Putting your world on paper

 I’ve been asked to contribute a talk on world building for a local literary festival, and this week I’m starting to thing of all the things which make up a world.

Because I’m a science fiction writer, this is always a major job for me when I start a new story.  Literally  everything has to be invented, starting with the size of the planet and how close it is to its star.  There are so many things which make up a world that I’ve had to devise a sensible way to organise the things I need to know.  And I’ve decided that the first way to order the data is to divide it into macro things and micro things.  Macro things exist on a planet-wide scale, micro things affect individual people or regions.

Macro level world building includes things like the physical geography of the place.  What climate zone does your story take place in?  What does the land look like?  Is it lush fields at low level, high, cold mountainous places, or a city by a river?  What are the political and religious systems of the world you’re writing about?  What cultures shape the lives of your characters?  Culture, religions, and political systems all in turn shape the laws of your world.  Religion may decide that certain sexual relationships are immoral, and law may decide that those people can’t marry.

What is the technology level of your story world?  Even within the one world we know about technology levels vary widely.  Until a few years ago there were Amazonian tribes who’d never had contact with the outside world.  They weren’t using computers to post to Twitter.  But in many part of with world that’s a large part of people’s day.  And this in turn affects which groups can be formed, and how morality is influenced and shaped.

On the micro level, one question is what jobs people do.  This is partly related to what education they get. What barriers are there to your characters’ employment?  I qualified as a solicitor in 1980.  Women couldn’t be English solicitors until 1922, despite the profession existing since the 1700s.  Job/professional opportunities will also affect how much wealth people can accrue, which will affect the places they live in and the way they live.  Can they afford a mansion?  Or just one room in a shared house?

Clothing is partly culturally determined, but individuals drive changes in that culture.  Your characters may be fashion icons, or dress conservatively.  Leisure pursuits too will vary, from sitting listening to a storyteller, to playing team sports, or playing on-line games and surfing the web.

There are a lot of things to think about in world building.  If you’re writing about Earth it’s a case of researching the details you need.  But if you’re an SF writer like me, you need to invent the lot. 

Like the iceberg, we only show a small part of that research on the surface of our story.  But knowing all the details gives your story, and the characters who live in that world, more depth.