World Building

Building a world for your novel can be as enjoyable as writing it, seeing a whole country flow from your mind onto paper is truly exhilarating. However as with any creative venture it takes time, patience, dedication and, of course, enthusiasm.

Let's begin at the beginning, before cities, towns, castles and forests exists the land itself which forms the blueprint of what is to come. Coastlines and mountain ranges dictate where the rivers will flow and thus where forests will grow and small farming communities (the basis for cities) will spring up. So, back to the creation, the first thing you should really do is draw the coastlines, continents and islands - these are rarely a regular shape and one of the key things looked for by archaeologists are straight lines; nature doesn't use them! With this said one of the best ways to draw your coast is to find a stain and use its general shape as a guide, add beaches, cliffs and reefs as desired. After coasts comes mountains and hilly areas, these are where the water will mostly come from and from a literary perspective a foaming brook racing down the side of a vast craggy peak is a fantastic back drop for any scene. Then comes the rivers, remember your geography lessons, as a realistic geographical world is a good start even in high fantasy. Larger rivers are formed from many smaller ones, they will meander on flat ground and the deltas that form at the coast are one of my most loved settings.

From water comes all life, and we have been drawn to it throughout history; Rome, York, London all these famous cities are built on the banks of rivers. Now that you have your basic waterways you can design the counties themselves, will they be filled with small communities? Dotted with vast metropolises? The choice is yours.

With human populations inevitably borders will be drawn, terribly sophisticated and much more intelligent that the animals around us we still have a tendency to revert to territorialism. The Punic War, between Athens and Sparta, two of the most cultured cities of their time, was started over a land quarrel. Kingdoms grow around areas rich in natural resources, a mine, good farming land or other such things.

With our borders drawn and our kingdoms ready it's time to get down with their internal workings. Depending on the era you want this to be set the government and religion will change hugely. Is it a futuristic martial dictatorship with no religion or a feudal Iron Age country where to defy the gods is to invite death? Who rules, a hereditary king, elected officials or a warlord? Spend some time noting down the way your land is ruled and what the people in it believe, little comments about religion or the ruling classes by characters throughout your work will give it a feel of realism and depth. After this plan things such as moral values, a martial land or hardened warriors is unlikely to produce that caring hero you have written so much about, just as a highly cultured society of intellectuals is hardly going to spit out the next Conan.

Once you have all this you are ready! You can add other information to your file as you go such as popular drinks and foods but initially these won't be too important and are more likely to grow as your novel progresses. Trust me writing from a foundation like this is akin to jumping from a spring board; you get so much higher and feel so much better about it.