As a fantasy author, creating the worlds my characters inhabit is half the fun. But it can also be a lot of work, because there’s so much you need to know to create a whole world – and most of it never even makes it into the book. To make this easier on myself, I like to use real places as a foundation and build my worlds from there.
For my adventure fantasy, The Shifter, I wanted to create a lakeside Venice, so I started researching the world’s biggest lakes. Lake Superior had interesting possibilities, but it was pretty deep and cold, and anyone building a city on a lake would probably need it to be shallow. Lake Tanganyika was an option, but it was too long and skinny for what I had in mind. I wanted my city to have a sense of isolation that only a vast expanse of water could create. Then I found Lake Victoria in Africa. Round, shallow, interesting geographic location—it was perfect.
Now that I had my lake, I researched what plants grew in that area, what people ate, and what kind of animals there were. All the little details that make a world come to life, and things that I could easily grab when I needed a detail for a scene. Fishing would obviously be important, so that would be a large industry and where most of Nya’s (my protagonist) odd jobs would come from. In a small city riddled with canals, vehicles would takes up a lot of space, so most people would probably walk. Carriages and horses would be restricted to the very rich or powerful. Instead, boats would likely be used to carry people and goods from one side of the isle to the other. With just a little research I could already see my world coming to life.
I also found some fun real life details I could use. Like how water hyacinths are a problem around Lake Victoria, because they grow so fast and get caught in boat propellers. This translated into a problem my city of Geveg could have, with plants clogging the canals and boat owners needing someone to yank them out by hand. Sounded like a risky job to me, so why not make it even riskier by adding crocodiles to the mix? People desperate for a job would risk being eaten to pull a few plants now and then. And since I knew Nya was going to be poor, this could be something she might consider doing. (And it turned out to have devastating consequence in the third book, Darkfall)
Once I had a basic world foundation, it was time to think about the technology. I wanted my people to be advanced enough to have certain things like clocks and glass, but still maintain a fantasy feel (which can’t have too much science or it starts to feel like science fiction). I picked 16th century Italy, giving the world a Renaissance undertone. Education was available, books existed, commerce was more developed, but it was still an old-fashioned world. I cross-referenced this with the natural resources of my African lake climate, so I could see what technologies would have developed and which wouldn’t have. For example, if there’s no access to gold, then you don’t have gold smithing or gold jewelry.
Then it was on to style. (This is where the artist in me came into play) What would the art look like? How would these people decorate? Again, I went back to my base influences. The African lake and the Italian city. I decided to mix the two and go for a Byzantine feel. Arches, tiles, mosaics, beads, bright colors and patterns. Textures.
And of course, every culture has a religion (if not several). I decided to give my world a spiritual side, but not one that required the deities to actively participate in the lives of the people. Something that guided morality and faith, but didn’t dominate it. Saints popped into my mind (couldn’t even tell you what inspired that) and since the story involved sisters, I wanted to make all the Saints female and sisters. Alliteration naturally took me to the Seven Sisters, and that worked into the seven deadly sins. My Saints became the opposite, and represented the seven virtues. Nya’s patron Saint is Saint Saea, Sister of Compassion. That really fits Nya since she gets into the trouble she does by being compassionate.
Slowly, my world took shape, and it was time to start naming things. I used an African lake as a world foundation, so I thought it would fun to create names from African words. I chose Geveg as my city’s name, because geveg means struggle, which suits a city struggling under the occupation of enemy forces (which it is). That enemy is called Baseer, which is a derivative of beseer or hurt, because they’re the ones doing the hurting. Pynvium, the magical metal in my story, comes from pyn, the word for pain. Few people are ever going to know the meanings when they read the book, but having a little secret makes it more fun for me. And since Afrikaans is close to Dutch, I’ve actually had readers e-mail me asking if a certain name really does mean something in particular. Many of my names have hidden meanings in them, and you can get a hint about those characters if you happen to know what their name means.
Once you name something it’s yours, so I had my world and my story and I was ready to write it. And figure out what kinds of troubles I could cause poor little Nya in her fun little world. Because for me, the other half of the fun is seeing how my characters get out of the messes I put them in.
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Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, and BLUE FIRE. DARKFALL, the final book of the trilogy, is due out October 4, 2011.
She lives in Georgia with her husband, three cats and one very nervous freshwater eel. You can visit her online at www.janicehardy.com, chat with her about writing on her blog, The Other Side of the Story (http://blog.janicehardy.com/), or find her on Twitter @Janice_Hardy.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Janice.
Janice – How I admire your ability to create a completely different reality. Even though you start with real places, you build your own world, and that is exciting. Thanks for sharing your process. I also respect the fact that you base the world you create on the “homework” you do. I think that lends authenticity to an author’s work.
Janice, your books are on list to read and I can’t wait. It’s interesting to read how you built the flavor of your books.
Elizabeth, Thanks inviting Janice!
I love how you blend real-life locations, cultures, and words together to make something completely your own. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your creative process. I’m inspired to start building my own worlds as well!
Thanks for the wonderful glimpse into your creative process. A massive endeavour, creating new worlds, but what a thrill it must be to bring it all together.
Thank you Elizabeth for letting me stop by and visit today. Looking forward to some fun conversations abut world building.
HL Banks: Most welcome. I do enjoy it when all those random facts start becoming a society and a place. Especially when they spark something in the story itself.
It’s a great method. I prefer to read science journal or articles when I try to build a fantasy world. They often give me inspiration to new technology and new world. For example scientists can make things disappeared now. It will be good to use in a fantasy world. Your book covers look gorgeous. Do you have input in them?
Chemical Fusion
Thanks so much for coming by today, Janice! I think your thoughts on world-building will be useful for many genres–I’m building a small town from scratch now, and will be sure to incorporate some of your tips. :)
Enid: Oo science journals. Good tip! And thanks about the covers. I actually did have input. I even did mock ups for Blue Fire and Darkfall, and the illustrator (the talented Brandon Dorman) used my concepts for his illustrations. I’m trained as a graphic designer, so designing my own covers was such a thrill.
Margot: I think so, too, thanks! There are so many moving parts in a world, and it’s easy to have things that don’t work together end up together. The real world foundation really helps me avoid goofs.
Teresa: Oh cool, thanks. I hope you enjoy them.
Linda: Most welcome. World building is a ton of fun, even if they aren’t fantasy worlds. Even real world writers can think about what goes into their “worlds” to help craft deeper, richer stories. The more you pay attention to what’s around you, the more influence it can have on you. Great for plotting!
Elizabeth: Yay! I do think fantasy world building tips can help even non-fantasy writers. It’s like it forces you to pay attention to details you might otherwise take for granted.
Creating the world and the inhabitants seems like a huge amount of work, but also a lot of fun. I would need a book bible just to keep track of all the words, characters, animals, etc.
Helen: I do keep a bible of sorts. I have a world file where all my notes and ideas go. I break it down to headers that I know I’ll reference, like food, flora and fauna, climate, city details, etc. The more organized I can make it, the easier it it to use and keep track of.
Great tips. I love Janice’s ideas for making world creating easier.
World building is tough. And now that I think about it, I did take some of my memories of living in Arizona to construct the world in my next book.
Natalie: Thanks!
Alex: I think a bit of write what you know comes into play as well. We can take something we’re familiar with and turn it into something else to serve our stories.
It’s impressive that you can build a fantasy world, keep track of everything in there, and keep it consistent though out a story >:)
Cold As Heaven
I’ll bookmark this for the future. Still have a fantasy story in mind, though not sure I’m delving back into fiction again…
This was really helpful and for some reason uplifting. Thanks for sharing. I really like your book covers.
This post is awesome! I just put up one about a similar worldbuilding technique and one of my commenters sent me over here. I love seeing your process, especially the way your chosen location affected everything else.
Thanks for sharing!
I remember reading another post where you mentioned looking up real lakes and wanted to have Venetian style canals but this in-depth look into your worldbuilding was fascinating and fun. Makes me want to worldbuild (well, worldbuild *more*) for a story I’m brainstorming largely set in an Italian Renaissance inspired city-state– so much pretty.
– Sophia.
Cold As Heaven: Thanks! Usually by the time I’m into the story itself the world has solidified and it really isn’t that bad. It’s the unusual detail that gets me.
L. Diane: Good luck if you go back to it ;) And have fun with it!
Miriam: Thanks! I’ll have to go take a peek at yours now.
Lord Reblik: Aw, I’m glad it was uplifting. I’ve never been told that about world building before. Thanks!
Sophia: Oh, that would make such a pretty setting. All those creative people, the style, the art.
Terrific interview! Thanks to you both – love the peek behind the curtain.
Very interesting, the step by step process of creating the world and the reasons for the choices of place and names.
Thank you Janice for sharing and thank you Elizabeth for hosting.