A Real Girl Living in a Fantasy World

Author Article by Cynnara Tregarth

When asked to write an article about any aspect on the craft of writing, I panicked. I didn't know what I could tell anyone about being an author or a writer. Then a couple of my friends and I were talking online about a news story when suddenly I wrote, "I've got an idea for a story!" Within ten minutes, I laid out the world and the storyline for my friends.

They loved it. It was a fantastic story and they were amazed in how I managed to create a world out of thin air. Suddenly, I knew what I was going to write about- Worldbuilding. I've given a basic workshop on how to worldbuild when you don't have tons of time or have never done worldbuilding before. I've always been a real girl living in a fantasy world and I'm going to share my love for worlds and alternate realities with you.

Grab some paper and a pen, pencil, whatever will allow you to make marks. Sit back and close your eyes for a moment. As you do that, think about the world or alternate reality that your characters are going to live in. What do you notice most about the culture? Do you see any resemblance to any known cultures here on Earth? If you're looking at an alternate earth, what time period and where are you looking at? Now, open your eyes and write a brief description of what your world looks like or reminds you of. This is your planetary theme. I know, you're thinking I'm getting all complicated, but I promise I'm not. Note the culture and the time period if possible.

Now that you've got your planetary theme, ask yourself what you know about it? Do you know about swords and sorcery? The Middle Ages? Pre-Roman Britain? Can you imagine what post-apocalyptic nuclear war would look like? Now that you've got that in mind, name your planet. You can give it a name that reflects the culture or something totally different and unique. Make sure the name rolls off your tongue easily. That way your characters will also be comfortable with their home as well.

Now, what kind of society is it? How is daily life run? Is there a historical culture in which you're relating this to that could describe the society, i.e. pre-Roman Britain, Greco-Roman Egypt, etc. This is one of the easiest ways in order to know the rules of your world. You might decide that you've got a world that looks like 18th dynasty Ancient Egypt yet the society is run like Feudal England after the Magna Carta was signed. By giving this kind of generic overview for your world, you can go back and build more within the basic framework, changing only what you need to and it'll be easily remembered.

What types of people live in this world? Are they humanoids? Are they of the classic fantasy races of elves, dwarves, orcs, etc.? If you're in a more futuristic setting do you have robots, creatures that breathe different atmospheres, or perhaps take different shapes? List the races and a small description of them. Make sure you include any special innate racial talents and weaknesses.

Now we come to where most people panic- languages. Take a deep breath and look to the Universal Cyn. Listen to me, this is very easy unless you choose to create your own language. The easiest way to "create" a new tongue for your world is take a foreign language you're familiar with and twist it around by shifting vowels and splitting the word into accented syllables. If it's a tonal or sound language, add some hand signs or even clicks or something in order to make it sound a bit different.

Remember that if you decide to be like J.R.R. Tolkien, he was a linguist and trained in how to not only follow a languages path as it evolved, but also in how to shift the patterns in order to create a new sounding tongue. That means he took grammar, vocabulary, and phonology into consideration. Easiest way, find a language you know or you think is neat, use it with some slight adaptations to make it easier for you to refer. Write down the language, what it's based on and the rule you use to change the tongue. (In other words, I choose Dutch, call it Oomlan and whatever vowel shown, I shift two places and use that vowel. Example: zonde in Dutch means pint. I'm going to replace the "o" with an "e" and the "e" with an "o". So my word for pint is zendo.) You may choose only do it to verbs, nouns, or however you please. Just note it down so you can refer to it later on.

Now we come to the fun part. Can you work magick in your world? If it's a futuristic universe are there people with psychic talents? What rules do you break to allow these things to be and what are the limitations? Jot these down for reference. You can refine this more when you write your story. The basic rules are what you want in order to be able to establish the world.

What are the cities in this world? Are there countries? What are there names? Draw a map or even borrow a map of another country, turn it around, copy it side by side and create your own land shapes. Note rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. Anything that your people might have to negotiate or handle, mark it down. You can rearrange things later as you write and edit.

Take a deep breath, let it out and smile. You've just built a world on a relatively easy scale. Though this isn't as indepth as you might want, especially if you're creating a world that'll play a vital role in your story, this will give enough of the basics so you can feel a bit more comfortable as you start writing. Delving deeper into the world you've just made and finding out all the nook and crannies, setting up religions, etc are things you can do when you need those references.

Sometimes what helps me in keeping my world straight are the things I gave you. When I need more depth, I will jot down the other things I might need to deal with: money, gods, basic religious backgrounds, or even weapons. Remember your universe shouldn't give you a headache, but should be a joy.

This real girl walks the fantasy world. Lucky for me, I know history and my favourite cultures that I use for the basis of many of my worlds. By using the law/society system of the ancient Egyptians with the basic city appearance and look of Celtic Britain, I've created a nice mix in my world that shows my ideas of easier because I can spend the time on the qualities that make my world unique.

Now, pull on your boots, grab your dagger or tazer, and saunter to the nearest wormhole and take a look at the universe next to you. It could be the world you've been looking for.

Copyright 2004 by Cynnara Tregarth

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