So I am currently trying to improve on my writing process. One of the misstakes I’ve done before is not doing proper world building. So now that I’m rewriting one of my favorite old stories I need to get that done before starting on the actual chapters. Now, this is what I have right now. I know there are blanks in the individual domains but I’m more interested in if there is a subject I have missed so I can add it in in my notes. The same: language, currency (gold, silver, bronze, copper, iron - the shape of the pieces differ between the domains) Religion: The Creator made all the lands and seas, it gave every being life, it introduced magic into the world (to such a degree that now nothing can survive without it. However The Creator also has declined all worship because that would distract it from all other worlds it has done (or is making). If you summon it, especially in times of need, it will give you aid though. History: From before written records existed Sekai was divided into minor kingdoms of various sizes. The kingdoms shifted over time and there was times of both war and peace. Then a millennia ago invaders started coming. The kingdoms tried handling the matter seperately but to little use. After two hundred years four great generals appeared, affiliated with no specific kingdom. They had some success but even they met with trouble. Then came the day the four generals sought aid from The Creator and ascended to godhood. The war shifted to the invaders disadvantage and every king handed over his realm to the gods. United for the first time and with the invaders held at bay Sekai experianced a peace like none other before. But one hundred years after the ascension the gods disagreements have grown to big and the land is divided between them. Peace mostly has reign since the divide and for the last fifty years there has been almost no sign of the invaders. NORTH Geography: snowy mountains Crops/most common food source: Archetechture/culture/style of clothing: eskimo/inuit WEST Geography: forests Crops/most common food source: game such as bear, boar and deer. Archetechture/culture/style of clothing: medival Europe SOUTH Geography: plains and volcanos Crops/most common food source: most fruits, vegtables and grains. Archetechture/culture/style of clothing: EAST Geography: lakes and rivers Crops/most common food source: fish, otters and beavers Archetechture/culture/style of clothing: feodal Asia So, am I missing any subjects?
I'll admit I do almost no pre-prose world planning. Need to work on that... How much planning do you intend to do? If, unlike me, you're a big planner, it seems the "architecture/culture/style of clothing" section needs to be expanded. Its features are going to be the most important part of building the world. I mean, it's not exactly like medieval Europe or Feudal Japan right? That's leaving out what matters, IMO. It's going to have something noteworthy going on, I'm sure. What's going to be important during the story, and what will make each place feel different/fantastical? Local heroes and legend A towering, bronze statue of an old woman carrying two pales of water, for example. That's a conversation starter. Perhaps it would also explain other people's motivations. Gender politics Maybe one region lets women own assets, and another does not. Perhaps another is a matriarchy. Prominence/lack of natural resources and what kinds Precious metals, lumber... What's scarce, and what substitutes have been employed to compensate? Law Does our hero have a chance to escape legal trouble via evocative dance, thanks to an old clause? Medicine One region has a crude form of surgery and disinfectant. In another, our hero's love interest send him off with healing beads and good vibe crystals that "resonate" with the creators. Gee, thanks. Slavery/servitude Frowned upon, or business and usual? Etiquette Must sing a tune before breaking bread, must not speak a single word until the meal is finished, must never compliment a host etc... Intra-cultural conflict What ancient grudges are held, and between what groups? Are natives at odd with a ruling power? Does rebel scum seek upheaval? Do thieves have a militant presence, regularly robin-hooding passersby due to a strong economic imbalance.
It is very hard to say without any context. It sounds like a parallel world by which I mean not to different to the one we exist in. That is absolutely fine by the way. Just the same way I would do it. Thing is, everything has to be super clean and easy to explain otherwise it gets messy really quick and can lead to a lot of telling. For example, if you can explain in a couple of sentences where magic came from in a way that makes people think: OK, and just carry on reading, that's great. On the other hand, it can not be too vague like: The creator gave them magic. If it becomes like oh it is because of this and that bla bla bla it gets self-indulgent, that won't work. If it is a parallel world (like this one) then you don't have to explain a great deal. The creator, where magic comes from. The evolution of the people and creatures. Weather systems, rituals, traditions, myths and legends and other phenomena. Just remember all of that is back story and telling the reader about it at any length will is almost certainly going to bore them. This kind of information is on a need to know basis and the only person that needs to know is you. I say this not because I am judging your ideas or writing but because I made all of the above mistakes.
Speculative elements like magic and fictional technology directly affect the way people in a world would conduct agriculture, warfare, and transportation. It affects where they live and what values are prevalent in their culture. You can find similarities to our world, but the existence of magic would make this one fundamentally different from ours. What new things can they build and manufacture using magic? What resources are most valuable to these people?
When writing a short story I recommend that you first write your 1st draft: just get the elements of the story that you have in your head down on paper. Now, from that story draft write down the characters, setting, and other elements that you will need to develop for the next draft. Build those elements as best you can in the context of that 1st draft. Now, it's time to work on the story again. This might be an outline and scene list if you are a planner, or, a second draft if you are a discovery writer. Your world building and story should now be developing each other. Godspeed!
@Not the Territory I don’t consider myself a big planner but maybe to compensate for my lack of planning before I have gotten the tendencies of one... No, it's not exactly like medieval Europe or Feudal Japan. Those was more like quick memory notes to base them on those. Regarding gender politics, laws, slavery, etiquette, local legends and medicine I think they are pretty similar (perhaps even by necessity) since the four regions were one single nation for some time. I might have done a too perfect world since in my mind there is no discrimination because of either gender or sexuality. Natural resources is something to think about. Although the western domain is clear. Forests = Wood after all. And unless the four gods are at odds (which happen less often after they divided the land) I haven’t considered the people having any reason for conflict. @Richach @shiba0000 The explanation for magic is that it is a part of the world itself. Everything, even the smallest grain of sand has magic. Thus people are born with one element that they can create and manipulate (most get earth, fire, air or water). It mostly also hasn’t much use outside of combat. @Stormburn This is actually a multipart series, and the way I plan to deal with the story is to go chapter by chapter, adding or removing where it needs it. Thanks for your input everyone. I have some things to consider now
I'm sure you know this already, but "sekai" is Japanese for "world". You might want to give it an actual name. As far as what to develop - technology, religion (even if they don't worship "God", they have to have some kind of belief system), government. You're doing yourself a disservice by limiting it to combat. People are endlessly inventive, and if they can use magic to make something easier/more efficient, they damn sure will. Here's a blog post I wrote about that very subject awhile back.
Thanks for your input. I’ll definately think a little on the categories you mentioned. About the name Sekai. I picked it just because of its meaning. I’ll think this over, though. But if I change it it will still be something Japanese, since every character has a Japanese name (some has a name from other Asian languages but most have a Japanese one). To explain better how my naming works - characters with air as their element can be named Kaze (wind) or Arashi (storm). And about magic and everyday life, yeah I see your point. I can totally see characters who has water as their element using their power to mix the batter while baking or someone who has air as theirs using it to clear their garden of fallen leaves.
My world is exactly the same in that people have an affinity for one eleement, depending on their clan, but people use it for everything. For example, the story opens with the fire using clan. They're using to light fires for cooking, heating up the earth to allow them to grow crops in winter, using it to keep themselves warm in cold weather, allow them to forge metal under a high heat that no normal smith can achieve etc. They can even use it to treat fevers by drawing the fire from a sick patient. Combat is probably the least common use.
Mind whether you have "floating concepts" or "floating characters". They are the bane of worldbuilding. Let me explain. A "floating concept" is an idea that can be simple or well-rounded (or even have incredible detail to it), but is largely independent of other details in your world. This means that it could be "extracted" from your world and inserted into another without any issue. EG, a language that could as well be spoken as a strange dialect in southern France (like Basque), a character that could as well be a Prussian officer in 1870 as he is a "Dragon Knight" with the same background or a religion that would work flawless in Tolkien's world. A firm (and somewhat unorthodox) example is the worldbuilding for the Mount & Blade game series, which is 100% floating and lacking in depth. You can transform floating concepts into actual elements of your world by "anchoring them" and building connections between the various pieces. EG, when you choose the government form and structure of your nation based on the magic system you devised and the ancient history you've written; suddenly you're dealing with a theocracy that is trying to re-create an ancient empire. Ancient empire? The ruins your character see and visit may belong to it. Perhaps the ancient empire's language served as root for most current languages. So a few questions: Spoiler Is there any specific reason the land was divided? Europe was divided because of gavelkind / Frankish / Tribal succession laws; as soon as Europe changed to primogeniture the number of independent states started dropping to the point there only existed 22 countries in 1914. Compare that to this monstrosity. In contrast, China was united rather quick and only really had leadership changes. Where are the generals from? Did they have an innate ability, or perhaps led battles before? How are they unaffiliated? Who are these invaders? What connection do they have to the petty kingdoms? What specific event triggered their arrival? Where they summoned? Was there any contact / knowledge of them before the invasion? Was there any preparations made? Why haven't anyone attempted to rise to godhood before? Did none of the petty kings consider it? What powers come with this newfound birth of deities? What is the reason all petty kings were content with this? Were there petty kings that sided with the invaders? Was there any dissent amongst their ranks, unwilling to accept unaffiliated rule? What specific force maintained this peace? Was it the generals & their agreement not to fight? Did this not cause any dissent still? What was the division of lands based upon? You seem to quote north/west/east/south but from the history it'd seem division would depend on the borders of the former petty kingdoms. Are these new four lands seamless in their border? Or is there considerable border gore due to the realms arising from disagreement and differing support between population groups? Once again, is there a firm explanation for this? Is there a fear that the invaders will return? Were they perhaps assimilated? Are there people willingly trying to invite the invaders for another war to enforce this unity? Are the very gods pretending that the invaders could come at any point to maintain their position of power? Also important to note; from your current distribution of lands and natural features and assuming that we're dealing with medieval fantasy, the EAST would overtake the rest in under a century with regards to manpower, productivity and population, and would likely conquer them as well. Natural resources are fine to be divided between various nations, but the one who has the most food will reign supreme in a medieval environment (If there's magic, then it'll be the one who has the most "mana". If it's industrial, it'll be the one with most iron/coal. Consider the age, technology and major needs).
Thank you very much for your input @Lazaares. I hope you don’t mind me not answering all your questions, but rest asured that I am grateful for them. They made me realize that my series needs a extra book that tell the story of the ascension of my four gods properly. And your questions will really help when I plot that book out. To not leave you completely without answers. The reason not many have ascended to godhood is that the process isn’t easy and even come with the risk that the one attempting it may die. The invaders are refered to as demons and they simply seek a new home because their own world is dying. Once more, thanks. When I have the first trilogy done I’ll go back and do this prequel.
Don't worry, was more meaning to spark some thoughts for you. To consider the connections between the various pieces of the world. That is both true and untrue at the same time. You can write your story, just as it is. But you /should/ have a firm idea of the past. You don't have to write it, but if you have a firm grasp on what happened, you will have a much easier time developing the present, whether it's cultures, nations or even references to the past in dialogue.
Here are some ideas. 1) Laws in each geographical area 2) Culture / Traditions 3) Economic state 4) Classes of people in each area 5) Relationships between kingdoms, which ones are allies and which ones are foes
I would consider the world as a black page that you fill in as you write the story. You need only include the details that you mention. It's good to take notes so you can ensure continuity and consistency, especially if the characters make repeat visits to the same locations. If you include features that may seem odd or out of place to the reader, you may want to give some explanation. I'd prefer to do this in the form of an interesting anecdote told to an ignorant character. Avoid info-dumps like the plague.
