World Building - Introduction
Hope everyone had a great holiday week with a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Now we start As promised, we’re going to open up ’06 here at the Den with a look at my world creation process. Hope everyone finds it interesting, and joins in on the fun. At the end of it all perhaps we’ll get a chance to look at the worlds that you create (if you want).
I know world creation can seem a very daunting task, one that can be attempted only by the genius or the insane or just the geeks. However, I think a lot of what keeps people from trying, especially those who love the genres, is the mystique and intimidation factor of just how much work appears to go into worlds. And yeah, there is a lot of work that goes into it. But worlds don’t spring forth fully formed in moments, most of the time.
Also, don’t worry about not having a story to go with your world. While often a story will come, and then you discover what world it came in. Sometimes, some of the most exciting stories come out of the process of creating the world.
If you want to watch a fun, and short little documentary on world creation pick up a DVD of The Dark Crystal and check out the special feature: “The World of The Dark Crystal Making of Documentary”
Shoot out any questions or comments you have. And tomorrow we’ll get started at creating a world with the piece I start with just about every time. The people who live on the world.
I know world creation can seem a very daunting task, one that can be attempted only by the genius or the insane or just the geeks. However, I think a lot of what keeps people from trying, especially those who love the genres, is the mystique and intimidation factor of just how much work appears to go into worlds. And yeah, there is a lot of work that goes into it. But worlds don’t spring forth fully formed in moments, most of the time.
Also, don’t worry about not having a story to go with your world. While often a story will come, and then you discover what world it came in. Sometimes, some of the most exciting stories come out of the process of creating the world.
If you want to watch a fun, and short little documentary on world creation pick up a DVD of The Dark Crystal and check out the special feature: “The World of The Dark Crystal Making of Documentary”
Shoot out any questions or comments you have. And tomorrow we’ll get started at creating a world with the piece I start with just about every time. The people who live on the world.
posted by Stuart at 9:07 AM
1 Comments:
You write about creating worlds from the perspective of a scifi/fantasy writer, but in actuality, anyone who writes fiction is a world-creator. No, the characters aren't combinations of multiple known animals or possess superhuman abilities and skills, but the world in which those characters live has to be created in the same way.
You have to have background, setting, characterization, history, and descriptions so the reader can envision the scenes being read.
Regardless of real-world fiction or fantascy/scifi fiction, creating worlds is still daunting and does take a lot of time. And it's not just for the geeks or genius. :) Although one who successfully creates that world so the reader feels a part could be considered a "genius."
And despite the time involved, we do it because we love to write. Wouldn't be in this profession otherwise.
Post a Comment
<< Home