VENGEANCE IN BLOOM: World & Locations Development

I’ve been working on ViB this week which is the first in a series of short stories I’m putting together. I’ve been developing the world within which the entire series will take place and the key location where the first story in the series plays out. As I’ve mentioned before, the series’ theme is that of a dark western, based around the gold rush era with a mix of fantasy.

It’s been very interesting and somewhat frustrating researching that era. With my schedule, the only research tool that I have is the internet and I’d much rather go to the library or a nice book store and buy some reference materials. Although the internet is vast, without the correct terminology or search criteria, you can search for hours without finding what you’re looking for. I’ve been looking up old mining towns and trying to find maps and/or images that depict city layouts and landscapes of the “Wild West”.

Most of what I’ve developed for the overall world will only be mentioned here and there in the first story and will be slowly revealed throughout the rest of the series. Developing the world has been one of the easiest and most enjoyable parts for me, aside from character development of course, and the world seemed to come together all by itself. As I thought about the gold rush era, rock quarries, and darkened mineshafts that burrow deep into the earth, it didn’t take long before I envisioned all sorts of monstrous creepy crawlies and whatnot that could exist in this world. It all took an unexpected but exciting turn for the better.

For the city that the first story plays out in, I was able to find some information and images, not as much as I would’ve liked, but enough to get me going on the basic buildings and structure shapes that were present in that time period. I snagged some images of old western towns and after about a day or so of “studying” them, I was able to come up with a layout for my city. I broke out the pencil and graph paper and started sketching it out old school D&D style. I’m happy with what I’ve ended up with. I have intersecting streets, dark alleyways, and more than enough structures to use for the story. Now, my characters will be able to leave their creaky-floored hotel rooms, walk pass the bustling saloon and the women standing outside the brothel, make a left at the general store and scope out the bank across the street while keeping a look out for the sheriff.

At first, I was just going to come up with the layout of the city as I wrote the story, but I like the idea of having it mapped out better because it makes it feel that much more real to me. I will be able to better map out my scenes and know where the characters are going. I’ll be able to see how quickly it takes for them to get from one building to the next and I’ll know what buildings they will pass along their route. I’m very interested to see how my characters use the city’s layout to survive.

I’ll be continuing my research and tweaking what I’ve come up with so far. I’ll keep you posted.