One of the
first published writers that I met at Pikes Peak Writers was Carol Berg in late
2007 or early 2008. At my first conference, I listened to her talk about
worldbuilding, and I’ve found it very helpful since—and of course she’s created
some of my favorite worlds for some of my very favorite characters to play
around in.
Fortunately
for me, I had the chance to meet her as a member of PPW before I ever read her
work, so I don’t get completely flabbergasted when I talk to her (unlike some
writers). So when I had the chance to ask her some questions for the PPW blog,
of course I said yes, and of course I wanted to know about her worldbuilding...
1. One of
the first classes that I went to at my first Pikes Peak Writers' Conference was
your class on worldbuilding; I still use a lot of the same techniques today.
Your books always feature great worldbuilding, and you mentioned that you use a
lot of the principals of software design in your worldbuilding. How does that
work?
Good
worldbuilding, like good software, depends on logical connection, implemented
with language.
When I
wrote software, while having a very general idea of the overall structure, I
would design and implement a piece at a time - just enough to get started. I
would exercise it, get it like I wanted, and then move on to another piece. If
the whole structure is designed at once, a new event in the customer
requirements (or the plot!!) could make whole sections obsolete!
In a
similar fashion, I start with a general idea of the overall structure of a
novel's world (e.g., a Mediterranean area kingdom in a time period paralleling
our early 17th century). But I don't define the entire world - cultures,
geography, economics, religion, magic - at one time. I want just enough for the
opening scene, more if it's something I'm going to have to research - like
monasteries in the opening chapter of Flesh
and Spirit. I need to know a setting and season where the opening scene
occurs. And I need enough of the other aspects of the world to create a vivid
scene, to have something juicy going on, and my character dressed (or not!),
ready to speak, and reveal a bit about him- or herself.
If I'm
going to reveal something about the magic early on - always a good idea to set
readers' expectations - I'll spend some time working on a magic system that is
unique to this world. I come up with basic premises for how the magic is going
to work. Is it telepathy? Is it spellworking? Is it wand waving? Is magic
learned or inherited? Who has it and who doesn't? If everyone has it, then what
are the implications? Must it be practiced? Are magical objects used? Are there
conflicts among practitioners? Where do they derive their power? Things like
that. I consider boundaries early on. No reader likes magic that can do
anything. And I consider consequences. Do magic workers get depleted, and if
so, how do they replenish? I name all these parts - using words that will be
easy to remember (just like naming objects in software design.) And I usually
keep a record of what I decide.
Just as in
good software, all these bits and pieces must be connected logically. The
geography of my kingdom must be reflected in the season, in the climate, in
appropriate flora and fauna. But I don't have to list every tree early on,
because I might end up setting every scene in the story inside a building - in
which case I need to know how people in such a climate and such a society would
build their holy places or their king's residences or in common hovels. Which
means I need to know if there are there peasants or tenant farmers or
freeholders or serfs. Interconnections that will not necessarily be explained
at any time, but that I must know.
I can make
anything happen in my novels, and set it in any kind of place I want. But
everything must be interconnected logically to make a coherent whole. Just like
a good piece of software.
2. When
you're reading someone else's books, how do you know that you're going to be in
a great world, and about how long does it take for you to decide?
That
varies, as you might expect, because many writers do as I do, reveal only a bit
at a time. For me the important part of opening a book is meeting a character
I'm going to enjoy spending time with. If there is something about the world
that piques my interest all the better. But one of my favorite fantasy worlds,
as introduced in Nine Princes in Amber by Roget Zelazny, begins in a
mental hospital that is quite 20th century. Only slowly are we introduced to
the notion of Amber and its thousands of variant realities that proceed from
beauty and clarity toward chaos as one travels.
3. What
are your favorite worlds to be in--that is, what's your favorite world that
you've written so far, and what are your favorite worlds from other writers?
I honestly
do love all my worlds. Perhaps the fact that my yet-to-be-written series, The Sanctuary Duet, will be set in the
world of Navronne and Aeginea - from Flesh and Spirit and Breath and
Bone - will make it apparent that this is the one I was most eager to
return to. I set up a lot of complexity
in this world, that I didn't have the chance to explore because of where the
story led me. These new books will not be sequels, but set in essentially the
same time frame as the other two. Yet it would have also been fun to return to
the world of the Rai-kirah books. Probably a close second. But then again, the
D'Arnath books held a lot of unexplored territory as well - most as the
aftermath of the final events in Daughter of Ancients (still one of my
favorites of all my books. Talk about turning the world topsy turvy!)
As for
other authors' worlds, there are many. Amber is very close to the top. And I very
much like how Jim Butcher has designed and revealed his magical Chicago. While
populating his everyday world with standard urban fantasy creatures, he also
has included the Nevernever, the world of the sidhe and many other magical
creatures with its own seasons and societies and hierarchies, that lies beyond
the world we know. Very well done. I believe it all - though there is a lot
that has not been explored or explained on the page.
4. What do
you wish that every writer knew about building worlds?
That to
make a world seem real, you have to know a lot more than you show. That you
have to consider how our world works - how economies and migrations and
conquests and geology and cultures actually fit together. In very few societies in history have people
all spoken the same language, worshiped the same gods, or lived without any
viable economic system (probably none!). And yet, despite all one needs to know
- eventually, not at first - the world should seem the natural environment for
the characters and the story. The story and characters should not be shaped to
"service" an elegantly designed world.
Carol recently completed the Collegia Magica series and re-released her novel Song of
the Beast. She’s currently working on a new duet set in the world of Flesh and
Spirit. Yay! More books...for more
information, visit her website at http://www.sff.net/people/carolberg/.
About the Writer: DeAnna
Knippling started freelancing in May 2011 and wouldn’t be able to do it without
her wonderful family and friends, especially her husband. In fact, she
owes a lot to Pikes Peak Writers for helping her be a better writer, especially
through the Write Brains, both in the lectures and in meeting lots of other
writers.
Her reason for writing
is to entertain by celebrating her family’s tradition of dry yet merry wit, and
to help ease the suffering of lack of self-confidence, having suffered it many
years herself. She also likes to poke around and ask difficult questions,
because she hates it when people assume something must be so.
