world building – Kate M. Colby

Today, I’m thrilled to welcome author Andrew Q. Gordon to my website. He shares his five favorite fantasy and science fiction worlds. After you’ve checked them out, say hi in the comments and share your own favorite literary worlds!

1) Middle-Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien may not have created the idea of world building in epic fantasy, but he is certainly one of the first names people think of when you say world building. I was 12 when my mother brought home the Fellowship of the Ring. I was so engaged my parents needed the jaws of life to get me away from the book. When I first read The Lord of Rings, there were no movies to taint my view of the Shire, Rivendell, Gondor, or the Misty Mountains. I had to ‘see’ those places in my mind. Decades later, I still see my vision of Middle-Earth and not Peter Jackson’s.

There is a deep history that seeps from the pages of the LOTR because Tolkien wrote an entire history for Middle-Earth before he finished the books. There is no info dump of backstory. Instead, it’s sprinkled throughout the books in a way that makes you want to get lost in this amazing world.

2) The Land: Another of my childhood favorites – Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Although Donaldson followed the Tolkien playbook of an epic quest stretched over a trilogy, this was nothing like LOTR. There is so much to love about Donaldson’s world –the places, the beings, the people, and lore. Loric’s Krill, the Staff of Law, Berek Halfhand, the Bloodguard, Forestrals, and of course Lord Foul.

I’ll admit I wasn’t as fond of the Last Chronicles as I was of the First and Second, but Donaldson did use the last set of books to give us a more detailed look at the history of the Land. He used these pages to give depth to people and things we read about in passing in the first two books.

3) The Eternal Champion Universe. This is probably cheating because Michael Moorcock didn’t create one world for his champions (Corwin, Dorian Hawkmoon, Elric of Melnibone and others). Despite that, there is a common thread that ties them all together. Each of the heroes is a different aspect of the Eternal Champion. What makes this universe so brilliant is each champion is unique. This isn’t the same character transported across worlds. Corwin is nothing like Elric who isn’t like Dorian.

At one point, Moorcock brings the various champions together for a series and there is no confusion. Each character is distinct and defined. It is really hard to break this ‘world’ down because it is so diverse, but I remember how much I loved this author and his vision.

4) Amber: Roger Zelazny’s Amber. Amber is the one true world. Every other place is a ‘Shadow’ of Amber. The princes of Amber can move through the Shadows and create new worlds as they move. As many others will opine, the first five books in the series – commonly referred to as Corwin Cycle – were better than the second five books – the Merlin Cycle. The series also ended up feeling unfinished by Zelazny’s untimely death.

Zelazny wove many of the myths of Earth into the story arc, offering his own unique explanation on how they came to be. The Pattern, Court of Chaos, Logrus and how royalty walked the Shadows made this a must-read series.

5) Valdemar (Or for the true nerds, Velgarth): This one has a special place for me. When I picked up Mercedes Lackey’s Magic’s Pawn, the first book in The Last Herald Mage series, I had no idea Vanyel, the main character, was gay. It was high fantasy, it had magic, it was my kind of book. That Vanyel, the savior and not some throw away side character or evil maniac bent on destroying the world, made it special.

Lackey’s stories go backward and forward through her timeline. The way she seamlessly connects the dots, explains things we read about in one book by showing us the lives of new characters in other series was masterful. As with all things, there were books I enjoyed more than others, but the entire universe is magnificent. Although Valdemar is a kingdom and reads like a magical medieval nation, the Shin’a’in and Tayledras draw there heavily on Native American culture. Reading the entire library of her books you will see elements from many of Earth’s cultures and some that have no resemblance to anything we know. All in all, this is really magical world and one I could easily move to and be happy. (Assuming I got to give myself great power in the transition, of course.)

Honorable mentions: David Edding’s Belgariad Universe; Pern, by Anne McCaffery; The World of The Riddle Mater of Hed, Patricia A. McKillip; Dune, by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov’s vision of the Milky Way.

Author Bio

Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write. Andrew’s imagination has helped him create works of high fantasy, paranormal thrills and touch of the futuristic. To find out more about Andrew, follow him on his website or on Facebook (links below).

You can sign up for his monthly newsletter and get a copy of The Last Grand Master, Book One in the Champion of the Gods series: http://aqgsignups.getresponsepages.com

Follow Andrew:
website: www.andrewqgordon.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewQGordon

Once I have a basic idea for a novel, I like to start gathering inspiration and references. As I’ve described before, for me, the theme and message of my novel tend to be the first aspects to emerge, with plot following shortly after. However, even before I flesh out the story line, I like to have a solid idea of what my characters and their world are like. I realize this may seem a bit counterintuitive to some writers. However, I prefer to do world building before plot mapping for the following reasons:

Setting and characters define mood and morality. Because theme and message are the most important aspects of a novel to me, I want the world and its people to be built to best convey these elements.

Setting influences plot. Most writers dream up their plot and then shape their world to best facilitate the action. While I do this, too, I like to start with a rough map of where my action takes place. After all, the novel’s world and its people will determine the reality of the novel, the parameters of the fictional world, which give a writer guidelines on what the plot can and cannot do within this world.

Characters influence plot. If I know my characters fairly well before I begin plotting, I have a good idea about what they will and will not do. This prevents me from taking the plot in a direction that does not seem authentic to my characters.

Now, while all this sounds hunky-dory, sometimes it is difficult to find inspiration. Or, even if you breathe inspiration with every air particle, it is sometimes difficult to find the right inspirational references for your particular setting and characters — especially if your idea is in a genre or part of a theme you haven’t worked with before. The latter has been my case for this year’s NaNoWriMo preparation. I have lots of ideas, but the setting and characters I have chosen to execute my plot are unlike anything or anyone I’ve crafted before. Therefore, I couldn’t rely on past knowledge. I had to actively go out and seek inspiration. In case you are in the same boat, here are some time-tested ways to gather inspiration and references:

Research, research, research. No matter how familiar you are with your writing material, even if you have chosen to “write what you know,” there is always more to learn. Scan some Wikipedia pages, search Google images, go to the library, visit a location or group of people, if you can. Just get knowledgeable. This Wikipedia page was a good starting place for me.

Read books and watch movies. Absorb other media in which a similar setting or character types can be found. By seeing what others have done, you will know the hallmarks of your chosen world and people. This is good, because it allows you to align yourself with certain genres and themes and make your book more marketable. On the other hand, it also allows you to see what’s already been done, so you don’t repeat history.

Write what you know (almost). I have an intense love-hate relationship with this advice. On one hand, it’s true — writing about what you know makes writing easier, as you have less research to do and more confidence in your material. It can also be really boring. Therefore, if you decide to place your novel in a familiar setting or base your characters on familiar people, make sure to mix it up for yourself. Give your hometown a mysterious abandoned warehouse or beautiful sunflower field, give your well-known characters an unknown disease or occupation. There’s lots of ways to take a familiar home base and turn it into exciting new territory.

Get on Pinterest. Pinterest (and other image websites) are full of visual inspiration. You can start with one search, which will yield hundreds of images, and then take suggestions and follow them down new rabbit holes. Also, you can keep all of your references in one place and see how different elements work together. For an example, you can check out my NaNoWriMo 2014 Pinterest board and the board for another project idea.

Keep a journal. You never know when inspiration will strike. Keep an electronic or paper journal handy and photograph or write down every little thing that catches your fancy. (After all, we can’t spend all day on Pinterest and Instagram.) At first, these random snapshots will seem relatively insignificant. Over time, you’ll have an overflowing well of inspiration. The journals on the right are mine – gray for fiction and red for nonfiction.

Okay, so now you’ve researched your ideas and gathered your inspirational references. You know what settings like yours look like and what characters like yours look and act like. You have used what you know as a gateway into a larger fiction world. You have spent time applying your knowledge to find visual representations of your setting and characters and continued mapping daily inspirations for the future. Now what?

Well, of course, you’re the inspired one! You know what to do — get writing!

However, if you want some more Kate advice, tune in tomorrow for my biggest rule on putting inspiration into action: The Puffin Rule.

And as always, NaNoWriMo participants can check me out and add me as a writing buddy here.

How do you compile inspirational references? How important is seeking out inspiration for your writing process? Let me know!