8 Aspects You Are Missing in Your World-Building

by guest Kandi J. Wyatt

As you open the pages of a good book, you are beckoned into a new world, a place where magic may exist or where people travel between planets on trains. The possibilities are endless and only limited by the author’s imagination and effort. When an author does an excellent job of world-building, the reader longs to climb into the pages of the book and not leave.

Harry Potter, Marvel Universe, Star Wars, Middle Earth, Narnia, and the ‘World’ of Game of Thrones are all examples of worlds that exist because an author had a vision and then dove into world-building. World-building takes thought and consideration to be thorough. Many different aspects go into creating a world that feels real.


via GIPHY

1. Places

The most common aspect of the world is where it’s set. Is it the seas of the Caribbean or is it the halls of Hogwarts? Are there woods, mountains, or deserts? Currently, I’m working on creating a planet. It will have a combination of all extremes. Hannah Heath has written on how to not fall into the rut of common places.

2. People

Once we have a place, we now need to know who inhabits these spaces. As I create my worlds, I make my people fit the place they inhabit, or if they don’t then that’s part of the plot. How would where they live affect their physical attributes and their psychology? In my Dragon Courage world, the rainy marshes of the Carr led to some depression in the characters. The word Carr came from a Celtic background and so my characters tend to have red hair and the tempers that are associated with redheads. My middle grade fantasy, Journey from Skioria, has people that are short, hairy, and have nails that extend out to climb trees since they live in trees.

3. Culture

Early on in my life, I was introduced to different cultures through missionaries that came through my home. As I grew older, I went and visited missionaries in Arizona and New Mexico and was able to see for myself a different culture as I worked with the Navajo and Hopi tribes. Later, I lived in Ecuador for two different years and stayed in Mexico for a month. These experiences let me understand that each people group has their own unique set of laws, norms, and taboos. Why should our stories be any different?

What cultural aspects do you need to add to make your stories? In the north of the Dragon Courage world, tradition holds sway. Since “change comes slowly to dragons” it takes a war for tradition to change. The southern dragon colony of Boeskay sets up on the bluffs overlooking the river. Riders sit out on their porches at night and watch the sunset. Sometimes, it’s the little touches that make the world come to life. It could be as simple as referring to years by a specific season, or it may be as simple as an expression. H. L. Burke, in her book Beggar Magic, uses the expression, ‘By the strains!’ The strains are a significant aspect of the world and are held in awe by all.

4. Language

As a language teacher, I love thinking of how language affects us, but I’ve yet to put it into my books. I did create an accent more than anything in Dragon’s Revenge. For this new project that I’m brainstorming, I’m thinking of creating a script at least for the world, if not some language.

Think of Harry Potter. How would the books have been different if it wasn’t for

via GIPHY

5. Beliefs

As all believers know, our beliefs are what define us. We will do anything for something we believe in. This should be true of your characters as well. I’ve been challenged recently to go beyond the typical on this area. Hannah Heath (if you don’t follow her, you should. She has an amazing blog for writers.) shared some very thought provoking ideas on how to write Christian fantasy and religion.

6. Technology

How do your characters get around? Do they use the horse and buggy or are there airships? How does your protagonist wash her clothes? What? You haven’t thought of that? Then you should! No, really, you should. It’s not just the steampunk genre or subgenre that should have technology. Does your antagonist spread rumors via social media and his iphone? That’s technology at work, too.

7. Mythology

The most well-known author for having mythology in his work was J. R. R. Tolkien. He wanted to provide a mythos for Great Britain and ended up creating Middle Earth. When I wrote Journey from Skioria, I had fun having characters share little myths. You don’t have to create elaborate stories, but know what a few are or have an idea of what the mythos looks like for your world.

8. Animals

As you build your world, realize there should be more than just people, or aliens, living in it. Who or what else inhabit it? As I’m brainstorming for my newest idea, I realized that a mole-like animal may come in handy. Mythical creatures most often coming into fantasy stories, but think outside the box. What other animals would make your world right? Would it be a cat, a dog, horses, whales, kangaroos, or cheetahs?


If you stop at these eight, your world may be complete, but there are so many other things to consider as well. Think of your own life. What influences it? Add those to your world-building. Sure, you might not use all of it in your actual writing, but if you know it, then it will come out into your story-telling.

About the Author

Even as a young girl, Kandi J. Wyatt had a knack for words. She loved to read them, even if it was on a shampoo bottle! By high school Kandi had learned to put words together on paper to create stories for those she loved. Nowadays, she writes for her kids, whether that's her own five or the hundreds of students she's been lucky to teach. When Kandi's not spinning words to create stories, she's using them to teach students about Spanish, life, and leadership.

Connect with Kandi:
Website / Facebook / Google Plus / Twitter / Pinterest / Goodreads / Amazon

About the Books

In a world where dragons and humans live in peace with each other, it is a privilege to be a dragon rider, but riders, like everyone else, must find their purpose. In this series, twins Ruskya and Duskya fight for their dragon’s futures and their lives! Braidyn struggles with balancing justice and mercy as he searches for a stolen nestling. Kyn and a new friend, Ben’hyamene, discover a breed of wild dragons which have been at war with humans for four hundred years, and the two learn that peace is better than revenge. Kyn helps Duskya and her daughter, Carryn, search for a young rider who stumbles upon a slave trade. Carryn learns that bitterness leaves a person in bondage as much as being a slave. Follow along the riders’ quest in this exciting middle grade fantasy series by author Kandi J Wyatt.

The One Who Sees Me 

Teenage slave girl Faru’s life has been turned upside down when she discovers she’s been traded to a new master, forcing her to leave all she‘s ever known. Upon her arrival, Faru meets a friend, Cailean, who helps her adjust to life in the strange location. Life settles into a new pattern, and romance blossoms between the young friends. But as soon as they plan to get married, another proposal comes about – one that cannot be ignored. Being a slave means not always marrying who you love.
On a daring journey to heal her heart, Faru encounters the Existing One. Will she trust Him and do His bidding even if what He requests is so hard?

Follow Faru’s tale in author Kandi J Wyatt’s retelling of a Biblical story found in the Old Testament book of Genesis, showing that when things don’t make sense, God will guide the way.

Get it HERE
Read reviews from Pursue Simple Joy / Julie L. Spencer / Live. Love. Read

Pick up the rest of the series!

Dragon's Future / Dragon's Heir / Dragon's Revenge / Dragon’s Cure / Dragon’s Posterity / Dragon’s Heritage

Q4U: What aspects of world-building do you most enjoy experiencing in books? What aspects do you find most fun to develop? Most challenging?

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Making space for a happier holiday season

I can't be the only one whose weekends are often full of chores, chores, a tiny bit of fun, and more chores. There ought to be a way to get out from under the weekly press of it so I have more balanced weekends. I'm realizing my family members' attention deficit issues mean most of the organizing falls to me, because I have the strongest skills. Let me tell you, it gets discouraging pretty quickly.

Years ago I picked up a couple of household organizing books, and as the holidays approach, it's time to revisit them to prepare for the joys of entertaining. Because honestly, if you're prepared, it can be a joy.

For me the trick is to stick to one goal at a time. This week's comes from Streamlining Your Life by Stephanie Culp.

The number one rule of organizing, Culp says, is only organize what deserves your attention. And a lot of things don't.

Tip of the week:
Don't have too much stuff.

Simple, right? We hang on to stuff we don't need or haven't used for years for one of the following reasons:

I might need this someday
It's still perfectly good
Every ____ is precious (scribble, stuffed animal)
But it's an antique!
This might come back in style
A special person gave it to me
It's a piece of my history
Someday I'll take up this hobby again

All these excuses seem on their face logical, but they're actually emotionally-based decisions. Getting rid of "perfectly good" things we "might need" scares us. But hoarding to stave off a fear of deprivation actually CAUSES deprivation. Your life becomes captive to mess. You lose time and energy when you hoard.

What are your organization battle zones? What kinds of stuff are crowding your life? What excuses and emotions are keeping you fettered to belongings you don't need?

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Characterization and the Gift of Face Blindness

by  C.M. Keller

When Laurel first talked to me about doing a guest post, one of the things she mentioned as a topic was characterization. What interested her is how often reviewers had mentioned it when they reviewed my books.

Honestly, when the first few reviewers mentioned it, I thought they were just being nice. And when it continued to come up, I was mystified. I had no idea why people seemed to be interested in my characterizations. I don’t do anything special.

But I’ve been thinking about it. I suspect that my characterizations are one of those occasions when a weakness becomes a strength. You see, I’m faceblind, which means I can’t recognize faces. (It’s called prosopagnosia.) In fact, it’s bad enough that one night when my son woke me up because he wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t know who he was. I knew there was something familiar about him (he wasn’t a robber), but it wasn’t until he spoke that I knew who he was. Of course, you can’t get by in the world without being able to recognize people. So you develop coping skills. I learned to recognize people by the tone of their voice, their gait, and their body type.

 Prosopagnosia also means that I have a hard time inferring people’s emotions by the looks on their faces (though not all people with prosopagnosia do). I’ve taught myself that a furrowed brow could mean anger or confusion. But the subtleties that normal people use to distinguish whether someone is confused or angry by their faces are beyond me. So I’ve learned to hear things in their voice—catches, emphases, pauses, etc., for clues to emotion. I’ve learned that posture means things, i.e., when shoulders hunch, someone is feeling shame, embarrassment, or depression. Even subtle things like the tilt of a chin or a muscle twitch (depending on which muscle twitches) can convey layers of emotion and character.

So now you know a lot about me, but how does this apply to writing? Because faceblindness governs the way that I experience people, the only way I know how to characterize people is by the ways I’ve learned to cope. I suspect that’s what strikes people about my characterizations. They’re different. I try to convey emotion through action and speech—it’s the way I understand and communicate it. Honestly, I sometimes think I’m ham-handed in it, that I’m too obvious. That a combination of a blink and a twitch is over-the-top. But other people don’t see what I see…

And maybe this is the gift that I can give other writers. Put yourself in my shoes. When you introduce a character, make them distinct by something other than their facial characteristics. (I can’t remember who a character is just because you’ve told me they have blond hair or are Asian.) As you develop the plot and character, think about how you would describe someone/some emotion if you couldn’t rely on a face to tell you. What else would give away a person’s character or their feelings?

And me…I’m trying to remember that most readers care about people’s faces. In fact, my first beta reader (my daughter) will often tell me, “Mom, you never tell people what Character A looks like.” In my thinking, I’ve told the reader everything about the character and what he or she “looks like.” Except I’ve forgotten the face. So I have to pull out my “cheat sheet”—a list that describes the facial characteristics of my characters—otherwise, I can’t remember what color hair or eyes they have.

If we do those things, we can all write better books.

===

C. M. Keller is an award winning novelist and the author of SCREWING UP TIME and SCREWING UP BABYLON. She loves old movies and poison rings. In her spare time, she searches for that elusive unicorn horn. Currently, she's hard at work on her next young adult novel, the third book in Mark and Miranda's story. She blogs about her time-travel series at Screwing Up Time Blog.

Check out Connie's time-travel awesomeness here:
Book 1
Screwing Up Time

Book 2 Just released!
Screwing Up Babylon 


Thanks, Connie, for sharing your experiences with prosopagnosia and making character descriptions more multi-faceted. I certainly learned a lot. How about you, readers?

Do your character descriptions tend to focus on facial appearance? How might you expand your understanding of character description with a reader like Connie in mind?

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Supporting writers: six tips

I'm fortunate to have great support both inside and outside writer/author circles. But that outside support didn't come simply from wishing for it. I had learn how to be open with friends about my struggles and my needs. Some friends came through with help I didn't know to ask for, others asked "how can I help?" and wanted some direction and education to be a good support.

My intuitively helpful friends and the support they gave is at the heart of the list below. Share it with the people who love you and wish you well, with thanks for all the ways they already brighten your world.

Six tips for supporting writers  

1. Take an interest. Ask what they’re working on, what they like about it, where they’re struggling.

2. Offer resources. Research can be a major challenge--offer helpful Internet links, books, and access to experts the writer could interview.

3. Provide practical helps. Babysit or invite the writer’s kids for a playdate with your kids. Offer to drop off their dry cleaning when you’re planning an errand run. Carpool. Take the family an occasional meal.

4. Encourage. More than anything, writers need voices of hope in their world. Writing is labor intensive and filled with rejection and disappointment. Writers need to hear that stories matter, that using their gifts brings more light into the world.

5. Advise only if invited. Writers need sounding boards, so let them bounce ideas off you very informally, and give them a sense of what might or might not work in a story, based on your life experiences. But please beware of telling a writer he or she should write. Writers can give their hearts and talents only to a story that captures their own imagination.

6. Celebrate. When a writer publishes something, even if it’s in an online literary magazine, praise them and celebrate with them. Share links on social media sites. Purchase copies of their work for yourself or as gifts if it’s a genre that might appeal to others more than to you.

[This is a modified expert from my October guest post for Connecting Stories, the blog of Lynn Simpson]. 

How well are you supported outside the writing community? What steps might you take to make your needs and wishes known to non-writer friends and family?

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Book trailer tips

I'm not here today, I'm over at Rabble Writers, sharing tips on making book trailers.

Come on over to learn what goes into planning, how to avoid "bait and switch" marketing, where to find low-cost or free images and music, how to avoid getting sued for copyright infringement, and much more.

Host a rambler
If you're interested in hosting a stop in my blog ramble for Never Gone, please use the form HERE I'll make ebooks available for giveaways and provide content unique for your blog if you wish.

What do you think of book trailers? What, in your opinion, makes one effective?

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