Dead words are simply words which are so overused in the English language, they no longer have much meaning nor do they add any emotion to the work. This applies to some teachers guidelines in various schools and even some editors may follow these guidelines.
that
so
a lot
like
got
very
You might even see out there on the internet to never use the word "said". I am a not a strong supporter of using the word "said," but I don't think you should use it every single line. Spice up your writing with emotion words rather than using the constant "said," but don't over do it to where you never see the word "said". Sometimes, you don't even need dialogue tags, especially if it's a conversation or fight between two characters. The reader can keep track of who's saying what.
"That" tends to take away emotion from the subject or object of the sentence. It's easy to replace with who, whom, or which. In turn with each other depending on what the sentence demands.
"So" is commonly a passing of time, and if you're looking for word count, it's much easier to replace with a longer sentence. You can even cut it completely and no harm done.
"A lot" you know, I don't understand why this one is a dead word. I see nothing wrong with it. It simply expresses there is an abundance of something. Maybe they just want you to use fancy language.
"Like" this one gets irritable after a while. It's used for comparisons and saying if you have crushes on people. It's easily over used, I see nothing wrong with it in conversation or dialogue, but it's generally best to avoid.
"Got" I got a frog in my pocket. Replaceable with "have" or "received," same general use as the word "like."
"Very" usually in conjunction with the word "like," meant to rank importance on a certain subject. Use fancier language when not in dialogue.
I'm not saying you can never use these words either. I use them when I cannot reword the sentence, replace it with one of my suggestions above, or when it's in dialogue. They are good words, I just recommend you don't use them constantly when you can make your writing become a little more lively. Feel free to still use these words as much as you want to, this is just what I have experienced personally as a writer.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Past vs. Present Tense
Before reading this post, I would suggest reading this article first. I'm going to be talking about Past vs. Present Tense in writing and the link takes you to an article I wrote back in High School. The post is an explanatory for what the tenses are and where you may find them.
Books are generally formatted in a Past or Present tense, I have yet to see a book which has the future tense and I imagine it would be quite difficult to read. Some writers struggle with writing in one or the other and many don't even know they are doing it. Other just don't even understand there is a difference, and the rest just want to know how to know what they are writing in and fix it. I commend all of you and hope this post will save a lot of stress and insult at a later date.
Let's break it down in a few ways to quickly see what a writer is writing in.
Past is something which has already happened, which means the text is bound to have more "ed" verbs (actions). Present is something which is happening now, at the time you are reading it-the text will most likely have more "ing" and "s" verbs. This is of course, outside of dialogue as dialogue does not follow the same rules as the surrounding text. Dialogue fluctuates depending on what the characters are doing, they could be talking about past events, planning what is going on in the future, or giving a running dialogue for what is going on at that exact moment.
Examples of Past Tense:
happened
danced
talked
said
exclaimed
stood
shot
came
visited
shown
Examples of Present Tense:
happens/happening
dances
talks
says
exclaims
stands
shoots
comes
visits
shows
Let's try some example passages, see if you can correctly define each paragraph and its tense.
1. "'Hey, Catnip,' says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, page 8, 2008)
3. "I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring.
When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can’t say the same of myself." (Veronica Roth, Divergent, page 1, 2011)
4. "'But if you bought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years. Still practically new,' Helen said optimistically. Unfortunately, her father was no sucker.
Books are generally formatted in a Past or Present tense, I have yet to see a book which has the future tense and I imagine it would be quite difficult to read. Some writers struggle with writing in one or the other and many don't even know they are doing it. Other just don't even understand there is a difference, and the rest just want to know how to know what they are writing in and fix it. I commend all of you and hope this post will save a lot of stress and insult at a later date.
Let's break it down in a few ways to quickly see what a writer is writing in.
Past is something which has already happened, which means the text is bound to have more "ed" verbs (actions). Present is something which is happening now, at the time you are reading it-the text will most likely have more "ing" and "s" verbs. This is of course, outside of dialogue as dialogue does not follow the same rules as the surrounding text. Dialogue fluctuates depending on what the characters are doing, they could be talking about past events, planning what is going on in the future, or giving a running dialogue for what is going on at that exact moment.
Examples of Past Tense:
happened
danced
talked
said
exclaimed
stood
shot
came
visited
shown
Examples of Present Tense:
happens/happening
dances
talks
says
exclaims
stands
shoots
comes
visits
shows
Let's try some example passages, see if you can correctly define each paragraph and its tense.
1. "'Hey, Catnip,' says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, page 8, 2008)
2. "At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.
‘Little tyke,’ chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four’s drive." (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 2, 1997)
When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can’t say the same of myself." (Veronica Roth, Divergent, page 1, 2011)
4. "'But if you bought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years. Still practically new,' Helen said optimistically. Unfortunately, her father was no sucker.
'Lennie, just because the state of Massachusetts thinks it’s okay for sixteen-year-olds to drive . . .' Jerry began.
'Almost seventeen,' Helen reminded." (Josephine Angelini, Starcrossed, page 1, 2011)
Answers:
1. Present
2. Past
3. Present
4. Past
Did you get it right? If not, reread this post and see if you can get it this time. Those are some of my favorite books and I encourage you to read them, especially Starcrossed.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Laws
This is not about laws in writing. No, no, no. I firmly believe there are really no laws with writing or in English because everyone is taught differently and there are so many different variations of English. English vs. American English for instance, they are really almost two different languages. Just think, "i before e except after c, except in words like neighbor and weight." Here's my response to that "law" we learn in school.
I mentioned in my first blog post about setting, which you can find here, that you are given the liberty to create laws inside your story. Laws can be set down by the time period or country as well, so it's always best to do research if you're writing a story where some laws may already be in place. There are countries in the world where men do not generally speak to women at all, nor do they acknowledge taxi drivers. Environmental factors may create laws as well, so it's always best to study your people and setting before trying to create any laws for them.
Laws generally come from the ruling class; in America the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive Branches are generally those who "rule" the country, so to speak, through the people who elect the Congress members and President. In Britain, however, an election is held for who will be Prime Minister, The Queen is head of State and her duties are in this sector only, meanwhile the Prime Minister takes care of Parliament and the other items of the country which do not fall in the Queen's domain.
In my own story, I had to have laws which exist for the humans, much like it is now, laws which pertained to my new race of people, and laws which controlled the interaction between the two. It was a lot of fun deciding how some of the laws of the human world had changed because I introduced a new species, it was also a lot of fun to figure out why the death penalty is such a common practice among this new race. It's going to take some time, but figure out what is against the law, what people regularly do your society, what the punishment is, and how people get revenge on one another. Figure out how they communicate as well because they have to spread the law around somehow.
I mentioned in my first blog post about setting, which you can find here, that you are given the liberty to create laws inside your story. Laws can be set down by the time period or country as well, so it's always best to do research if you're writing a story where some laws may already be in place. There are countries in the world where men do not generally speak to women at all, nor do they acknowledge taxi drivers. Environmental factors may create laws as well, so it's always best to study your people and setting before trying to create any laws for them.
Laws generally come from the ruling class; in America the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive Branches are generally those who "rule" the country, so to speak, through the people who elect the Congress members and President. In Britain, however, an election is held for who will be Prime Minister, The Queen is head of State and her duties are in this sector only, meanwhile the Prime Minister takes care of Parliament and the other items of the country which do not fall in the Queen's domain.
In my own story, I had to have laws which exist for the humans, much like it is now, laws which pertained to my new race of people, and laws which controlled the interaction between the two. It was a lot of fun deciding how some of the laws of the human world had changed because I introduced a new species, it was also a lot of fun to figure out why the death penalty is such a common practice among this new race. It's going to take some time, but figure out what is against the law, what people regularly do your society, what the punishment is, and how people get revenge on one another. Figure out how they communicate as well because they have to spread the law around somehow.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
An Extension From Yourself
This may be a recap to some of you who have been keeping with my blog, others may recognize this from writing groups on FB. I talked about in an earlier post about how your characters are really just an extension from yourself, they are never completely separate. This weeks article was a response I had to someone in my writing group who was wondering about characters and how they could make them seem more human. I'm trying to reinforce some very important principles about writing into your mind.
You have to remember, your characters and your world are just an extension of yourself. Everything you know, you characters know. Your emotions should be tied to theirs if you're writing properly, if even for just a few seconds you have a twinge of pain which is only a part of your character is feeling, you have connected to them.
It's not unusual for writers to talk to themselves either, so if you don't, consider picking this hobby up. Set yourself down in one of your characters shoes and as you wander around doing whatever you normally do, picture people in front of you, preferably other characters you have created. Move around, talk to them out loud, reply to yourself out loud, switch who you are by suddenly standing in a different position and responding to where you were just standing moments before as though you are still standing there. If you act it out, you are more likely to portray your characters more realistically. Writers have multiple personalities, if they were tested most of them could probably be put in Insane Asylum's. Writers just tend to be less harmful or dangerous when they have multiple personalities.
[You may] say you've already figured out your characters, but if you can't get them to talk to you then you aren't really listening to them. Find out how honest they are, are they loyal, what is their social habits? Ask yourself questions like in an interview and don't be mad if they don't give you an answer right away. Spend sometime in the world in which they exist. Figure out the laws they have to live by, how would the laws affect their choices? What is the ultimate point of the story? How is the character going to work towards this ultimate goal? What kind of obstacles are they facing, what obstacles have they faced, what has made them who they are today? It takes a lot of time to really listen to the character, try and talk to them, strike up a conversation. You say you already know the, how about you try to get to know them. Bring how they look and their mannerisms to the front of your mind, ask them question you "already know the answers to" sometimes they'll tell you something different and suddenly you realize they aren't who you thought they were. What are their deepest secrets? Do they have a horror in their past they try to hide? What if one of them is afraid of heights? How do they cope? Do any of your characters have any type of an addiction? How do they respond to other people? Bring two characters to the front of your mind, watch how they interact with each other, carefully observe their attitude... I had to do this same process with my characters just a couple months ago and my story and its point changed completely. The characters suddenly felt real and they had attitude, I loved watching them all sitting together because they were all just so different. Each one has a different background or a culture they come from and it affects who they are. I put a Russian in the same room as a Native American, I put a Chinese person in the same room as someone from Botswana, Africa. It's amazing how different these people really are, their cultural background is beautiful on its own, but as they have to figure out several at a time as they grow together as one, it's a spectacular sight to behold. They've become my creations and therefore my children, I hug them tight in my mind and show them just how loved they are when they've had a life where death is eminent, I feel their pain as though it is mine, I cry with them, I cry for them, I listen to their stories and their jokes. Their laughter is bright and I love it when I see them smile, I hate it when I see them frown, when they fall in love-I fall in love with them and they are really just an extension of me as a person. Take the time to really feel with your characters otherwise you and them will never be one.
You have to remember, your characters and your world are just an extension of yourself. Everything you know, you characters know. Your emotions should be tied to theirs if you're writing properly, if even for just a few seconds you have a twinge of pain which is only a part of your character is feeling, you have connected to them.
It's not unusual for writers to talk to themselves either, so if you don't, consider picking this hobby up. Set yourself down in one of your characters shoes and as you wander around doing whatever you normally do, picture people in front of you, preferably other characters you have created. Move around, talk to them out loud, reply to yourself out loud, switch who you are by suddenly standing in a different position and responding to where you were just standing moments before as though you are still standing there. If you act it out, you are more likely to portray your characters more realistically. Writers have multiple personalities, if they were tested most of them could probably be put in Insane Asylum's. Writers just tend to be less harmful or dangerous when they have multiple personalities.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Accepting Your Flaws
Not everyone is a good writer, it's important to recognize this. I had a hard time recognizing this. This is an excerpt of a reflection on my writing from an essay for English 1010:
I have a distinct feeling many of you reading this are upset at me, perhaps you don't agree with what I'm saying, but just try and send your work to a professional editor or publishing company, it's not an easy journey and you are going to be turned down a million times before someone finally takes pity on you and there's a chance they're a scam. I'm not pretending to be a wonderful writer either, I know there is a lot of holes in my story, but I think my writing is great, wonderful, and me. Accepting your flaws in writing does not mean you beat yourself up, or tear yourself down about your writing. No, that is not going to help you get any better. What helps you get better, is writing even more. Go back and rewrite what you've already got, if you've been writing for two years and only have one story from that time, go back to the beginning, you're bound to find things you want to change or spice up, and this is where you'll start. Something you find in the beginning of your story could very well change the way you write the end of your story.
You have to simply accept the fact you are not the best writer in the world and that there is always room for improvement. Now that I've accepted it, I have the chance to watch how much my writing has changed. I have 2 copies of my novel, the original I had planned on writing without anything really behind it, and the new edition as I re-write the story. I look back often and I sort of laugh at myself for ever thinking my story was grand and brilliant when I know so much more about my world now than I did then. I can't wait for another 2 years when I come back to the edited copy and laugh at myself once more for ever thinking what I'm writing right now is the best-but it is the best for me. It's the best I can do at this point in my life and that's exactly what I need to know.
My point over all of this is: Don't give up. Accept you have flaws. Continue to Improve.
"Many of the arguments I had with my mom during my middle school years were over my writing quality. I had this idea where I was the best writer in the world and every time someone criticized my work it was because they were jealous. I didn’t know how to take criticism at all, eventually my mom learned how to approach the subject, usually giving me minor things and letting me discover everything else on my own. My teachers tended to come back with similar advice as my mom had given me on my papers, and I would take it better from them, which is something I do not understand to this day. One of the major influences on my writing was my teacher Mrs. Heern who came from another country. She always encouraged me to write and kept up my moral as I began to realize just how horrible my writing really was."I was dreadful, I can admit it to anyone today and I've learned how to take criticism. It's going to take a while, perhaps you still think your writing is wonderful and this could've been led on by a teacher who wanted to be nice to you because you're a sensitive person. It could be led on by anything, but if you are going to say you are better than every writer out there, then you can never make any spelling mistakes, you can never have holes in your plot, you can never rethink anything that you've written, and people will never find anything wrong with your writing. That's the extent of it. I have a copy of the third Harry Potter book where "Dumbledore" is spelled "Dumblefore" in print. Even the many editors who went over it several times didn't catch it, for this printing. There are people who do have it fixed in their copies, but it still stands in mine as a constant reminder that even the most famous of authors can make mistakes. No famous writer I have ever met/watched has stated they have no room for improvement and that they are the best writer in the world.
I have a distinct feeling many of you reading this are upset at me, perhaps you don't agree with what I'm saying, but just try and send your work to a professional editor or publishing company, it's not an easy journey and you are going to be turned down a million times before someone finally takes pity on you and there's a chance they're a scam. I'm not pretending to be a wonderful writer either, I know there is a lot of holes in my story, but I think my writing is great, wonderful, and me. Accepting your flaws in writing does not mean you beat yourself up, or tear yourself down about your writing. No, that is not going to help you get any better. What helps you get better, is writing even more. Go back and rewrite what you've already got, if you've been writing for two years and only have one story from that time, go back to the beginning, you're bound to find things you want to change or spice up, and this is where you'll start. Something you find in the beginning of your story could very well change the way you write the end of your story.
You have to simply accept the fact you are not the best writer in the world and that there is always room for improvement. Now that I've accepted it, I have the chance to watch how much my writing has changed. I have 2 copies of my novel, the original I had planned on writing without anything really behind it, and the new edition as I re-write the story. I look back often and I sort of laugh at myself for ever thinking my story was grand and brilliant when I know so much more about my world now than I did then. I can't wait for another 2 years when I come back to the edited copy and laugh at myself once more for ever thinking what I'm writing right now is the best-but it is the best for me. It's the best I can do at this point in my life and that's exactly what I need to know.
My point over all of this is: Don't give up. Accept you have flaws. Continue to Improve.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Who Are Your Characters?
A grand question which was hard for me to answer for ages. It's easy to know characters from books you read, but when you have to create your own, who exactly are they? Your characters should be an extension from yourself. I say, they first thing you need to do to figure out who your characters are, is talk to them. You may say I'm insane, or ask me how that would help, but I believe if you do not talk to yourself then you are not a writer. A writer has to be someone who could be put in an insane asylum because they appear to have multiple personalities, but the difference is, they are still considered a part of society which will not harm you further than your feelings.
I love the site springhole.net, especially the generators they have available. It helped me out a lot and I will be pulling from things I learned there to help you create your characters.
So you've been talking to your characters, hopefully they've replied back because if they haven't you can't move forward. Once you've had some good conversation with them, you're bound to know some of their personality and part of their back story. Write down what you know about them, start from when they were a child and work to what age they are at now/when your novel takes place. Now you know their back story from age 0 to 19, let's say for this, and you are ready to get writing. Not yet, this is not enough information about them.
What kind of society do they live in? This is going to play a major role on who your character is and who they have yet to become. Define your society and see how it has shaped your character in their past, start planning part of your plot so you know how they will react as they grow older.
Do they come from any kind of culture? If they do, you're going to need to do some research. Let's say your character is a Russian living in America, he knows English but he obviously has an accent. Find out what a Russian accent sounds like, be able to portray it whenever he speaks. Also, people from other countries tend to know the English word but will say it in Russian from time to time, the most common are "yes" and "no." If he's asked a question in which he can use either of these two words, he's going to be likely to reply "da" or "nyet." The wh sound in words will also come out sound like a v, so if you want to make it a little more realistic for your readers, then change some or all of them to a v instead. It's like how J.K. Rowling portrayed Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour because their first language was not English, so she made them have an accent in her writing.
The final step is now knowing how they might react in certain situations. Put them in a white room and see how they respond in your head, write down your observations.
It's also safe to say, you should know when your story is taking place and when every character's birthday is so you can cover it if you so desire. Some people will choose not to speak about birthday's, but the character's still have them and the author knows exactly when they are.
Now, for the final step on creating your character. There is a template for figuring out some minor things about your character:
I love the site springhole.net, especially the generators they have available. It helped me out a lot and I will be pulling from things I learned there to help you create your characters.
So you've been talking to your characters, hopefully they've replied back because if they haven't you can't move forward. Once you've had some good conversation with them, you're bound to know some of their personality and part of their back story. Write down what you know about them, start from when they were a child and work to what age they are at now/when your novel takes place. Now you know their back story from age 0 to 19, let's say for this, and you are ready to get writing. Not yet, this is not enough information about them.
What kind of society do they live in? This is going to play a major role on who your character is and who they have yet to become. Define your society and see how it has shaped your character in their past, start planning part of your plot so you know how they will react as they grow older.
Do they come from any kind of culture? If they do, you're going to need to do some research. Let's say your character is a Russian living in America, he knows English but he obviously has an accent. Find out what a Russian accent sounds like, be able to portray it whenever he speaks. Also, people from other countries tend to know the English word but will say it in Russian from time to time, the most common are "yes" and "no." If he's asked a question in which he can use either of these two words, he's going to be likely to reply "da" or "nyet." The wh sound in words will also come out sound like a v, so if you want to make it a little more realistic for your readers, then change some or all of them to a v instead. It's like how J.K. Rowling portrayed Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour because their first language was not English, so she made them have an accent in her writing.
The final step is now knowing how they might react in certain situations. Put them in a white room and see how they respond in your head, write down your observations.
It's also safe to say, you should know when your story is taking place and when every character's birthday is so you can cover it if you so desire. Some people will choose not to speak about birthday's, but the character's still have them and the author knows exactly when they are.
Now, for the final step on creating your character. There is a template for figuring out some minor things about your character:
Courteous:
Risk-Taking:
Ambitious:
Curious:
Self-Controlled:
Nurturing:
Trusting:
Honest:
Loyal:
Affectionate:
Romantic:
Flirty:
Sympathetic:
Altruistic:
Optimistic:
Observant:
Logical:
Social:
Emotions:
These are not simple "yes or no" questions either, so don't get too ahead of yourself saying this is "easy." You are going to put a more in depth answer to all of these and it will take some time and possibly more observations of your character. For most of these you can answer with: always, usually, sometimes, occasionally, not really, never. Others may require something more along the lines of: thrives on it, hidden, very, definitely, okay with it, scared, hates it (these might apply to social or emotions).
I put all of my character information in a note on the original text document where I'm writing, as well as in a separate document where it is easier to view. I set it up so I have their name, what their life was like, minor information, culture, how they respond, birthday. It looks much like this:
Catrina: Catrina was born in England and her family moved to America when she was a child. There is a group of people called the etc. etc. etc.
Courteous: Rarely, Risk-Taking: Rarely, Ambitious: Rarely,
Curious: Rarely, Self-Controlled: Usually, Nurturing: Never, Trusting: Rarely,
Honest: Always, Loyal: Usually, Affectionate: Rarely, Romantic: Mostly, Flirty: Always, Sympathetic: Rarely, Altruistic: Sometimes, Optimistic: Barely,
Observant: Sometimes, Logical: Always, Social: Not Really, Emotions: Hidden.
Catrina's Culture: how the place she came from affects her, some things which differ between America and Great Britain, food preferences, etc.
How they react in this situation: they scream and clutch their head.
Birthday: June 25, 1972
It'll take some time, but it's nice to have a reference, especially since I won't have to remember millions of words or tiny pieces of culture which goes with each character 100% of the time.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Finding Your Setting
A large part of even beginning to write your novel, is your setting. Some people choose to have a vague idea of their setting so it can evolve with the characters, others like to meticulously plan it out until they have everything in place before setting their characters down inside it. Whether you are either person, at one point you are going to come to a place where you need to know the ins and outs of your setting before you can continue any further.
I speak from experience. I was working on one of my stories with a slight idea of where everything was going on, a big building with a Greek Mythological Mount Olympus feel, maybe with the Parthenon at the top, but more of an academic looking school with a whole society living under it. The outside was made out of rich materials which would cost millions of dollars and the inside was made of white walls and no color. That was all I had, I didn't know anything else about my world and I got stuck quite quickly.
After six chapters of useless information I will use maybe half of (if I'm lucky), I realized I needed a foundation. I needed a fully worked out setting, the laws of where I was working, the looks, the feel, the technology, everything. I've been working on creating a guide line for my own future stories so I will fully know my setting before I start another writing project.
How to Create a Setting:
1. What are the people like?
While you may think your people have nothing to do with your setting, they have a large part to do with it. Don't name any of them, don't give them any personalities, just look at them.
-Are your people human?
If so, do they live on Earth or are in they in some other universe, planet, science center, space station?
-Are you creating a new race?
They have blue skin, but they have a human body, perhaps they have a tail. Give them a scientific name. Homo aer or Homo cauda.
Imagine your people, your race, your characters and form a world for them or use an already created one in which they can be placed.
2. Creation Myths.
Every world has a story of creation, Earth has many. Science will explain it one way, while religious texts will portray another more spiritual or meaningful way based on their people and culture. I never knew how my world was created, I took a mixture of science and then the race I had created helped along what science had done for it. It all started with Pangea on Earth. Find your creation myth, how did your world form, where was the start of a different kind of people. Are there people who may have caused it, maybe there was a war.
3. Now you have your people, you have your creation myth, what does the world look like?
If you've chosen Earth, this could be an easy subject, however, you'll have a much harder time perhaps if you want to include many cultures when you create your characters. If you are on Earth, then choose a city, a state, a province, a country, wherever you'd like to place it based on your loose ideas for your plot. If you're going to create a world all your own, then plan how big it is. Is the planet flat, circular? Do your characters walk everywhere, are they primitive, do they choose to be primitive? Think the process through very carefully.
4. Now you have your place, what do the houses look like? Where are you characters going to live?
You can choose based on photos or drawings from different time periods, you create something entirely your own, or perhaps your people don't live in homes. You have full creative range with this unless you are writing a historical fiction, because then you should line up the existing time period with what you are writing. Research time! You may hate research, but it's a necessary part to writing. I used to hate doing research, but then I started to enjoy it when I began to pick places and time periods I like. I once printed out 16 pages of research on pirates alone just so I could accurately write an AU (alternate universe) Harry Potter FanFiction in which Lily Evans is a pirate. It absolutely fascinated me, I highlighted, underlined, wrote notes. and pretty much murdered every inch of those 16 pages until I found exactly what I wanted for my story.
5. Now you have the lay of the land, but who or what rules it?
Do you have a monarchy, a dictatorship, a system like America. If you're setting this in a certain time period or a place, then look up what kind of a ruling system the country has/had. If you're creating it, you get to decide, so do more research, find what would best suit the people you are going to be writing about. This should not be taken lightly as it may be impossible to change later on.
6. Now you have your ruling class, what kind of laws do your people have to abide by?
There are laws for every people, every religion, every anything. There will also be retribution if you fall out of line, so what punishments are the people given if they do not abide by these rules. This can often be the most fun part if you are creating it yourself rather than doing, yet again, more research about the area.
7. Laws, ruling class, people, planet, area, buildings, everything seems pretty well rounded up. Yet, there is another part; what is the culture?
Every country or parts of the same country will have a different culture. Just look at how much America is split up. the North is different from the South, the East from the West, Utah to California... There are endless possibilities and every where has such different background from what you might expect. Look up the culture if you don't know it, create your own, mix several known cultures together, whatever you'd like. Just make sure it fits with the land you've created, you can't have a conflicting culture or there won't be harmony.
8. Last part of figuring out your setting, language. This may not seem like a big part of setting, but it is. What language do your characters speak?
Perhaps they have several different languages, are they required to learn them in school, from their families, does the government train them, do they automatically know them because of some magical force? We don't know, but you definitely do. Take some time to figure out just what their language might be, because maybe they won't know all the languages like you will, but they could learn them.
Take the time to play around with your setting, if you start to write and something feels off, go back through your notes and research and tweak what you have. It may not be perfect on the first run through. If you want to know more, put yourself in an interview situation. Try and explain what you have to someone and then let them ask questions where they might be confused, then answer them in detail and take note of what you say. If you don't have anyone to help you with this, then ask yourself. Maybe there's something even you don't fully understand, so ask yourself and wait patiently for an answer as you never know when one might come to you. Keep trying and remember, this is just an outline so you don't have to follow it step for step, but they are some great things to consider when creating your world.
Let me know what you think down in the comments below, call me out on some points if you disagree, throw in your own advice for creating a setting, whatever you want. Maybe you agreed with the process, tell me. I'll discuss anything with you guys in the comments below.
Until next time!
I speak from experience. I was working on one of my stories with a slight idea of where everything was going on, a big building with a Greek Mythological Mount Olympus feel, maybe with the Parthenon at the top, but more of an academic looking school with a whole society living under it. The outside was made out of rich materials which would cost millions of dollars and the inside was made of white walls and no color. That was all I had, I didn't know anything else about my world and I got stuck quite quickly.
After six chapters of useless information I will use maybe half of (if I'm lucky), I realized I needed a foundation. I needed a fully worked out setting, the laws of where I was working, the looks, the feel, the technology, everything. I've been working on creating a guide line for my own future stories so I will fully know my setting before I start another writing project.
How to Create a Setting:
1. What are the people like?
While you may think your people have nothing to do with your setting, they have a large part to do with it. Don't name any of them, don't give them any personalities, just look at them.
-Are your people human?
If so, do they live on Earth or are in they in some other universe, planet, science center, space station?
-Are you creating a new race?
They have blue skin, but they have a human body, perhaps they have a tail. Give them a scientific name. Homo aer or Homo cauda.
Imagine your people, your race, your characters and form a world for them or use an already created one in which they can be placed.
2. Creation Myths.
Every world has a story of creation, Earth has many. Science will explain it one way, while religious texts will portray another more spiritual or meaningful way based on their people and culture. I never knew how my world was created, I took a mixture of science and then the race I had created helped along what science had done for it. It all started with Pangea on Earth. Find your creation myth, how did your world form, where was the start of a different kind of people. Are there people who may have caused it, maybe there was a war.
3. Now you have your people, you have your creation myth, what does the world look like?
If you've chosen Earth, this could be an easy subject, however, you'll have a much harder time perhaps if you want to include many cultures when you create your characters. If you are on Earth, then choose a city, a state, a province, a country, wherever you'd like to place it based on your loose ideas for your plot. If you're going to create a world all your own, then plan how big it is. Is the planet flat, circular? Do your characters walk everywhere, are they primitive, do they choose to be primitive? Think the process through very carefully.
4. Now you have your place, what do the houses look like? Where are you characters going to live?
You can choose based on photos or drawings from different time periods, you create something entirely your own, or perhaps your people don't live in homes. You have full creative range with this unless you are writing a historical fiction, because then you should line up the existing time period with what you are writing. Research time! You may hate research, but it's a necessary part to writing. I used to hate doing research, but then I started to enjoy it when I began to pick places and time periods I like. I once printed out 16 pages of research on pirates alone just so I could accurately write an AU (alternate universe) Harry Potter FanFiction in which Lily Evans is a pirate. It absolutely fascinated me, I highlighted, underlined, wrote notes. and pretty much murdered every inch of those 16 pages until I found exactly what I wanted for my story.
5. Now you have the lay of the land, but who or what rules it?
Do you have a monarchy, a dictatorship, a system like America. If you're setting this in a certain time period or a place, then look up what kind of a ruling system the country has/had. If you're creating it, you get to decide, so do more research, find what would best suit the people you are going to be writing about. This should not be taken lightly as it may be impossible to change later on.
6. Now you have your ruling class, what kind of laws do your people have to abide by?
There are laws for every people, every religion, every anything. There will also be retribution if you fall out of line, so what punishments are the people given if they do not abide by these rules. This can often be the most fun part if you are creating it yourself rather than doing, yet again, more research about the area.
7. Laws, ruling class, people, planet, area, buildings, everything seems pretty well rounded up. Yet, there is another part; what is the culture?
Every country or parts of the same country will have a different culture. Just look at how much America is split up. the North is different from the South, the East from the West, Utah to California... There are endless possibilities and every where has such different background from what you might expect. Look up the culture if you don't know it, create your own, mix several known cultures together, whatever you'd like. Just make sure it fits with the land you've created, you can't have a conflicting culture or there won't be harmony.
8. Last part of figuring out your setting, language. This may not seem like a big part of setting, but it is. What language do your characters speak?
Perhaps they have several different languages, are they required to learn them in school, from their families, does the government train them, do they automatically know them because of some magical force? We don't know, but you definitely do. Take some time to figure out just what their language might be, because maybe they won't know all the languages like you will, but they could learn them.
Take the time to play around with your setting, if you start to write and something feels off, go back through your notes and research and tweak what you have. It may not be perfect on the first run through. If you want to know more, put yourself in an interview situation. Try and explain what you have to someone and then let them ask questions where they might be confused, then answer them in detail and take note of what you say. If you don't have anyone to help you with this, then ask yourself. Maybe there's something even you don't fully understand, so ask yourself and wait patiently for an answer as you never know when one might come to you. Keep trying and remember, this is just an outline so you don't have to follow it step for step, but they are some great things to consider when creating your world.
Let me know what you think down in the comments below, call me out on some points if you disagree, throw in your own advice for creating a setting, whatever you want. Maybe you agreed with the process, tell me. I'll discuss anything with you guys in the comments below.
Until next time!
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