Build a World with Elana

The always wonderful Elana Johnson is here. Her AMAZING debut novel Possession is coming out June 7th, and you HAVE to pick it up. It's that good!

Elana Johnson’s debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) on June 7, 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog and WriteOnCon, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.

Here's a link to the Sampler book club website - very cool idea. You should check it out :)

If you haven't been lucky enough to read Possession yet, check out the first 2 chapters, free, on Elana's website. I know you won't be able to stop there, so here's the link to Amazon where you can buy the book!

Elana's here today to talk about world building. I'm in the middle of creating a world of my own so I can't wait to hear what she says. So, here we go...

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Play God: Why It’s As Fun As It Sounds


Why, yes, as writers we get to play pretend! Especially if you’re writing in the fantasy or science fiction genres.

Because you get to decide what your world is like. You get to decide where the mountains go. If there are two suns or three. If cool tech gadgets exist, or if people can read each other’s minds.

You, in essence, get to play God.

And I think as writers, we like that. We’re control freaks, really. Ha! (Sad, but true.)

So today, I’m going to talk a little bit about world building, particularly the world building that went into my debut novel, POSSESSION.

The basics:

1. When? I knew I wanted the world of POSSESSION to be a futuristic world, but I did not assign a year to it.

When building a world, ask yourself if you need to assign a year. Or at least ask, “Is this near-future?” (25 – 50 years) or “Is this far-future?” (50+ years.) POSSESSION is far future, in my head. That’s all I needed to know.

2. Where? I also knew where in the US I wanted to set most of it, and I tried to stick to the geography that exists in that area.

When building a world, you need to have a starting place, especially for dystopian. It stands to reason that some landmarks and/or cities will still be standing in a few hundred years. In fantasy, I think you can do whatever your heart desires!

So ask yourself: “What will still be around in 100 years that can be a geographical clue for my readers?” You don’t have to name territories or countries or states. But in *your* head, you should know where your story is taking place.

POSSESSION starts out in what is now Utah, and yeah. From there, when you read the book, you’ll know where everything is. IF you’re a geography buff.

3. How? I knew I needed a “how” for my world. All dystopian does. Readers want to know how our world turned into the one they’re reading about. So in your head, as the author, you should know too.

I don’t think we need to know on page 1, though. Or even page 50. But I think the author should know, and the MC should probably know, and can reference it at crucial times.

In POSSESSION, the “how” is actually something paranormal. I just can’t help myself; I’ve never been able to write a complete novel without something paranormal. So POSSESSION possess dystopian characteristics, science fiction elements, and paranormal qualities.

Overall, when building a world, ask: “How did this world evolve out of the one I live in?” Of course, for fantasy, you might not need to do this. For urban fantasy, though, you need to know how your made-up world fits into the real world as we know it.

I think those are the three basic things that authors need to ask themselves to start building a world. In addition, you need a set of “rules” for your world. Things that always are. Laws. Standards. It’s good to make a list of these (do you really think I made a list? Ha! I did not. But some people might), and refer to them as you’re writing. (I had to make my list after and check for consistency.)

Have you written a novel set in a new world? What questions did you ask yourself to get started?

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Me again! Thanks so much Elana. I'm really looking forward to playing like a deity now!