A World of Inspiration

Aiya!

Yep! This is a laaaaaaate post. I had scheduled it and all because I was going to be away on an AWESOME trip to the Opera House to listen to a string quartet, as well as being part of a Mass Choir singing many songs including Mozart's Requiem (It was insane), but my post never came through apparently. *scowls* But the trip was fun, and I shall be doing a post on Thursday as per usual.

So, here is the belated post!

Last post, I was asked about my world for this novel, and, well, I love world building. Therefore you will get a post on just that!

The first thing that I feel must be said is this; World building is not always fun to everyone. And no, it is not genetic. I know two sisters, one who loooooooooooooves world building, and the other who runs the opposite direction. I happen to love it. Then again, I love most planning with systems and creating rules, places and other fun stuff.

In Chosen by Fire, I have only planned out the country, not the full world. Namely because one doesn’t see any interaction of the country with the rest of the world, and also that the country is an island. So, no trading with other countries!

I have an unusual world, particularly for fantasy. In fact, a lot of the structure fits more clearly into dystopian. Because the land was run by magic a while before my story, the very structure of the place is symbolic, and the maps of the countries, and of the individual towns would look near the same. Here is a picture of what Jade’s town looks like…

(Sorry for it being so blurry!)

Now, for the entire country, it is also divided up into those lots. This means that in the Farm Land area in Miritain, it would be a mostly farming community.

The random thing in the middle of the picture is also quite important to the plot. In the history of Miritain, that was where the magical flames would burn; a symbol of power. As soon as one of those beacons went out, all of them would. If this happened, then the previous prosperity of the country would cease.

One of the other major things that I love about world building is the history.

As you can see from my excerpt above, I have written and planned my history of the world. Does that come into the story? Very slightly. However, this in general is a useful tool. Adding landmarks and feature of history and culture to your world makes it more believable. Think of Narnia with the Stone Table and the Lamp Post. Those are part of it’s history, and just make it more real. It had relics that have been there for a long time.

It has a past.

One problem a lot of people find when writing fantasy worlds, is that they are very cliche. They just fall back on what they know is awesome; C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien. I love both of them, but, most people cannot re-write their worlds in such a way that I like them.

So, how do you avoid writing a new Middle Earth or Narnia?

As weird as it is, I would say start with a sketch. Sketch out your world and then draw in the divisions. What are the politics like? Who talks to who?

And above all, have fun in your world building. Go with what you can feel inside you. Make a world that suits what you need, and make it real. Write a history.

So, after all of that on the grand art of world building, maybe some Inspiration would help?

Tell me about your world! Are you Inspired? Feel free to chat!