Aunt Noony’s Five Tips for Worldbuilding

1. Decide in which world you want to set your story. As Xakara mentioned in her post, ANY world in which we write, be it the “here and now” or the “once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away” has its own rules and customs. Once you’ve decided where you want your story to be set, ask yourself some questions on behalf of your main character:

a. How do they make their money? If they are supported by someone else, how do they make the money that supports your character? Are there taxes? Tributes to pay? What skills do they need to make a living?

b. How do they live? Do they have a house in a residential area? Are they on a ship with hundreds of other individuals? Underground?

c. What do they eat? If it’s not set on earth, how does the food get there? Who produces it, and how is it transported from producer to table?

d. How do they deal with the climate? What is clothing like? What are the buildings like? Human beings are fragile creatures but have many ways of mitigating environmental impacts. Describe how your character deals with them.

2. What rules govern relationships? Is there marriage? How does it work? How do kinship paradigms work? In some cultures, for example, adult siblings of the opposite sex are allowed to be friends with one another but with no other individuals of the opposite sex outside the family. What about rules regarding children? How are children treated in your world?

3. What kinds of organizations have sprung up? Is this a simple society with clan and maybe village government? Is this a megalithic society with governments and complex politics? How do roads get built, taxes levied and collected, money produced and invested?

4. As you develop the answers to these questions, it’s useful to create a document that accompanies your work but that can be used as an encyclopedia of rules for you. You can call it what you like, but make sure it includes lists of characters and their details, relationships, government notes, and notes on anything else that you need to keep in mind. For example, if you are building a werewolf society, then you might have a section in your document called “Werewolves” that details who’s in charge, how succession is handled, what colors the wolves are, etc.

5. Do people swear? This can tell you a lot about a society and culture. For example, if you set your world on a planet that doesn’t have a Euro-American Christian majority as the dominant paradigm, then “God” or “Dammit” probably aren’t common swearwords. If you create an Egyptian society, you might use “By Anubis’s teeth” or something similar. It’s useful to come up with several options, from equivalents to the “F” word all the way down to something minor like “crap” or “darn.”

If you’re still stumped, try answering the questions above using your favorite worlds. Some places to start would be Star Trek or Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series.

Have fun!

Editing, Shmediting

Okay, that title stinks. Can someone edit it? Seriously.

I'm here to discuss the wild and whacky writing process that I go through each and every time I write a book. Is this a How-To Write a Novel blog? Heck no. It's more of a don't do as I do sort of thing.

Maybe we should entitle it "Kimberley Troutte Reveals Her Writing Secrets: Run Now, Run Fast".

First, I come up with a kickin' idea for a premise. I'm blessed with these, most likely because I'm a little crazy. So a premise might be:

Death falls in love with a woman he has to kill. (Soul Stealer)
A ghost from 15th Century Castile with memory disorder has to solve her murder. (Catch Me in Castile)

The next step in the mad process is to build the characters. It's important to know who they are, what they desperately need, what scares them, who they love, who hurt them...To create flesh and blood people who my readers want to route for, I need to know what makes them tick.

Plotting is the third step. I jot down the scenes that I know I will have to have and leave big holes such as, (this is where a lovey-dovey scene goes) or (big surprise here). In one of my books, a family is on a boat and just about to be boarded by really bad guys with guns. The main character, Dave, knows what he has to do to protect his family.

This is what happens:

“I cut the raft free. Swim for it,” Dave said.

“Can’t! My ear.” Little Davey's hand covered his new ear. “I’m not supposed to swim yet.”

Dave rubbed his son's back. “Sorry, buddy. You’ve got to. I’ll tell you when.”

“What’re you going to do?” Lonnie’s voice trembled.

“Still winging it, angel. Get ready.” He smiled sadly and kissed her on the forehead. He pried Davey’s arms from around his waist. “Love you, guys. Always will.”

And then Dave made his move.

Okay, when I wrote that last line in the chapter, I said to myself--Cooool. I wonder what his move is going to be? I had no idea. I left it a hole and kept writing.

After I have a sense of where the story is going, I attack the computer. Really, it's a battlefield. I pound the keys, fight my fears, words fill up the page, I might curse a little, laugh a little, and sometimes cry for joy. It's all pretty crazy and fast. When I'm in the flow, I can crank out that first draft in about six months or less even with a non-writing day-job.

Emphasis on first draft.

The editing process is where the book really comes to life. You see, while writing, I put my head down and go for it--fast, hard, furious. It's the only way I know how to write. But this process means that I miss stuff. Important stuff. I'm too close to the story to see the flaws. This is where critique partners come in.

I have an awesome team of critique partners who really know their stuff. Most are published, the others are nearly published. I learn from each one. I love them dearly because they are all wonderful people and because they keep me from submitting stinky stuff to my editor. And there's no way I can write a first draft that doesn't stink.

Based on suggestions of critique partners and editors I have:

Moved middle chapters to the front and front chapters back.
Cut out one third of a book and started over.
Changed the tense from past to present in the whole. Darn. Book.
Shredded backstory
Rewritten dialogue
Changed genres
Changed Point of Views
Changed character names
Changed titles
Changed settings
Dismantled one book to make it two

I keep hoping that one day I will write the perfect first draft, but honestly don't think that is ever going to happen. My process means that I am going to rewrite at least six times, but more likely a dozen times before the book goes to print. That's okay, because I write stories that I love and each editing makes them that much stronger.

That's Kimberley Troutte's process in a nutshell. I told you it was whacky.

I'd love to hear from other writers. What is your process?

www.kimberleytroutte