A Quick Grass Tutorial

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Gods help us all.

"You must come with me, loving me, to death;

Or else hate me, and still come with me."

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla 1872

Some slightly different wordlbuilding activities

Ones I haven’t seen as often but apply myself. 

1.- Bedtimes stories you tell to children, or lullabies. They can be based in location or species. They can tell us about the world, history, beliefs or something specific about a creature. It can be fun to think of their origin, how they’ve changed over the years and both the meaning that was lost and the meaning that was added. 

2.- Fashion choices. I often let fashion be different for different creatures. I usually create a practical outfit that makes sense historically within the context of my world and then evolve it until I get to the present day of my story. Preferably splitting of into branches and allowing more options. It can tell us about a specific species, about their history and about how the climate has changed, or how they moved locations at some point and had to adapt their clothing to a new climate. 

A very simple example of this from my own book would be the mage’s cloak! Link to a longer post about it. Basically, mages would wear a simple one piece fabric that was easy to then set an illusion over, no wasting time mixing trousers and tops. Over time some mages stopped using illusions, seeing the outfit as acceptable. It became a staple, you saw the cloak, that wasn’t a human but a mage. And then younger generations began personalising the material, instead of boring black, white or brown they started using floral patterns, adding in cool sleeves or hoods! 

Initially, it was practicality, but it evolved. 

3.- Think about what each species does for fun! I often read YA fantasy where the stakes are so high there is no leisure, no downtown, no fun, no hobbies. But this is a great opportunity! What’s popular in your world? Books, plays, board games, long walks, playing sport? Seeing characters just chill can be a great change of pace and allow for some insight into their lives and the world they live in. 

4.- What is imported? And why? Sometimes imports are just practical, we don’t have wool here (unlikely, sheep are literally everywhere, but you get the point), wool is good for clothes, we import it. But other times it’s more complicated. 

Perhaps a species moved across the country at some point, but they were accustomed to a certain type of tea, fruit for certain festivities, so on, so on, and habit dies hard, so, importation becomes a thing. 

So those are my four world-building tips for today. I’ve said it before and will say it again, there is no master list, not check list, world-building is something you can figure out as you go in most genres (some epics may requiere more prep time). What’s important is to keep track of what you’ve said and stay consistent, but you don’t need to know everything before going in. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

How’s your world coming along? 

Vhagar had come at last, and on her back rode the one-eyed Prince Aemond Targaryen, clad in nightblack armor chased with gold.

He had not come alone. Alys Rivers flew with him, her long hair streaming black behind her, her belly swollen with child. Prince Aemond circled twice about the towers of Harrenhal, then brought Vhagar down in the outer ward, with Caraxes a hundred yards away. The dragons glared balefully at each other, and Caraxes spread his wings and hissed, flames dancing across his teeth.

The prince helped his woman down from Vhagar’s back, then turned to face his uncle. “Nuncle, I hear you have been seeking us.”

“Only you,” Daemon replied. “Who told you where to find me?”

“My lady,” Aemond answered. “She saw you in a storm cloud, in a mountain pool at dusk, in the fire we lit to cook our suppers. She sees much and more, my Alys. You were a fool to come alone.”

“Were I not alone, you would not have come,” said Daemon.

“Yet you are, and here I am. You have lived too long, Nuncle.”

“On that much we agree,” Daemon replied. Then the old prince bade Caraxes bend his neck, and climbed stiffly onto his back, whilst the young prince kissed his woman and vaulted lightly onto Vhagar, taking care to fasten the four short chains between belt and saddle.

Prince Daemon took Caraxes up swiftly, lashing him with a steel-tipped whip until they disappeared into a bank of clouds. Vhagar, older and much the larger, was also slower, made ponderous by her very size, and ascended more gradually, in ever widening circles that took her and her rider out over the waters of the Gods Eye. The hour was late, the sun was close to setting, and the lake was calm, its surface glimmering like a sheet of beaten copper. Up and up she soared, searching for Caraxes as Alys Rivers watched from atop Kingspyre Tower in Harrenhal below.

Tolkien’s “actually none of these characters are speaking English and this story is a translation into English” is my favorite worldbuilding thing right now

because there’s no such thing as a perfect translation, right? there are always decisions made about how best to render something where a direct translation is not possible. different languages articulate different thoughts and ideas which make up different ways of thinking. Translation involves making things culturally intelligible, not just like, conceptually or semantically intelligible.

as a worldbuilding thing this is so rich. what elements of the story we know as the lord of the rings had to be incompletely translated into something we could understand? Are the potatoes really potatoes? Are the horses really horses? But that is just the basic stuff. What do we miss about the traditions, songs, poems? Are the hobbits’ ties of kinship exactly as we are told? Is the birthday party exactly that? What concept was rendered “wizard?” Or “lord,” or “king?”

No one who knows a lot about LOTR correct me, I would prefer to simply allow this to haunt me forever thank you

how to draw arms ? ? 

A Guide to High Fantasy Worldbuilding

masterlist. main navigation.

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1. Subgenre

One of the first things you need to establish in your story is the subgenre of the high fantasy story you'll be writing. But Azura, high fantasy is already a subgenre?? Yes, it is, but what type of high fantasy?

Different types of high fantasy will require different types of worldbuilding. For instance, dark fantasy needs horror elements and an eerie setting, while steampunk fantasy will have complex machinaries instead.

Here are some examples of high fantasy subgenres :

• Epic fantasy

• Steampunk fantasy

• Dark fantasy

• Medieval fantasy

• Heroic fantasy

• etc!

2. Magic system

Most high fantasy stories will have a magic system, so if you're planning to include one, you'll need to do loads of planning.

Who can or cannot use magic, and why is that? Is it inherited, learned, or both? Are there any taboos in using magic? Are magic users praised or feared? What's the limit of using magic? Are there any incantations or magical tools involved? There are countless questions to tackle while coming up with a magic system, so make sure you plot it in detail.

3. Culture

Where there's people, there's culture. Although it won't be too frequently mentioned, having certain cultures in your world will make your worldbuilding more realistic.

Are there religions? Do people worship God(s)? When are the holidays? Are there any unique traditions? What gestures are considered impolite? It's little things like these that bring your story to life.

4. Type of government

Naturally, your world will have a government system. Decide what yours will be. Republic? Monarchy? Democracy? Theocracy?

Your government should also reflect your time and location setting - maybe using an emperor or empress to reflect a more medieval timeline, and using a president for a more modern setting. If your world is going through a war, you can use a system governed by the military. I have a post about writing a fictional government, you can refer to it for more info!

5. Language

What language do the people in your WIP speak? Is it fictional or not? If your setting is in a single region, they'll probably have the same language, but if it's set in different parts of the world, it's only natural to have more than one language.

Different languages can also be used to indicate diversity. If you're wondering how to incorporate multiple languages in a single language book, try reading Six of Crows as a reference - it shows the contrast of people speaking in different languages perfectly, even though the book is only in English.

6. History

Having a history of your world will help you understand it better. Has there been any previous wars between nations or disputes between the government and civilians? Or has the land always been peaceful, for some reason?

A great way to record your world's history is to make a timeline of main events that affected the plot. I also suggest creating a history for your magic system - how magic was discovered and normalized.

Naughty words in a godless world

Imagine you're writing a story that takes place in a world that has no God, or gods, or saints. What do you do with exclamations like "Oh gosh!" (derived from "Oh God") or "Jeez!" (derived from "Jesus!")? And - oh god - what do you do with curses and swear words? If your characters can't say "Oh my god", "hell no", or "damn" because there are no gods to damn anyone to hell... what are your options?

Here is a list for inspiration

In general, non-religious curse and swear words refer to local cultural taboos.

Many languages swear by referring to cleanliness: dirty, sweaty, sticky, smelly etc. This includes things you do on the toilet.

Some languages, like Dutch, use diseases as curses and insults. For example, someone nasty/bothersome might be called a "cancer sufferer" in Dutch. These swear words are combinations of (derivates of) typhus, cholera, and cancer.

Societal hierarchy and family trees, mainly the inferior positions like a bastard (seen as inferior in the family tree) or a derogatory word that refers to lower class people (seen as inferior in that society).

On the other hand, you could insult a highly valued member of the other person's family, like their mother, or of their society, like their Queen/Emperor.

Sexual taboos, often implying someone (or their mother) is more sexually active than society accepts of them.

Calling someone the word for someone's genitalia refers to the same taboo.

How do you apply this to your language?

You could use explicit/taboo words as ... :

... an intensifier: "It was a shit-hot day."

... a negative adjective: "This is a shitty job."

... an insulting noun: "This journey is shit."

Or try to be creative and combine different taboos for a multi-hit offense. My favorite one is the Spanish "I shit in your mother's milk", which combines insulting the other person's mother, the taboo of bodily functions, and the taboo of cleanliness.

During my research I came across this article, which contains a number of concrete examples from all over the world you can draw inspiration from.

And on a less offensive note, you could always make up your own equivalent of "Merlin's beard!", "Great Scott!", or "For Pete's sake!" (Pete, by the way, is a catholic reference: Pete is Saint Peter.)

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing tips here. New topics to write advice about are also always appreciated.

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