*Whew*
World Building and I have a love/hate relationship.
The Book that landed me my Agent has the most world building I've ever included in anything I've written, and I suspect it'll grow as I work through my agent's notes.
When I first started writing, I didn't think I could write a book like it - I ran from writing books like it! I didn't think my imagination was big enough to craft laws, transport, currency, religion, climate, clothing, food, etc. As it stands, I loved stretching my imagination to include those things in my current ms and new projects I'm working on. The only problem was, each time I'd dive back into the ms, I found something else I'd missed, or something I wanted to replace/add. It was easy to feel over-whelmed, and I did. WOBAB terrified me, but it also inspired me to become a better writer.
Then I received some amazing advice from one of my CPs - with world building skills I envy. She pointed out that creating worlds is about layering. Suddenly the insurmountable was less so. Rather than plugging holes in a shaky wall, I could add frosting to each layer of a cake. Carrot or Red Velvet, preferably.
So, for the newer projects I'm working on, I'm currently building my cake in the form of a word document, and subtitles like 'laws, religion, climate, clothing, food, etc'. Every time I have a thought, I add it to the word document. Some things will make it in, some won't.
This week's post is short, as I'm currently in Jamaica with my family; I'm working towards how I used Jamaica as a touchstone in this world building series that'll include more things about how I build my worlds, and points I gleaned from the blog of one of the Queen of World Building herself, Victoria Aveyard.
Until then