Likewise, instead of magic, you’ll probably want to focus more on technology. The sorts of questions you need to consider will vary greatly depending on the type of science fiction you are writing, but here are a few to get you started.

Questions about Science and Technology

• How has technological development affected daily life?
• What technology is used for communication? Entertainment? Daily travel?
• How accessible is technology? Does everyone have access to it or only the wealthy?
• Are there any technological or scientific advancements that are forbidden?
• Is AI commonplace? If so, does it have a specific purpose? Or is there different AI for different tasks? Is there any danger of AI becoming self-aware?

When thinking about the wider universe, it may be worth considering the questions posed in Land and Animals, and Countries, but with a broader scope. If your story deals with multiple planets, then you’ll need to understand how each planet functions and how they differ from each other.

Questions about Planets

• How many planets are in the solar system?
• Are all the planets habitable? How many are inhabited? And by whom?
• What is the atmosphere like? How much gravity is there?
• Does the planet produce nutrients that your dominant race can consume? If not, where do they get their nutrition?

Once you know how many planets are relevant to your story and how they function, you’ll need to address how people travel between them and how they deal with any life found on those planets. If you plan to develop alien races, it may be helpful to first look at life on Earth. Knowing what life has already evolved to do can be a great guideline to follow.

Questions about Space Travel and Aliens

• Is space travel possible? If so, what means are used?
• Is space travel a recent development or has this civilization being doing it for a while?
• If they’ve been doing it for a while, how has it evolved over the years?
• Can anyone space travel or do certain requirements need to be met? If so, what are the requirements?
• Are there alien life forms? How are they dealt with? Are they enemies or allies?

How deep you delve into the science and technology aspects of your world is up to you, as is how realistic those aspects are. If your goal is for the science and technology to be based in fact, make sure you do the research to back it up. Researching the most prominent fields of your story will not only help make it more realistic but can help take it to the next level. Otherwise remember that internal consistency, a strong plot, and well-rounded characters can carry you to other planets.

Are there any science fiction specific worldbuilding questions you like to consider? If so, let me know in the comments.

The post How to Go About Science Fiction Worldbuilding appeared first on Clovis Editorial.

Obviously worldbuilding magic doesn’t apply to all speculative fiction stories. In fact, it doesn’t even apply to all fantasy stories, but if your story does have magical elements it’s important to explore the many ways magic will impact not just the environmental aspects of the world but the cultural and societal ones as well.

There are so many things you can do with magic. The possibilities are as limitless as your imagination. This is part of the reason it’s so important to ask questions and develop your magic system before beginning to write your story in earnest. Creating rules and boundaries for what the magic of your world can do will help direct your story and provide additional challenges for your characters.

Questions about What Magic Is

• How does society define magic? Is their definition correct?
• Where does magic come from? Was it created by the god(s)? Is it drawn from the earth or the elements? Does it come from inside the user?
• Is there more than one type of magic? If so, are the different types compatible?
• How common is magic?

Once you have a better idea of what your magic is and where it comes from, you can start to think about who can use that magic and how it can be used. If everyone can use magic, then being a wielder is probably not very remarkable. But if only certain people can use it, then you’ll need some guidelines about who those people are and what makes them different from everybody else.

Questions about Magic Users

• Who can use magic? Why?
• How does one learn how to use magic? Is magic use taught or is it intuitive? Is it difficult to learn?
• Are some people naturally better (or worse) at using magic than others? If so, why? Are there some people who can never use magic? If so, why?
• Are people born with magical abilities or are those abilities something that can be gained? Can someone lose the ability to use magic? If so, how?
• How is magic used? Does it involve a verbal spell, a potion, a hand gesture, or something else? Can objects be enchanted? If so, how long does an enchantment last? And why?
• What does using magic feel like? Is magic affected by the user’s mental or physical state? Is magic affected or impeded by the use of drugs or alcohol?

While it’s great to know what magic can do, it’s also important to define what magic can’t do and what the consequences of using magic are. Pinning down the limitations of your world’s magic system will contribute to the believability of your story. It will also provide another way for you to challenge your characters and create tension.

Questions about the Limitations and Consequences of Magic

• What can’t magic do? Why?
• Is there anything that magic can do but that is forbidden? Why is it forbidden, and what happens if someone does it anyway?
• Can a spell or magical effect be prevented or redirected? If so, how?
• Can a person run out of magic? If so, what happens?
• What is the cost or consequence of using magic? Does it use up a person’s energy? Can they only do so much before needing to rest? Are there physical or mental drawbacks?
• When does this consequence take effect? Right after casting, within an hour or a day, randomly throughout their lives?
• Is there any way to avoid the consequences? If so, how?

Another thing you’ll want to think about while creating your magic system is how society treats magic and magic users, and why. If magic is an accepted part of society, then how has that society developed to embrace magic? On the flip side, if society is wary of magic, how does that wariness present itself?

If your story has many cultures, you may want to address these questions from each different perspective as they won’t necessarily be the same.

How do you develop the magic systems in your writing? And how do you incorporate magic into the rest of your worldbuilding? Let me know in the comments.

The post How to Go About Worldbuilding Magic appeared first on Clovis Editorial.

There are many stories where religion is the most important aspect of worldbuilding, but there are just as many (if not more) stories where religion plays little to no role. Even if religion isn’t the focus of your story, chances are it does exist within the world you’ve created. That’s why I believe it’s worth thinking about even if your characters aren’t religious, because if there is a religion in the world, it will impact how society and individuals behave.

Questions about Religion

• Is religion common? Do many people practice religion? And do they do so openly or in private?
• How does religion fit into society? In what ways does it contribute to society? Is religion separate from government or are they intricately linked?
• How do religions view non-believers? How do they view people of different faiths? Are inter-faith marriages tolerated, and how are they viewed both by individual religions and by society?
• Are any of the religions in conflict with each other? How does this conflict manifest? If the gods truly exist, are any of them in conflict with each other?
• Where is the religion practiced? Worldwide? In specific countries? In remote regions of specific countries?

If your story is more focused on religion or it interacts with religion to a higher degree, you may find that you need to know a bit more about how the religion in question functions and what the beliefs are. The following set of questions will help kick start the creation of a specific religion and delve deeper into why it functions the way it does.

Questions about Each Specific Religion

• How did the religion begin?
• What is the religion called? What are its followers called? Does it have a clergy? What are the various roles called?
• How many gods does it have? Which are the major ones? Do they actually exist? Do they interact with the world and to what degree? Why are the gods interested in people? Is there anything the gods can’t or won’t do?
• What are the main beliefs or tenets of the religion? What are its major holidays? How does it handle specific life moments such as births, deaths, marriages, and coming of age?
• How do the followers worship their gods or express their faith?
• What do they believe happens after death? Is this only for those of faith, or is this what happens to everyone? Can an individual impact what happens to them after death?
• How does the religion explain the creation of the universe? How does it explain evil? What is the religion’s definition of sin? Can one atone for sinning, and if so, how?
• What are the religions thoughts on the following topics: morality, murder, suicide, alcohol and drug use, homosexuality, gender roles, the family unit, marriage, intercourse, and contraception.

Final Thoughts

Once you’ve gone through and answered all these questions, and whichever ones spring to mind while you’re working away, don’t forget that I’ve left out the most important question of all: Why? As far as religions are concerned the whys can be on the ambiguous side. After all, religions are built on faith, not necessarily fact, so not all the rituals and practices have to make complete sense (especially if the religion is very old and has changed over the centuries).

Are there any other questions about religion that you think are important to consider in the early stages of worldbuilding? Let me know in the comments.

The post How to Go About Worldbuilding Religion appeared first on Clovis Editorial.

Customs and Daily Life is arguably one of the most important aspects of worldbuilding because regardless of where your story takes place (whether in an overcrowded city, a small town, or travelling through the unknown), the customs and habits of your characters are going to impact their actions. If you have characters coming together from different cultures, they are obviously going to do some very basic things quite differently. This could be a cause of conflict among them, or learning their differences could be something that brings them together.

Questions about Customs

• Do they celebrate life events? If so, which ones. Births and birthdays? Coming of age? Marriages? What do these celebrations look like?
• Are there festivals or holidays? What are they for, why are they celebrated, and what does the celebration look like?
• What happens when someone dies? How do they deal with the body? Why? Are people in mourning treated differently? How do people mourn?
• What constitutes good manners? Does this differ between races, classes, or countries? Are good manners important? What types of behaviour is considered improper?
• How do people wash themselves? How often does the average person bathe?

Most of those questions about establishing the customs of your world are fairly large, but remember customs can be very small. Small customs are really just habits. For example, in my house the custom is to take off your shoes when you come inside. This means taking off my shoes when going inside is a habit for me, so when I go to someone else’s house I have to consciously check what their custom is. These sorts of habits will manifest in your characters too, so keep that in mind as you go through the daily life questions. This section is less about answering these questions (there’s a lot of them) and more about considering how the answers impact the characters’ behaviours.

Questions about Daily Life

Time:

• Is there one calendar that the whole world follows or is the calendar different depending on the country (or race)?
• How long is a year, a month, a week, a day? Are they called a year, month, week, and day, or are different terms used?
• How do people tell time (sundials, bells, clocks, watches)?

Infrastructure:

• How do people travel?
• Does society build and maintain roads (if so, who does it?) or do they form naturally from the constant use of a pathway
• How is garbage and bodily waste dealt with?
• Is there a plumbing system? Who maintains it?

Work:

• What are the most common ways to make a living?
• How often do people work and for how long each day?
• How are people compensated for their work?

Education:

• How well educated is the average person?
• What is the average literacy level?
• How do people learn?
• Is there an organized education system? Who runs it?
• Is a formal education mandatory? Is it free? At what age is a person required to attend?

Family:

• What constitutes an average family unit?
• How important is family?
• Who raises the children and why?
• What sort of hierarchy exists within a family unit, and why?
• Do people get to choose who they marry?
• Is marriage common?

Interactions:

• How do people greet each other? Why?
• Do people use different gestures or sayings depending on whether they’re greeting a friend or stranger?
• In a group of people, who is introduced first? Who takes a seat or walks through a doorway first?
• Does this society use a lot of body language?
• Are there gestures that are considered insulting? Why?
• Are there gestures that convey respect?
• How are guests treated?

Food:

• What do they eat?
• Which foods and drinks are considered staples and which are for special occasions only?
• How do they eat (With utensils? What kind? As a family or on their own)?
• How often do they eat?
• Are some meals more substantial than others?
• Do different classes, countries, or races favour different flavours?
• How is food preserved for the off-season?
• Is there anything people are not allowed to eat? Why?

Clothing:

• What do people wear? Does it differ between gender, class, or race?
• Is clothing expensive?
• Where does the material come from?
• Does the average person accessorize? In what way?
• Is it common for people to carry weapons?

Final Thoughts

I know you already have a ton of worldbuilding things to think about, but it’s worth noting that when writing about a place that has, at any point, been conquered or occupied by another culture there will be crossovers between the two cultures. There will be a muddling of customs that may at first seem quite illogical. So have fun with it. Give your cultures some quirks. And remember these details can change the shape of your story because they provide the backbone of your characters and societies motivations and opinions.

There are so many good questions to be asked about customs and daily life that there is no possible way I’ve got them all here. Are there any questions I’ve missed about aspects of worldbuilding customs that you find helpful to ask at this stage? Let me know in the comments.

The post How to Go About Worldbuilding Customs and Daily Life appeared first on Clovis Editorial.

If you have a rough map of the major landscape features, then it’ll be a bit easier to figure out where people can live. Because obviously if your world has an impenetrable forest full of hungry dragons, there probably isn’t going to be a human city right next to it. Or if there is, there’s got to be a very good reason for it. It will also definitely impact how that society functions.

Establishing where your countries are situated within the world is only the very beginning of this topic. How each country is structured and run goes a long way toward setting the atmosphere or mood of your book. It is important to make sure the places your characters live or visit contribute to the story you are trying to tell. A good place to start when creating a country is with its history.

Questions about History

• Why did people settle there? Were they the first people to settle there or did they colonize the land?
• How did the country end up in its current state?
• What is the population of the country? How does this compare to the population of the world?
• Have there been any conflicts (between classes, races, countries, etc) for which there are still hard feelings?
• Have there been any events of note in recent history?

Depending on the purpose of your story, you can either delve deep into worldbuilding your countries or skim the surface. If you’re writing a character driven novel where the characters never leave their town of fifty people then how the countries are run doesn’t matter so much. But if you’re writing high fantasy where the main character’s only goal is to take down the oppressive government, then obviously the reader is going to need to know what’s so bad about that government.

Questions about Government and Politics

• How is a country’s power measured? (Money, number of magic wielders, size of the army?)
• Who gives the orders and how did they get that power?
• How does a person advance their status? And how much resistance will they face trying to do so?
• Who can be a citizen? What rights and responsibilities does being a citizen entail? Is there any group that is less likely to be granted citizenship or who has fewer rights than the average citizen? If so, why?
• What services does the government provide? (Courts, schools, armies?)
• What controversial political issues are being dealt with at present in this country?

Once you have a better understanding of how the different countries in your world function, you should be able to figure out if those countries speak the same language. Knowing where each country is in relation to the others and understanding what connects them will help determine how closely related their languages are.

If you are really eager, you can go ahead and develop full languages for each of your countries. But let’s be honest here, that’s a little on the ambitious side. Also, it would probably take longer than writing the actual book. Instead, you should consider some basic questions about language and then use some tricks to let your reader know other languages are being spoken.

Questions about Language

• How many languages are there? Which ones come from the same roots?
• Is there a common language used for trade agreements and the like?
• Is it common to be bilingual (or multilingual)?
• Are there slang terms or variations in speech patterns between the classes? Between regions?
• Are there different languages for different races regardless of location?
• Are there words or phrases that are frowned on? Or that are only meant to be used in certain circumstances like at a ceremony?

So now that you’ve considered these questions, here are some very basic tricks (so basic that I probably don’t have to tell them to you, but I’m going to anyway) to help you navigate using multiple languages in your novel. You can have a bilingual (or multilingual) character who can translate for the protagonist. You can use a different font or italics to indicate to the reader that a translation is happening. Or you can create a few words in the other language to use throughout the book.

How far you go into developing your countries and languages is up to you and should be proportional to your story needs. These are easy topics to get lost in, so remember the goal is to write a book, worldbuilding is simply a step toward that goal.

Are there any other questions about the various countries in your world that you think are important to consider in the early stages of worldbuilding? Let me know in the comments.

The post How to Go About Worldbuilding Countries appeared first on Clovis Editorial.

When it comes to the land and animals of your world, a great place to start is to think of the environment your characters are in and write down prominent features of the area. Are they in a desert, a forest, an ocean, a mountain, rolling hills, or in a city? Is it hot, cold, wet, dry? If you can pluck out those initial images, you’ll have the first details from which your world can grow.

With those few guiding thoughts in mind, you can start to doodle some very rough maps. The maps don’t have to be pretty: they’re not necessarily going to appear in the book (that is a different decision to be made at a much later time). Scribbling out a map can help solidify the world’s layout in your mind, which in turn will help you write consistent and logical descriptions. It will also help while planning your story because the layout of the land will impact where your characters can and can’t go.

What follows are some questions to help you get more granular with your worldbuilding details.

Questions about Geography and Climate

• How many moons and suns does your world have? How does this impact the weather?
• How much of the world is habitable?
• How much of the world is land and how much is water (or another substance)?
• What are some of the most prominent landscape features? Where are they located? And how do they impact travel?
• How has human activity affected the landscape?

Once you have an understanding of the landscape and weather patterns, you’ll be in a better position to figure out what sorts of animals inhabit that space. Obviously animals that inhabit a cool dry forest are going to be quite different from those in a mountain range. It’s fine if animals don’t play a huge role in your story, but it may be beneficial to jot down some of the more prominent animals your travellers are likely to see or eat.

Questions about Animals

• What are the most common animals in your world?
• Where are these animals most likely to be found?
• Are there any animals in your story’s world that don’t exist in our own?
• If so, what are their basic living requirements? (What do they eat? Where do they live? How much space do they need?) Are they predators or prey?
• Are there any special relationships between animals and the inhabitants of your world?

While we’re on the topic of land and animals, let’s take a moment to consider the world’s plants. Plants have such a huge impact on everyday life and we would be remiss to just skip over them. Plants provide food, medicine, shelter, and clothing to name but a few of their contributions. When building your world don’t forget to consider the role of plants.

Questions about Plants

• What crops are farmers most likely to grow and harvest? What impact does their farming practice have on the environment or the world you’re building?
• What are the most common medicinal plants, and how accessible are they?
• How much does the average person know about which plants are useful (edible, medicinal, poisonous) and which aren’t?
• Are plants ever grown or kept for aesthetic purposes?
• Are the plants of your world at all sentient, magical, or otherwise consciously involved in everyday life?

Making decisions about the land and animals in your world may seem pointless and over the top, but they have a huge impact on your story and characters. Knowing why certain weather patterns occur or why an animal is flourishing to the point of being a pest will help you discover how this affects your characters and plot.

A lot of worldbuilding is figuring out the cause of things so you can determine the effect it will have. Having at least a basic understanding of the geography, climate, plants, and animals can go a long way toward making your world realistic and your story plausible.

Are there any other questions about the land and animals that you think are important to consider in the early stages of worldbuilding? Let me know in the comments.

The post How to Go About Worldbuilding Land and Animals appeared first on Clovis Editorial.

What is Worldbuilding?

When writing in the fantasy and science fiction genres, worldbuilding is a term you will hear often. Worldbuilding refers to the creation of the imaginary world (or imaginary aspects of our world) in which your story takes place. It encompasses every aspect of that world from the environment, to the cultural history of its people, to the laws of science, magic, and humanity (or whatever race you choose to populate your world with). The goal of worldbuilding is to create a place that feels so real to the reader they’ll feel as if they’ve been there.

Why is Worldbuilding so Important?

Sure you can skip the worldbuilding part of writing, but the more you understand about your story’s world, the richer it will be for your readers. Good worldbuilding helps ensure consistency and believability. It also makes your story that much more interesting because the reader isn’t just enjoying a story and getting to know new characters, they’re exploring a whole new place with unfamiliar laws and customs.

Another reason worldbuilding shouldn’t be overlooked is because the reader will wonder about the world even if you don’t. They’ll notice inconsistencies and ask questions about why things are the way they are. A little bit of worldbuilding can go a long way.

Where to Start Worldbuilding?

So how do you go about worldbuilding? As with every aspect of writing there are a hundred or more different approaches. The challenge is to find or create a method that works for you.

It’s easy to get lost in worldbuilding, so remember that it’s not the end goal. Worldbuilding is the back drop of the story you are telling. Ideally you will find a balance in which you know enough about the world to make it real for your readers, but not so much that you get lost in the rabbit hole of creation.

Typically when you are ready to worldbuild it’s because you have a story idea of some variety. This will influence where you start your worldbuilding, and where you start may be different for every story you write. For example, if you have an idea for a great magical show down, then perhaps it’s best to start with how magic works and build everything else around that. If you have an idea about a character having to go on a long quest, maybe you’ll want to start with the geography.

Questions to Get You Started

What follows is a list of five aspects of worldbuilding worth considering and a few questions to get you started. I like to limit my answers to only the relevant areas of the world. So under Countries, I’d only mention aspects of countries my characters are going to visit or that play a crucial role in the story.

Land and Animals:

• What is the climate like in general? What are some common weather patterns? How do those patterns affect the world?
• Are natural disasters common? If so, what sorts?
• What does the landscape look like? How does it vary in a rural setting versus and urban one?
• How is the land used? What are common natural resources?
• What are common animals? How are animals used or treated?

Countries:

• How many countries are there? What are they called?
• How is each country governed?
• Which countries are rivals, which are allies, and which are neutral? Have there been any wars?
• What language do they speak?
• What is their currency?

Customs and Daily Life:

• What do people eat on a daily basis? What about on special occasions?
• Are there common rituals or special events?
• What are their customs, superstitions, and beliefs?
• What sort of education does the average person have?
• How do people spend their spare time?

Religion:

• Is there a religion? Only one, or are there many?
• How prevalent is religion in the daily life of the people?
• Is religion important to any of your main characters? Why or why not?
• Do the gods actually exist? Do the inhabitants know this for certain?
• Are there any major religious holidays?

Magic:

• Is there only one type of magic? How was it created?
• Where does magical energy come from? What is its source?
• How does magic work? Do you have to learn it, is it intuitive, or is it different for different people?
• Who can use magic?
• How does the use of magic affect the person using it?

Whether you like to plan everything before you start writing or fly by the seat of your pants, understanding the different aspects of worldbuilding will help you integrate the necessary information into your writing. Over the next few posts, we will explore in more depth each aspect of worldbuilding I’ve mentioned here.

What’s your worldbuilding strategy? Do you plan all the little details or just make things up as you go? Let me know in the comments.

The post Worldbuilding Basics: What it is and Where to Start appeared first on Clovis Editorial.