I've been thinking a lot about worldbuilding lately. According to wikipedia: Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe.[1] (Click on the link for the full wikidefinition).
I love being so wrapped up in a book, in the world that the author has created that I lose myself for that brief moment in time. There are no dishes that need to be done. No children to feed, no laundry to fold. All I want to do is curl up in that little bubble and read.
In romance, we most often see worldbuiling in paranormal works: Karen Marie Moning's Fever world is Dublin, after the walls separating Faery and the Human realm collapse. Donna Grant's Warriors live in a Scotland, after a dark druid (she has another term for it in her books) releases the "Warriors" in a group of Scotsmen. JR Ward, Lara Adrian....the list goes on and on of very recognizable worldbuilding.
Why is that? The setting is the same...mostly. The locals that are mentioned are the same, sometimes even described similarly.
The short answer that I've been able to come up with is: Character. The characters respond to their surroundings in a certain way. The way that they respond makes the world take on certain characteristics, which lay the foundation for the world to be built. This doesn't have to be a city, like my example, it can be anything. A homelife. A workplace. Whatever their environment is, the characters are reacting to it and building their own world.
Our jobs as authors, is to suck the readers into these worlds with us.
What about you? What are some of your favorite worlds? Or do you have any tips on worldbuilding?
Excellent point, Ms Cook. I've always thought of world building in regard to Sci-Fi and to a lesser extent paranormals. But it really is the world an author builds for her characters within the pages of her novel. In the manuscript my agent will soon be shopping to publishers, I never named the city. When I was writing it, I wondered if it would make a difference...if anyone would notice. Apparently not. From CP to agent, no one has mentioned it. Their "world" is nameless, but effective nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that there all sorts of worlds-some very "in-your-face" (which I think is what makes the sci-fi/paranormal worlds so obvious)and some much more subtle-like your nameless town.
DeleteIt's been interesting to ponder and try to find a good balance for my voice and style. Not to mention story.