5.WRITING PROGRESS: Develop-World Development

Developing a world can seem like a very daunting task, especially when you are not sure where or how to begin. Many questions come to mind about world building but one of the most important ones are "How much of the world do you need to  develop?" And the answer,  "How much of the world do you really need?"

Ultimately, like most things, it all depends on your story. Some stories do not require the development of an entire world because everything may take place in one location, a village, city, or country/kingdom . Other stories, where characters travel from place to place my need the entire world developed and some other tales may cover multiple worlds as well as dimensions. The story dictates what you develop and how much of it.

Sometimes, even though a story takes place in one location, you may have to develop at least the general basics of the world that houses it, to add realism and depth.

If you've created characters, organizations, and/or locations for your story before getting to this point, the development of your world has already begun. The purpose of this section is to pull all of those elements together onto one giant cohesive playing field Which will become a seamless world, star system, or universe for your characters to live in.

One of the key things to remember is to stay on track and make sure what you develop for your world is in line with what your story needs.

NAME

What is your world called?

LOCATION

Where is your world located? Star System, Universe, etc… This is mainly used for stories with multiple worlds.

TIME PERIOD

What is the current era/age of your story? Date and time.

BIOSPHERE

Atmosphere

Air, Climate, Weather, Gravity.

Land Masses

Woodlands, Arctic, Deserts, Islands, Swamps, Marshlands, Tropics, etc...

Animal Life

Animal types in general.

Special or Unique animal types.

Plant Life

Plant types in general.

Special/Unique plant types.

PAST

Background relevant to the story

PRESENT

Current events relevant to the story

FUTURE

Relevant to the story

RACES: At least one on each tier is a good start.

Tier One: Upper Class

1

2

3

Tier Two: Middle Class

1

2

3

Tier Three: Lower Class

1

2

3

RACE CULTURE DEVELOPMENT: These may be some questions to ask yourself?

Concerning the culture development, there will be different levels to the depths with which you create your races. Some races may not need as much detail as others simply because they are just not that important to the story but, just be sure to have the main races accounted for though.

It looks like a lot but, if you've made developments in the earlier areas of the writing process, your world may not be that difficult to pull together because you've done most of the work already.