Hello Word Lovers! I’m a bit shocked at how fast the month of January has flown by. But what can you do about it right! I figured we would keep right on with the same topic of World Building, seeing how that is my current work situation. So today, we will talk about things that we usually forget about because they are so ingrained into our way of life. Some of this, I might have mentioned in my last blog, but in researching this I found that some of these topics pop up a couple of times.
Hospitals
Let’s be honest, somebody always gets hurt in the best stories. More than likely, if your character(s) are on the run, I doubt they go into the emergency room. So depending on your fantasy world, what do people do when they get sick or hurt? Is there a futuristic hospital that fixes people up in ten minutes? Maybe the world hasn’t advanced that far and they still have healers or witch doctors that handle these situations? If they are on the run, are basic medical supplies available at the local shop/store? If you’re going to hurt someone, you need to make sure there is a way to deal with it.
Trash/Public Waste
So, no matter how advanced your world is, there’s going to be trash. Is your world so awesome that they have found a way to deal with trash? Do robots come by every week and remove waste from buildings or do actual garbage men still exist? Junk/scrap yards for that steampunk fantasy, do they have restricted access? I know, not something you think about normally. But I have often wondered what happens to that cloth that was holding the moldy bread.
Food
We have grocery stores and farmers market to get our food. But in most stories, our hero(s) are usually on the run. Where and how do they get this food? The kindness of strangers maybe? A long journey will usually require money to pay for this food? Do they do hard labor for enough supplies to the next town? And how does the food make it to the markets/store? Are there lands dedicated to farming? Can anyone farm and sell their goods? Or is the food made in labs by machines? Don’t be afraid of this little detail, I know there doesn’t need to a food scene every chapter, but for that one scene, you might want to figure out how the hero eats.
Water
The life giver for humanoid beings and animals alike, well on earth at least. Does this world of yours have water? If so is it clean? Or has centuries of pollution left the water supply scarce to where people kill over it? If water is abundant, how do the people get it into their homes? Does the water need to be treated? Does it taste different on in the wacky world? Or is it something totally different from water, created by the government to replace water? Do they bath with water or something totally different? We only tend to think of water when our characters are on the run and need food and water or die, but we need to have it figured out if water is easily accessible or not.
Construction
The last one for today will be construction. When you are creating this world, give a five-minute thought to how these towering building you are going to describe got built. Your world so advance that robots do it all in a matter of days? Or do mages wielding magic move heavy materials to where they need to be binding them with their spellcraft? Does it just take a builder a push a few buttons to see his masterpiece built? Can a crew of five people build a skyscraper or does it take a crew of a thousand?
Every detail might not make it into the story, but you as the writer should have the basics in the back of your mind for easier writing. I know, you just want to get to the meat and potatoes of the story. Trust me I’m the same way, I hate being tied down by finite infinite details. I have also found that having a basic understanding of how everything works, allows me more freedom when I do sit down to write. If I already have these things notated and the research is done, I don’t have to stop my creative flow to try and make it work into a story. That my friends can cause plot holes. Well, that’s it for today, later Word Lovers.
Chronicles of a Newbie Writer 