Building Worlds

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Through this writing series, you all know that I’m not that into writing fantasy which is where creating worlds is extremely important. So I’m going to enjoy listening to the other nerds this week to see how they go through the creative process.

I -- on the other hand will tell you how I develop situations that turn our earth into something different, odd, and even otherworldly. Like most writers, I observe. I take in as much information as my little brain can hold until finally it burst with everything that I’ve consumed flying about and mixing, and meshing and contorting into an idea of what we could become. If the road that’s before us is forked what would happen if we went left or right – and what about the next fork?

I’ll give you a for instance. What if high fructose corn syrup, while it’s easy to produce and excellent in ‘moderation’ –- well what if after 30 years it rendered the human population barren? Is that so far out? Do we really know what it will do to us? As a writer I can build on that one fork and create something different, unique, and improbable but it’s a basis for a new world.

With any process there is always a mound of back work to go through. Sometimes it comes naturally as you write and sometimes it’s confusing as all heck and there is no way to keep it all strait without pulling your hair out. And that’s when it’s nice to have some sort of time line. You can keep your date’s strait, your events inline, and your vision of the new world in focus. And while this is not the most concise way of building a world, it’s how I do it. And I hope that it will help you to get creative and then do a little writing.