Incorporating technology and infrastructure enriches fantasy settings. Establish foundational systems, introduce advanced technology, balance magic, and explore societal impacts. Create a living world that engages readers with rich storytelling and character development. This approach adds depth, complexity, and immersion to fantasy settings by examining their societal functions and implications on culture, politics, and daily life.
Tag Archives: writing
World Building (pt 7) – It’s Magic!
This post explores crafting magical systems and fantastical elements in fantasy writing to captivate readers and elevate world building. It discusses defining rules of magic, designing creatures, developing spells and items, balancing magical power, introducing mysteries and secrets, establishing consequences, creating a magical cosmos, and balancing realism and fantasy for a rich and engaging setting.
World Building (pt 6) – Landscapes & Geography
Landscapes and geography play a crucial role in crafting a captivating fictional world. Elements like identifying key geographic features, designing biomes, creating terrain variety, and considering the impact on human settlement and conflicts are essential. Incorporating these features adds depth and richness to the world, resonating with readers and enhancing the storytelling experience.
Something Extra
I’ve been remiss in writing my blog content recently, so decided to post an excerpt from a work in progress. You may recognize one of the characters from my series on character development. Enjoy. A palpable stench assaulted Elara’s senses, a noxious blend of decay and filth. The pungent tang of rotting food mingled withContinue reading “Something Extra”
Challenge and Response
This post challenges readers to explore the economic and political aspects of their favorite stories. Using “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” as an example, it delves into how Hobbits’ self-sufficient economy and fear of the unknown influence their political structure, contrasting it with the centralized monarchy of the Dwarves. Opportunities for plot conflicts and creative storytelling emerge from comparing these cultures.
World Building (pt 5) – It’s the Economy, Stupid!
The relationship between a world’s political structures and its economy is crucial, as money holds significant power. Economics shapes society, politics, and character lives. Factors to consider include economic systems, currency, industries, trade networks, labor systems, economic conflicts, and balancing economic development. Examples from science fiction and fantasy novels provide valuable insight.
World Building (pt 4) – Politics & Economics
The post discusses the link between politics, economics, and world-building, using examples of monarchies and the Islamic Caliphate to illustrate how political structures influence economic growth. It emphasizes the importance of stability in political structures and suggests exploring the reasons behind seeking stability. It also highlights the significance of economic systems in world-building, teasing the upcoming post on building an economy.
World Building (pt 3) – Laws, Ethics, and Morality
The importance of creating a captivating cosmology and mythology for worldbuilding was discussed in the previous blog post. Now, the focus shifts to establishing laws, ethics, and morality to create a robust social structure in the story. This includes creating legal systems, defining moral frameworks, and exploring the interplay with other worldbuilding elements to engage readers emotionally.
World building: an aside
The author discusses the challenge of world building for a story, emphasizing the importance of understanding how much and when to develop the world. Drawing from personal experience, they recommend starting with high-level world building using the Five Why’s technique to create a consistent world for characters. The narrative example from “Cosimo” illustrates this process.
World building (pt2): Cosmology & Mythology
This post emphasizes the importance of creating a captivating cosmology and mythology for world building. It delves into designing the structure of the universe, establishing physical properties, introducing celestial bodies and deities, and constructing a rich mythology. Additionally, it explores how these elements interplay with other world building aspects, such as moral frameworks and storytelling techniques, to create an engaging and memorable world.
CharlieFoxtrotWriter 