Ongoing project

[EccentricGentleman]

For years I've been meaning to get started on my fantasy/steampunk epic.

What I'd like to do is use this forum is a sort of blog (I don't know how blogs work) I want to post updates on my progress in world building and ask for your advice and feedback.
Firstly, I want to show you the map I've drawn. For this first bit of feedback I just want to know if the climates I've put in are correct for that location. Obviously this map is incomplete it still needs more mountain ranges and rivers. It's colour-coded of each kind of climate.

Bluegrey: cold climates like Northern Europe

Dark green: temperate like regular Europe

Yellow green: tropical like Spain or the Caribbean

Bright green: jungles

Yellow: Arabian like desert

Orange: Wild West style desert

Gray: Mountains

There are two Arctic regions in my world but I have put them on a separate map as they would just be long white strips on here.
Let me know what you think.

 

[EccentricGentleman]

Damm the image didn't upload! What do I do?

Here try this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sijz8vb6oivsue4/Cont coloured.png

 

[Svrtnsse]

As far as I recall from geography class (20+ years ago) you seem to have the climate zones in the right places. I'm an amateur and have no actual knowledge on the topic so for that kind of reader I'd say the layout makes sense.

 

[EccentricGentleman]

Thanks. I've started working on each continent individually. on the first one I've added rivers, national boarders and some cites.
What should I do next? should I focus on what forms animal life live here? How do I go about that?

 

[adampjr]

As awesome as world building is (and I love it), once you get some very basic things down I would recommend to start writing. Then you can fill in details as they pertain to your story.

 

[EccentricGentleman]

I'd mutch rather get my world finished first.

I've had a lot of difficulty in world-building, most people I talk to have never even heard of it. The writing groups I've attened don't have time to descuss it and the guides I've found online are unsatisfactory.

I really need help with this, I have been incredibly frustraited in the past becase I could not find any help.

I was told this would be a good place to find help.

 

[Svrtnsse]

There's a point in that, but before you know it you will get to a point where someone (possibly yourself) will ask "couldn't you write a short story about someone in the world, to get a feel for what life there is like?".

That probably won't be yet, but it's still a good idea. Reading about how the world works and looks and what you can find in it is very different from seeing it through the eyes of one of its inhabitants.



As for the next step...
I would recommend focusing on "mechanics" - how things work. If everything works like in the real world you can skip this, but since you're here, chances are it doesn't. Mechanics, in this context, would be big essential things like gods and magic. Do they exist, how do they work, what impact do they have on life on the planet?

Optionally, go with whatever excites you most about the world at the moment. Working on something you're passionate about is a good way of making sure you're doing something. Don't worry if it's good or not. By doing you will learn and by learning you will improve and you can always change things around later.

If you're just starting out, the important part isn't doing it right - it's doing something. Get started and see what happens.

 

[EccentricGentleman]

I really need something to get me organized, tell me what steps I should take and how to do them.
I've been carrying this world in my head for years and frankly it's tireing.

I've made my map, what should I do next and how do I it?

 

[Mythopoet]

You might try this list of worldbuilding questions from author Patricia Wrede:

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions | SFWA

 

[ThinkerX]

That be a lot of worldbuilding.

First thought is, you are aware climate zones vary, right? I live in a part of Alaska with about the same latitude as the England...yet my winters are much more severe here than those in England. Reason being, Britian and northern europe benefits from a warm water current, which mitigates what would otherwise be a much colder chunk of real estate.

Second thought is given the likely currents on your world, some of the coastal desert areas you have would likely be 'greener'.

 

[adampjr]

Personally, the next step (if you must worldbuild all of it first) is to make the nations and/or cultures. Again, I wouldn't do all of them, you never know if all of your world will even feature in the stories. Doing that, you might need a very basic idea of the physical geography (rivers, mountains, etc) so your borders and areas of conflict make sense. Then you can build the economies (imports, exports, wealth), political systems, cultures, and my absolute favorite - linguistics!

 

[EccentricGentleman]

Way ahead of you. I actually devolped 3 civilizations before making my map, I'll be uploading an essay on each one shortly. There are several countrys on this continate but I'm focusing on the 3 for now.

As for the currents, I don't have any Idea how to work that out and maths is not my strong suit.

 

[ThinkerX]

As for the currents, I don't have any Idea how to work that out and maths is not my strong suit.

Quick and dirty: clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counter clockwise in the southern.

 

[Svrtnsse]

You can ignore currents and it's unlikely anyone will even notice.
The other option is to just make them up the way you want them and then blame it on underwater volcanoes or thermal vents or continental drift or something.

 

[EccentricGentleman]

While I am working on my essay about the civilisations, I'd like you all to take another look at the map I put in my original post and tell me what you think. Let me tell you about some of the features.

Firstly, I wanted to create something that would challenge people's expectations. We are so used to thinking of the world is split into two halves, the Americas and Canada on one side and Europe and North Africa facing off on the other side.
Also we tend to think of all the hot countries being in the southern equator, as you can see from my map I've divided the hot countries evenly between the hemispheres, even going as far as to make some continents a rainbow of climates.
Also, note the massive archipelago in between the four continents, I wanted Pirates in my story along with something that didn't exist in our world. This archipelago is thick with ships trading between the four continents because of the numerous ports to stop at on the way. But also there are multiple hiding places for pirates.
Large continent along the bottom, which is the one I'm focusing on at the moment, has a lake at its centre which is so big it holds an island the size of the British Isles. This lake was created by the collapse of a Caldera volcano which created a basin, trapping rainwater and forming the lake and rivers. Remaining volcanic activity created the island at the centre.
In this world the magical races live on the large continent in the top left, the smaller one in the middle and on the top half of the one on the right. I wanted to move away from contemporary fantasy which, as far as I know, is often set in a European like climate.

 

[Asura Levi]

Also, take a look on this: 30 Days of WorldBuilding
Is a article/tutorial to help create world in 30 days (30 days before the NoNaWriMo). You can have a very good idea about how climate operates by taking a looking on it.

 

[EccentricGentleman]

I've been using the 30 days but I got a bit frustrated with it. It was hard writing a 100 years timeline but then it asked for 500 years. The language part was good but it didn't fit my work. It said to write that you wanted your people's language to sound like warter, fire, stone ect. and then try to write down those sounds.

I have one people whose speech I want to sound like authority and another like art.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Keep in mind there's no one way of doing this. Something that works for me may not work for you. If you can't or don't feel like writing a 500 year timeline, skip it - or just put in major events like wars and discoveries of "new" continents etc.

As for languages; German is commonly associated with being strict and authoritarian sounding, while French is artsy and fluid. German would be harsh and edgy, like rocks. French would be soft and round, like water. The analogies both work depending on how you chose to interpret them.

Also, don't stay away from stereotypes just for the sake of them being stereotypes. They can be put to good and efficient use in the right places and will save you having to reinvent the wheel only to achieve something similar in the name of originality. Not that originality is bad, rather the opposite, but there has to be a reason for it, originality for the sake of originality isn't necessarily a good thing.

 

[skip.knox]

I agree with Mythopoet. If you are determined to do a thorough job of world building, go through the entire list at that SFWA site. Then check back with us in a few years!

 

[ThinkerX]

Also, take a look on this: 30 Days of WorldBuilding
Is a article/tutorial to help create world in 30 days (30 days before the NoNaWriMo). You can have a very good idea about how climate operates by taking a looking on it.

I find it somewhat disturbing that I could almost have written that worldbuilding article. I have two fantasy worlds and an SF setting I took to that level of detail. I didn't do things in quite that order though.

Usually, I started with the worlds astronomical situation (worlds place in its solar system, number of moons, other noteworthy sky objects), delved into basic geography, went into the cultures living on said geography, and so on. At one point I had something like eight or ten worlds, but as my writing (such as it was back then) progressed, I took to combining them. I ended up with two because of conflicting geographies: my tales demanded the one be mostly land, and the other mostly ocean. I still retain a few other worlds, mostly to drive home certain...unique and terrible points.

The other thing which disturbs me a tad is that there is so much fantasy /SF being written these days said 'world building' courses are actually justified.