what is, in your opinion, the best way to world build? how can you avoid writing a bland, archetypal universe or copying an already existing one? sorry if I’m not being clear, haha, and thanks so much!
Hey there, thanks so much for your ask! I honestly love talking about the world-building process, so I’m really glad you sent this; let’s dive right in!
Best Way to World-Build?
In my opinion, there isn’t a best way to world-build. The “best” process depends on what is needed and what you’ll actually need to know for your writing. What follows isn’t necessarily what I would call the best way, but it’s a good way to cover your bases and opens up a lot of options for going in-depth with details. (It’ll be a bit of a long list, but definitely worth it in the long run.)
For each country you’re going to include or mention in your story, think about:
Name
Capital and major cities, and locations
Border shape
3 most common landforms
Historical sites or places that mean a great deal to the people living there
General economic scheme (ex. capitalist, Communist, Socialist, etc)
Most important laws
Major differences from the character’s homeland
Military setup (different branches, enlistment age, etc)
Climate
Relations with surrounding countries
Societal norms (gender roles, public & professional behavior, etc)
Stance on LGBT+ rights, and treatment of LGBT+ people
Most and least respected professions
Common religions
Stereotypes about this country (any and all)
Common pastimes and hobbies
Popularity of sports, movies, and other forms of entertainment
Genres of music (and possibly stereotypes of people who listen to them)
Language(s) spoken
Beauty standards and the commercialization of them
Commercialization that feeds off of the peoples’ insecurities
For each city you’re going to include or mention in your story, think about:
The “aesthetic” (think of it the way NYC’s aesthetic is taxis, skyscrapers, and nightlife)
Public opinion of street performers
Any recreational centers and common activities
Popularity of a town counsel or the idea of opening to the public for improvement ideas
How well-known the city is by everyone around it, or how much of a tourist attraction it might be
State of educational buildings
Percentage of unemployment versus those who are actively searching for jobs, and how this affects the city’s reputation
3+ popular businesses, maybe food or clothing stores
The way business is generally conducted
Opportunities for nightlife (etc. bars, night clubs, etc)
Usual daytime attire, usual nighttime attire
Any sort of tradition (ex. sharing dreams in the morning, praying before meals, etc)
Stance on more advanced technology
Treatment of different age groups
Again, cliches and stereotypes that might exist of people who live there
Most common architectural style (ex. modern, Victorian, etc)
Commonly seen colors
Any inflation that might exist, local economic troubles
People’s opinion on the government as a whole (then in-depth, if you want)
As you can see, these two lists are very open-ended. I can’t go too far in-depth with world-building ideas and explaining, because it’s all up to you to create this world. Every single item on this list here can be expanded into tons of different things, but if your goal is just to cover your bases and explore needed details then I think this would be a good place to start.
Making Your World Distinct
This can be pretty tough, honestly. There’s (almost) always a world themed around something out there that’s probably more well-known, famous even. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite wizarding world, that of the Harry Potter books. Your world can be as interesting and different as it gets but because it includes wizards, someone out there is always going to relate it to Harry Potter. So how can we avoid this?
There’s one proven way to this this, especially if you don’t want to change your world. Accentuate any and all differences that would set your story apart from a more well-known world. Maybe our wizards’ spells depend on a material transaction, or they won’t work. Maybe there’s some sort of wizarding god who must be pleased to cast a successful spell. Not so much like HP anymore, huh?
Just remember, there’s a huge difference between world-building through details and world-building through exposition. Both are acceptable, but both have their own appropriate time to be utilized. Take a break from telling the reader flat-out how this thing works, and instead reveal it through the world’s details. Not only does this help treat your readers like the competent individuals they are, it also immerses them so much in the world that there isn’t much of a chance to compare your world to others.
Tl;dr—World-building isn’t really something that can be explained for you by someone else. There are certainly questions that exist to help you, but following a guide that works for someone else might not work for you. Explore the details! (And let the reader explore them, too!)
Using multiple POVS means the narrative switches between the perspectives of two ore more characters.
1.Distinct character voices If the voice sounds the same even though it’s written from a different character’s point of view, it creates the impression that there is no difference between the characters. So take some time in not only developing distinct characters, but also in giving your characters individual, distinct voices.
More on creating distinct character voices can be found here
2. Use an indicator for POV switches Always give your readers a clue when the POV switches. The most common way is to write the POV character’s name at the beginning of the section or use the POV character’s name as the title of the chapter.
3. Don’t switch POVs too often If the POV switches every other line, it is very likely that your reader will be annoyed. The most common way is to switch the POV when a new chapter begins. It’s also possible to switch the POV when a new scene begins, but keep in mind tip no.2 and don’t forget to indicate that the POV switches with the next scene.
These are just a few quick, basic things that should be taken into account that I notice a lot of writers get wrong.
Not every trans person is “pre” or “post” HRT or surgeries. It can be pretty stigmatizing to think of trans people’s lives as part of those two categories, especially when those things have not always been part of their plan or they do not want them at all.
There are loads of different kinds of surgeries (even if we’re just talking about genitalia, even if we’re just talking about one type of genitalia).
“Transition” is a really vague term. It includes all sorts of things for all sorts of people, and it has no start and end date usually. It can literally be just coming out and that’s it.
“Transgendered” is not the preferred term because it is not a verb, it is an identity (an adjective).
A great guide for phrasing things in a good way is the GLAAD media guide for writing about trans people.There’s some stuff in there that’s less of a consensus within the trans communities, but it’s very minimal, and what is there is not harmful.
Do not misgender your own characters when narrating things.
“Transwomen” and "transmen" are not the preferred wording. There is a space between them, because as mentioned earlier, trans is an adjective. These are still women and men.
There usually isn’t a reason to feature or talk about surgeries or your trans character’s body in general within the plot. This doesn’t mean “avoid it at all costs” – just ask yourself if it actually is necessary. Most people asking questions related to surgeries and the like do not actually need to include that information.
It’s a common misconception that all trans men have vaginas and all trans women have penises, are perisex etc. The people who have penises cannot be summed up by saying “trans women and cis men” because not only does that exclude a whole lot of nonbinary people, (or how everybody generally is born with a phallus, but I digress) but intersex genitalia is extremely varied, and countless trans people do undergo surgeries. Most post-op genitalia looks indistinguishable from the kind that cis people have.
Trans people are not “born in the wrong body” (some folks may use this phrasing to explain things to cis people who have no familiarity or patience to understand).
We did not “used to be a [GAAB*]” and we are not “biologically [GAAB]” – we are who we say we are, even when we are closeted, even when our shape was different. Some folks who experience gender fluidity are different here and it’s not uniform – but it is still inappropriate for cis people to use these phrases.
he/him =/= “male pronouns” etc. Don’t gender pronouns! Not everyone who uses these pronouns is “male”.
The terms “female body” or “male body” are not helpful in explaining what a certain body is like. They have no uniform way of being, especially taking hormones, surgeries, and intersex persons into account. And if you identify as female, your body is female. It is your body.
Do you design a lot of characters living in not-modern eras and you’re tired of combing through google for the perfect outfit references? Well I got good news for you kiddo, this website has you covered! Originally @modmad made a post about it, but her link stopped working and I managed to fix it, so here’s a new post. Basically, this is a costume rental website for plays and stage shows and what not, they have outfits for several different decades from medieval to the 1980s. LOOK AT THIS SELECTION:
OPEN ANY CATEGORY AND OH LORDY–
There’s a lot of really specific stuff in here, I design a lot of 1930s characters for my ask blog and with more chapters on the way for the game it belongs to I’m gonna be designing more, and this website is going to be an invaluable reference. I hope this can be useful to my other fellow artists as well! 🙂
make sure to read the poem at least 3 times over. skim once, and read twice. Skim and read once each if you don’t think you have enough time. Don’t let the length of it intimidate you.
annotate anything that will help you to answer the question. Answering the question, aside from literary devices on their own, is the most important.
be selective about the quotes and literary devices you find, and identify which ones you can write more about.
Rambles & Rabble 