Being a closet science fiction writer (more on that in an upcoming post!) I have been pretty fascinated by the stuff Kyla has had to say about her process. She mentioned on our Triberr buddy Brandon’s blog that she had never guest posted. I decided it was about time! Enjoy.
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Hello, folks. My name is Kyla. I’m not your normal speaker over here at Bliss Habits, but Kathy offered me a shot at my first guest post and I jumped at it. So, go easy on me. This is my first time.
I’m a fantasy writer, and I am currently working on the first novel in a six-book epic fantasy series. It is the most ambitious – and fun – project I’ve ever tried in my entire life.
These books are set on a totally different world. My focus is a certain continent of this world, called Torwella ‘Veem (at least, it is currently; I haven’t worked out all the rules of the language just yet). Fantastic creatures with fantastic powers live there and my job is to write the story of a particularly fantastic character’s incredible journey across that continent.
However, you can’t just make it all up as you go along. There have to be rules to this world your characters live in. You have to decide on the rules of magic and off-set the terrific powers of your characters with equally terrific weaknesses. You have to decide whether or not to include a language, and if you do, you have to invent said language — not an easy prospect. You have to design at least one government (Torwella ‘Veem has around 14 or so governments to create), the laws the peoples of that government must follow, and the political situation of said government. And you have to design all the creatures and maps and life-spans and colloquial sayings and the list goes on and on and on.
Being a fantasy writing is a lot like creating a world. Well, minus the awesome god-like powers the real endeavor would require. But you still have to make the logistics of this world work in such a way as to be believable to your readers. You have to design details that probably won’t even be mentioned in the novels you write. But the fact that you know those details will lend a certain authority to the things that you do write. You know the rules of this world, even if you don’t share all of them to the reader, and that confidence is translated in every word you write.
The best part about creating worlds? You know that no one else has ever made anything quite like it. This is your world, you make the rules, you set the standards. You’re in complete control of everything and everyone. You can move mountains, drain oceans, or destroy entire countries, anytime you please.
The worst part about creating worlds? EVERYTHING IS UP TO YOU. You’re the one who has to decide if there is modern plumbing, or if they still must see to their needs by digging a hole in the ground each time they need to go. You decide upon the smallest saying. Your character can’t say something like “OMG! Look at that pair of lovebirds.” You have to come up with your own saying. “By the Fire! Look at those two flames.” And somehow you have to make sure your reader knows those two statements mean the exact same thing. You decide what the months are called, if they have 13 months or 14 months or 12 months just like us. You decide the names of the currency used by the country they live in. And everything must be consistent. You can’t call something a starbit on one page, and then call it a rubee the next.
Creating worlds is a wonderfully rewarding thing to do. Don’t get me wrong. I’d recommend it to anyone out there who enjoys living in their imagination. But it isn’t a light project. It’s work, and tons of it. Just google the term “Worldbuilding” and you’ll see how much work many consider it. It’s also more fun than I can describe.
I worked on my world for 8 months before I began writing my first book. And my worldbuilding isn’t done yet! It’s close, but I decided to fill in the blanks as I went along in the first draft, and have the whole thing nailed down by my second. I still have plenty of work to complete before I get there.
I’m looking forward to every second of it.
What about you? Does creating worlds sound like something you’d be interested in trying? There’s every chance that you might turn out to be a world-class worldbuilder. Why don’t you give it a try? Or maybe you can visit my world someday. Don’t worry. I don’t let the dragons eat the tourists.
Kyla can be found on her blog, Kyla’s Not Normal, and on Twitter where she posts about the joys and struggles of her craft.
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Welcome to the Bliss Habits community Kyla! I had my first guest blog over here just yesterday 🙂 My husband is a huge sci-fi fan, me not always. But the one thing we can agree on is the “creating a new world” aspect of it. Thank you for the fun post!
Thank you so much! I’m glad to be here. I’m really glad you liked this post. Creating a new world is the very best aspect of sci-fi and fantasy, IMHO.
Congrats on your own first guest post. I’ll have to check it out.
Hi Kyla! What a great post! I have been wanting to write a book for as long as I can remember. However, world creating sounds daunting but yes at the same time fun! Lisa
Daunting it is, but it’s just like everything else in life: You take it one bite at a time. Concentrate on the small, immediate goals and you’ll feel satisfaction on each hurtle you complete. Each hurtle will bring you closer and closer to finishing that world-building.
I hope you have as much fun as I do! And definitely look into writing that book. I’ve never heard someway say they were sorry for pursuing a writing dream; only glad.