Worldbuilding

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Now that your characters are dynamic, we need to give them a place to explore, a place to live that is worthy of them. A dynamic character is useless without a properly developed world to live in. What I’m referring to is worldbuilding.

Just like your characters, you need to be thorough and realistic with your world. Don’t leave glaring holes that will need some creative thinking to fill and require a lot of work on your part. Your world won’t be cohesive and will probably seem sloppy.

Following that thread, your world needs laws. They don’t need to be the laws of our world, but you need a set of laws that every part of your world follows (every part affected by the law, that is). Once these laws are in place, don’t break them to suit your character’s needs. You’ll undermine your own foundation and make your novel and setting less believable. Turn these laws into an obstacle, into a challenge for your character to overcome. Your world will be better for it.

Every character is different, and any group of people will develop similarities to each other, different from any other group. Culture. People from one country will look, act and speak differently than people from a different country. They will eat different foods, use different slang and build their houses and structures differently. Status will be developed in unique ways. This is very important to remember when worldbuilding, especially if your characters intend to travel. Without culture, your world and towns won’t have any sparkle.

Remember that ports and trading towns, as well as capital cities, will have people of different nationalities. There will be an intermingling of cultures, so take a moment to describe the sights. These are places where turban-wearing nomads in for supplies might rub shoulders with wealthy merchants from the island country.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Also when creating your world, you need to keep distances and landscapes in mind. Unless you have a good description of how they got there, don’t have your characters instantaneously going from the middle of a forest in the foothills to being on a ship in the middle of the ocean. That’s a bad idea because it won’t make much sense unless you explain it well, but also because you pass up an opportunity to give your characters all sorts of other challenges.

Keep in mind that too much travel is also boring after a while. Somewhere, there is a sweet spot that needs to be found.

Landscape can be a powerful tool. It can help or hinder your characters, sometimes both at once. A river can hide the character’s tracks, but it can also slow them down. The moment they have to fight, it becomes even more of an obstacle. Even when they don’t have to fight, they’ll have to dry any wet clothes and equipment when they leave the water.

So. Using your world and creating it well has many advantages for you as a writer. It can present opportunity for challenges and different interactions between the major and minor characters. It can help or hinder your character. Always keep in mind that landscape can make or break your story.