inclusive writing @inclusivewriting - Tumblr Blog

How to Write a Believable World: A Guide to Worldbuilding

Let’s just get to it!

What Is Worldbuilding?

Worldbuilding is the part of the writing process that sets up where your story takes place

When you build a world, you include the landscape that your characters will inhabit, the tone of your story, its major preoccupations and themes, as well as the nature of its morality

Worldbuilding lays the groundwork for your characters to develop, providing the stage for where your creations will perform.

It’s okay if you can’t answer every question there is about your world, but setting down the basics will help you start writing and building.

What Is the Purpose of Worldbuilding?

The purpose of worldbuilding for writers is to give their story structure and somewhere real to live.

starting point should be to establish the rules and boundaries of your imaginary world and how everything exists within it

8 Tips to Guide Your Worldbuilding Process

Decide where to start. Whether it’s the language spoken by the inhabitants or the apocalyptic landscape, pick the aspect of the world you’re most excited about exploring and start there.

List the rules and laws. The inhabitants who live in this world you’ve created will have their own independent existence. What is their governing system? Who is in charge? Do they use magic in this world? If so, who can use it, and how powerful is it? Setting up boundaries helps create a more realistic world that functions like a real one.

Establish the type of world you want. Pick a genre. Is this a dystopian or fantasy novel (or both)? Does it take place in our Earth or is it an alternate earth? Knowing this will help figure out the tone and mood of your world.

Describe the environment. What’s the weather like? How does it affect the world or planet? Are there natural disasters? Are there extreme temperatures? What natural resources exist in this location? How do people use the land? Establishing the environment and how it impacts the life within it can be a useful detail in the creation of your world.

Define the culture. What do the inhabitants of this universe believe in? Is there religion? Is there a God? Do they have any sacred customs? What do they celebrate? Breathe life into the characters who populate this location by giving them a meaningful existence.

Define the language. How do the inhabitants communicate? Is there a common tongue? Are there any ‘bad words’ that are off-limits? Knowing what can and can not be said in your world can be an apt source for conflict.

Identify the history. What is the history of this place you’ve created? Have there been any world wars? Do the countries within your world have enemies? Are there rival races? Is there a sole antagonist? Providing the backstory for your world can give it an added dimension and make it feel more tangible.8. Use existing works to inspire. Revisit the works of successful authors to get inspiration. Never steal ideas, but review the work of other fiction writers to see how they answer the same worldbuilding questions within their own novel writing.

Use existing works to inspire. Revisit the works of successful authors to get inspiration. Never steal ideas, but review the work of other fiction writers to see how they answer the same worldbuilding questions within their own novel writing.

Somethings to Consider:

Diversity exists everywhere or maybe not

Magic and powers have limit, what are they?

Figure out the technology and it’s availability to the characters and environment

What’s the government system like? Or if there isn’t one — why?

How strict are the rules?

Are people treated equally?

Where do people get their food / water from?

Are there basic commodities: schools, hospitals, etc

Are there jobs? Can anyone work?

What’s transportation like? How isolated is your world?

These are just somethings to consider of course there are many but it’s up to you to decide how detailed you want it!

Please like, follow and reblog if you find these useful!

pens-swords-stuff

There's a tumblr post floating around somewhere that says "We think that if we get better at writing, it will someday stop sounding like we wrote it" or something along those lines.

Does anyone happen to have a link handy? I want to reference it in an advice post.

pigtailsmccully

Was it this one? 🤗

pens-swords-stuff

Yes, thank you so much!!!!!

800-grader

[ID: a tweet by elicia donze that reads "People hate their own art because it looks like they made it. They think if they get better, it will stop looking like they made it. A better person made it. But there's no level of skill beyond which you stop being you. You hate the most valuable thing about your art. /end ID]

thatwritergirlsblog

The steps to traditional publishing

If you decide to pursue traditional publishing, what are the steps after you've written and self-edited your manuscript?

1. Querying

For traditional publishing, you'll need a literary agent 90% of the time.

In order to get a literary agent, you need to query a bunch of them. It is also possible to secure representation at in-person pitch events or on Twitter events like PitMad.

For querying, it is important to compile a list of agents who are reputable and who represent your genre and age category. Then, decide in how many rounds you will query these agents.

Follow their guidelines!

For most agents, you'll need a query letter - a one-page cover letter pitching your book. You'll also need a synopsis, which sets out the entire work in a few pages. Some agents may also request extracts from the manuscript.

2. Getting an agent

If an agent likes your submission they will contact you. Most likely, this will be to request part of your manuscript, or the entire work.

If they still want to represent you after reading the book, they will offer you representation.

You will then sign a contract of representation and the agent will get a percentage of the proceeds of your published books.

3. Agent edits

Not all agents are editors, but most are. If you get an editorial agent, the agent will work with you to polish your novel even more.

This will take as many rounds of edits as is necessary for both of you to be satisfied.

4. Going on submission

Once your book is ready, your agent will pitch the book to editors at publishing houses.

This will usually take multiple rounds and a lot of time.

This is like querying, only more excruciating.

Once an editor shows interest in your work, this process comes to an end.

This also means that the power is back in your hands. Your agent will now let the other editors know that you have an interested editor and that they will have to respond within a certain period if they still want to represent you.

5. Acquisitions

Even if an editor wants to publish your work, they need the go-ahead of the entire publishing house.

This is what acquisitions meetings are for.

The editor will pitch your book to the rest of the company. The marketing, financial etc teams will then decide whether they think the book can be profitable.

6. Offer and auction

If the publishing house wants to publish your book, you will receive an offer from the publisher.

If more than one publisher is interested, the book will go to auction, where the interested publishing houses will bid to publish the work. The best offer will then be accepted.

7. Contract

Once you've decided to publish with a certain house, contract negotiations will begin.

Your agent will be in charge of negotiating on your behalf. However, it is probably a good idea to educate yourself on the things to look out for and to consult with an Intellectual Property lawyer.

Once you and the publisher are satisfied with the contract, you will sign.

You will receive an advance, which is the amount the publisher predicts you will earn in royalties from the book. The first portion of the advance is usually paid upon signature of the contract.

8. More edits

Then, you will have various rounds of edits with your editor to ensure that the book is the best it can be.

Once this is complete, you will probably receive the second portion of the advance.

9. Behind-the-scenes stuff

Your publisher is then in charge of certain procedures necessary for publication e.g. formatting and cover design.

The publishing house will also create a marketing plan, which you should supplement with your own marketing.

10. Publication

And, presto, your book is published.

The process from offer to publication can take anywhere between just under a year to 6+ years.

Should you earn out your advance, you will receive royalty cheques from your publisher.

So, those are the usual steps in broad terms. Some aspects may vary, but this is what you can expect when pursuing traditional publishing.

Reblog if you found this useful. Comment if you have further questions. Follow me for similar content.

newathens

baby i’ve got half finished wips you couldn’t even imagine

newathens

elumish

A (Non-Exhaustive) List of (Red-ish) Flags In Writing

Particularly when writing people with a marginalized identity that you don't hold, it can be hard to tell what is an issue if you're not familiar with it. Research should be your main reference point, but sometimes you need to go with your instincts.

Here is a very non-exhaustive list of things that should flag to you that you need to take another look at it and do some more research:

Is a person/culture/group presented as "backwards", irrational, un-modern, or uniformly aggressive?

Am I using coded language (e.g. thug, slut, slow) to describe a character?

Am I associating sexual habits or preferences with a certain race, religion, gender, or class?

Am I dismissing or making light of devestating historical events that appear or are referenced in the story?

Am I prioritizing the rehabilitation of individuals or groups who commited violence, particularly at the expense of those who experienced that violence?

Are my characters, particularly my marginalized characters, embodying stereotypes with no other characteristics?

Do my marginalized characters exist simply so I can say I have included marginalized characters?

Am I applying every marginalization to one character so that I don't have to "deal with it" in other characters?

Do marginalizations, particularly disabilities, only appear when convenient?

Do marginalized characters, particularly Characters of Color, exist only to guide or care for white characters?

crayyola-deactivated20220827

things you can use in place of cultural monsters

Can’t use golems in your fantasy world because they’re beings that belong to Judaism and you aren’t Jewish? Try using elementals!

Can’t use w*nd*goag in your story because they’re monsters from Native beliefs and you aren’t Native? Try wraiths or forest spirits!

Can’t use Skinwalkers, either? How about changelings, The Thing-type aliens or faeries?

Don’t want to use Christian biblical angels? Try eldritch monstrosities from another world.

Don’t want to namedrop La Llorona, Hachisukisama or the Cupecabrah? How about old-fashioned undead, zombies or ghosts?

Just because certain supernatural beings are only for certain groups, doesn’t mean you have to limit your monsters! There’s plenty of demographic-neutral alternatives to famous creatures that you can use without culturally appropriating or disrespecting people’s beliefs.

crayyola-deactivated20220827

ok which popular person rbed this

dalia1784

No offense but how is any of that cultural appropriation? That’s like saying you can’t use Krampus in your work of fiction because you’ll offend people who celebrate Christmas.

I mean if you’re gonna use a creature like Wendigo or a Golem, make the effort to do some research about them so you can get a clear idea how they are represented in said culture.

I’m not trying to sound rude (apologies if I do sound it) but saying using certain creatures in your story is cultural appropriation is just absurd. Cause to be fair with proper research it would be nice to have some representation of these creatures in media.

crayyola-deactivated20220827

Look I’m not a Native person but I know that w*ndigoag can’t be used by non-Native folks because their beliefs are a closed religion, and I’ve seen plenty of Native folks say that white people shouldn’t talk about them.

I’m not saying that using creatures like that are inherently offensive per say, but its kind of a bad choice to use beings from a religious belief or culture that have already been misinterpreted heavily in media. Chances are, people who make the diluted and incorrect depictions of these monsters probably said the exact same thing.

td;lr like you can, I guess, in some situations but it’d be better not to.

jewblog

i’ve said this before on a previous post but:

using golems as your fantasy “monster” is inherently antisemitic.

they’re not only specific to jewish folklore, but they are benevolent. they’re protectors of the jewish people from those intending to harm us.

you can understand the problematic implications here, yes?

rose-coloured-angel

I have a question: is it okay to have a golem be a protector in your story, even if you’re not Jewish? Would it be better to have them protect, specifically, a Jewish character and their belongings/allies? Or should someone who is not Jewish omit the idea of a golem entirely from their writing? (I am not trying to start and argument or be malicious, I am just curious. I like getting writing inspiration, but I also like educating myself on these types of things and would like to know if I should abandon the effort to include a golem before even starting). Thank you.

dreamyblackchild

In my opinion, I think a golem as a protector/ally for a Jewish character would be a better choice. As long as the golem is not portrayed as a monster or enemy in any way and the story you’re writing is based on Jewish folklore, you can have a golem in your story.

penrosesun

To clarify in a little more detail:

Golem mythology is deeply and intrinsically linked the the concept of Blood Libel.

Blood Libel was the very real historical practice of Christians making up stories about Jews kidnapping and cannibalizing Christian children in order to justify antisemitic genocide. Frequently, Christians even went so far as to plant actual bodies of Christian children in ghettos in order to whip up hate mobs (and often, in order to cover up the child abuse that had actually caused the deaths of the children in question). Many, many, many pogroms and antisemitic genocides were started over accusations of Blood Libel – it’s a real thing that had a real body count. (And as an aside, this is also why you should never draw Jewish people drink blood or eating children – we have a really traumatic history with that accusation.)

The story of the Golem has many variations, and exists in many Jewish cultures, but the basic structure is roughly this:

First, a Christian (sometimes a criminal, sometimes a priest, sometimes just a bigot) attempts to start a Blood Libel by hiding a Christian dead body (often a child he himself killed) in the Jewish quarter. The plot is thankfully discovered, and the villagers, fearful of how close they came to destruction, consult the local rabbi. The rabbi then takes some clay, and using magic, creates a construct with the singular mission of protecting the Jewish people from Blood Libel. In many versions, the Golem is brought to life by the word “Truth” being carved into the clay, because it’s purpose to uncover the truth, ie. to prevent Christians from framing the Jewish community and then committing genocide.

Generally, the fun part of the story happens at this point, after the Golem is brought to life, but before anything important happens. Since it was constructed with only one purpose, Golems are generally hyper-literal and very bad at doing anything other than protecting the Jewish community. People will sometimes try and get the Golem to help with chores, leading to unhelpful and hilarious results when the Golem follows their instructions Amelia Bedelia style. Sometimes, children will try and befriend the Golem, also to hilarious results. Note, however, that the traditional myth DOES NOT include the Golem accidentally harming the children who try to befriend it, or otherwise endangering the community in any way. The Golem’s hijinks are always ultimately harmless, and annoying more than anything. Sometimes the rabbi will even chastise the villagers involved by pointing out that the Golem was made only to be a protector, and if the Golem screwed up their chores, that’s their own fault for treating it like a servant.

The next part of the story typically deals with an attempted Blood Libel, which the Golem is used to thwart. Someone (frequently the same bad actor from the first part of the story, or sometimes their relative who is looking for revenge) attempts to start another Blood Libel. The Golem typically stops or kills the person responsible.

Sometimes – and this is where things get frequently misunderstood – the Golem grows to a gigantic size and gets out of control, and even violent. HOWEVER, it is important to note that this is always in order to protect the Jewish community. If the Golem is unable to fully prevent the Blood Libel, and if some of the villagers are killed by a Christian mob as a result, it will sometimes grow to a gigantic size and tear up the Christian community that murdered the villagers. If a mob has already gathered outside the ghetto walls, sometimes the Golem will single-handedly fight them all back. Sometimes, if the bad actor in question was a priest who was abusing children and starting a Blood Libel to hide it, the Golem will tear apart the local Church, and burn it to the ground. But always, when the Golem becomes violent, it targets those who were attempting genocide, not those who created it (although sometimes there is collateral damage to the ghetto due to the fight).

Regardless of whether or not the Golem grows gigantic and goes on a rampage, the story typically ends the same: the rabbi who created the Golem will see that its purpose has been fulfilled, and so he will retire it. Typically, this is done by erasing or removing the letters that were used to animate the Golem – if the Golem was animated by the word “truth”, the rabbi removes the first letter so that the Hebrew now reads the word for “death”, and the Golem “dies” by reverting back into a lump of clay. Typically, the rabbi then carries the clay back to the community, and stores it in a secret place so that the Golem can be revived if the community is ever threatened by genocide again.

If you’ve deeply internalized the purpose and meaning of this basic mythological structure, and if you’re thought long and hard about the real historical events that made this myth so appealing and culturally important, then I feel like you can easily use Golems in fantasy, even if you aren’t Jewish. But if any of what I’ve just written here strongly conflicts with your idea of Golems as a fantasy trope, you should consider steering clear. If you are using Golems in your story as monsters which needs to be defeated, you are unwittingly placing your main characters in the role of anti-semites and child abusers who are attempting to commit a genocide. And that should maybe give you some pause.