World building

World building is easily one of the most difficult things you will encounter when writing Fantasy. There's an entire universe trapped inside your mind and it's only way out is through your fingertips. There are wars, broken hearts, tragic deaths, and unsolvable crimes. Some of the adventures you yourself are a part of, others you simply sit back and watch as the characters forge their own destinies. 

But like everything else, world building gets very, very, complicated. 

First you have to deal with the system of government.

• Monarchy or Constitutional Government?
• Democracy or Dictatorship?
• Unitary states or confederations?
• Is there a government?

This, besides the name of your world, is one of the largest factors in shaping your universe. The next is species:

• Only Human?
• No Humans?
• Fae?
• Elven?
• Orc?
• Centaur? 
• Alien?
• Other?
• Some of the above?
• None of the above?
• Or all of the above?

And last but not least, there's the cultural climate. 

• War or Prosperity?
• Famine or Explorative? 
• Plagues or Oppression?
• Rich society or massive Coups?
• Instability or years of Tradition?

These three categories are essential to building the base of your universe.  And while most times it's not hard to move with the flow of your story, if you don't have a groundwork for your world you will find that you will often contradict yourself during your writing. 

Next we move on to the second tier of world building: culture, history, and commerce. I'll admit, these may seem like a bit of a bore, who cares what kind of currency they use or why they have this parade on that day? But in the end you will thank yourself because readers will ask these questions over and over again. 

Take the Sordian chronicles for example. In those particular novels Thane and I's universe has a ceremony called the Celebration of the Classes. For five weeks representatives of all sixteen classes gather in the capital of Zion to participate in a grand festival and battle for the affection of the people. There are feasts, singing, dancing, parades, and more tournaments then you could imagine. Now in that world hierarchy is everything, so having the awe and affection of the people is critical. If the Sordians didn't have this ceremony there is no possible way the average populous would put up with the oppression they receive from the more powerful classes. It's essential to their cultural state. 

Now that's that out of the way we'll start with history. Your world's history is critical to their commerce and culture.

• What wars have been waged?
• Who founded your government or world?
• What social injustices have been/are being committed?
• What great victories have been won?
• How are heroes honored and who are they?
• What holidays do they have that celebrate historical events?
• Who are the heroes everyone knows about?
• Who are the villains everyone knows about?
• What are historical events that your world is ashamed of?
• What are historical events they glorify?
• What are common misconceptions about your world's past? 

Now don't panic, I know I'm overloading you with a lot of questions that you may not have the answers to. You don't have to answer all of these right this moment. Many times these questions will be answered by your characters as you continue writing. However, it is very important that you write your ideas down. If you don't, it is very likely that you will create a massive plot hole that will be extremely hard to fix. 

Next is your commerce. 

• What is the financial state of your world?
• If their are multiple countries/kingdoms/etc... what is their financial state?
• What currency do they use?
• How is trade normally accomplished?
• What are the trade polices that exist between kingdoms/cities/etc...
• Who provides for agculturul needs of your world?
• Who cares for the livestock?
• What is used for transportation?
• How advanced is their technology?

All the above categories decide your world's culture, and this culture decides a great majority of your underlying plot. 

• What are popular nursery rhymes?
• What are popular songs?
• Are mercenaries and bounty hunters looked down upon or are they a crucial part of society? 
• What are the capital punishments?
• What Racism, Sexism, or hierarchy exists?
•  What holidays and festivals are celebrated?
• What religion is the most prominent?
• Are their multiple religions?
• Are bars, taverns, saloons, or other like establishments looked down upon?
• What schools are provided?
• What is the average education of any given individual?
• What is the average education of the upper class (If there is one)?
• How do those with power perceive those without?
• How large a part of your culture is war?
• How large a part of your culture is trading?
• How does the economic state of your world affect the common people?
• What are typical pastimes?
• What are typical customs?
• What clothing is 'in style'
• How are the impoverished taken care of?
• What are common Myths?
• How are stories told?

These are only a few of the questions you will run into as you create your universe. Next is the general questions:

• What is the climate?
• What is the landscape?
• What areas are forbidden?
• What landmarks are known?
• What ruins are known?
• What animals are domestic?
• What animals are wild?
• What are the largest towns?
• How is news distributed?
• How is water supplied?
• How is food supplied?

Even after all of these questions there will still be potholes in your story, some big, some small, some you don't even realize are there until a fan asks you a seemingly meaningless question. However, I encourage you to keep building, keep writing, and keep dreaming. Your story will one day be written among the stars, and it will touch the lives of people you will never meet.  

The Devil inside

 

"I trust everyone, it's the devil inside them I don't trust." - John Bridger

Everyone has a dark side. I'm not just talking about your character, I'm also talking about your side characters. I know I keep harping on this, but a character is only as good as their support. So how do you crush a character? Take that support away.

What are the three things your character fears most? 

These are the things you hurt them with. Pain is only as effective as the suffering it causes. Have a trusted ally betray your character in the worst way possible. Maybe it's by confirming their idea that they are worthless, or maybe it's a full out betrayal where the ally never cared about the protagonist at all. 

_____________________

/      |      \

/             |             \

Say you have a table, the table top is your protagonist, they have three key friends/family members that are their support system. L1, L2, and L3. Now lets say that L2 and your protagonist were recently in a fight, and are not speaking. So that leg is now shorter then it was before. Then L3 utterly and completely betrays the protagonist, and the table falls. 

At some point in your story your protagonist must break. Whether they give up, lash out, or shut down is up to you. But one way or another they break, and after the trauma they are left to deal with the collateral damage of their failure. 

Heroes are not perfect. They bleed when they fall down, the courageous are afraid, and the optimists lose hope. But they survive, thats what makes them heroes. They overcome the insurmountable odds that we place in their way. But as F. Scot Fitzgerald warns:

"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." 

It's our job as writers to create a tragedy. The stories we write open doors to those who don't believe they can overcome their situation. And no matter what fans may say, no one will read a novel where there is no conflict and the hero has nothing to lose. It's this darkness, this other side of things that is so crucial to a good story. 

When a character loses their support, they lose much of the trust that is so important to their quest. And wether they still have the support of their other friends or not, it is quite likely that they will no longer trust their remaining companions. Wether it's a death and they are coping with their grief, or  betrayal from someone close, heroes often push others away when in pain. 

Notice I say often, not always. Tragedies are a stylistic technique and can be administered in very different ways, or not at all. It's up to you. YOU are the author. Not your editor, or the publishing agency, not even your friend who reads everything over. In the end the final call is up to you. 

The problem with writing a partial tragedy (I say partial because not everyone has to end up unhappy) is that after the protagonist hits rock bottom, they have to gather the strength to climb back up. But that struggle changes people, it brings out a side that even you may not know your character has. The 'devil' inside doesn't always surface in the way you'd imagine. 

Every character will react differently to destabilization.  Some will lash out, others will internalize anger and despair. Either option creates a cascade of consequences that your protagonist will have to deal with. This 'Devil' inside, though detrimental to a character, is an amazing plot device. 

Due north

                                                                   Photo by Easton Oliver on Unsplash

A character's moral compass is the backbone of character development. One of the more critical parts of your story is how, when, and where, you define your character's moral boundaries. If your story takes place in a modern day, middle-class suburb this probably isn't quite as crucial as it would be for someone writing in a fantasy or dystopian world. However, it still defines and connects your character to the reader in a deeper way. 

Lets say your protagonist, we'll call her Sasha, is an ex CIA operative who found out about some dirty dealings and is now a fugitive. She discovers that the man who killed her parents was a CIA operative and of course, as always happens, she is presented with the decision to kill him. He and his daughter are tied up in their living room and she's got her finger on the trigger. So what does she do? What happens then? Well that all comes down to how you reveal her moral compass. 

If throughout the entire novel she has sought vengeance for her parents death then you would assume that she would kill him. However, if you reveal that she has sworn to not be like the man how murdered her parents it is much more likely that she would stick to her morals. 

But here's the fun part, you don't have to stick to someone's moral compass. Thats where character arc comes in.

Maybe she starts out searching for vengeance. Dead set on the fact that she will kill the man who murdered her parents. However, maybe through the amount of death she sees or through someone she meets, she decided that she's seen enough death and walks away. Or if she was adamant that she would never be like him. But after weeks of death and horrors that he was all apart of, she doesn't care anymore and she shoots him. 

So many possibilities!!!! 

Here are some interesting examples of complex moral compasses:

-~-~-

Morally gray: A character who does too much bad to be a good person, but does too much good to be a bad person.

Sympathetic villain: A character who is a bad person, but whose backstory/character arc makes you feel sorry for, or sympathetic towards them. 

Anti-hero: A character who does bad things to achieve a good goal.

Anti-villain: A character who does bad things to achieve a goal that they believe to be good, but is actually just messed up.

-~-~-

These four compasses, though hard to write, are so much fun. They create very complex characters with in depth backstories that are simply a joy to write or read about. However, there are wrong ways to do some of these characters.

-~-~-

Abusive hero: A character who, while on the right side, is either physically, emotionally, or mentally abusive to those around them simply to seem 'tough'. 

Cardboard villain: A character who does bad things to achieve a bad goal but has one throwaway line about a hard childhood that is expected to put them into one of the aforementioned categories when in reality it just makes them annoying.

The traitor: A character who starts out as a hero/villain, and seems like a hero/villain for the longest time, only to betray their cause for a vague reason. They then maybe receive redemption by sacrificing themselves.  

Robotic villain: A character who is bad to be bad. A one dimensional villain. There's no reason they are what they are besides the fact that they think it's fun.

-~-~-

While these may seem obvious on paper (or screen for that matter) when you attempt to write one of the first four compasses it is easy to accidentally fall into one of the last four. Each of the latter compasses are actually watered down versions of the former, Morally gray - Abusive hero, Sympathetic villain - Cardboard villain, Anti-hero - The traitor, and Anti-villain - Robotic villain. Like I've said before, it is crucial to create a two-dimensional character when you apply any of these moral compasses. Lack of dimension will cause any of the first four compasses to morph into the lesser, much more annoying compasses.

While we think of a hero's moral compass pointing due north, there is always a bit of leeway for where the needle lands. Which begs the question, where does your needle point?