ꜱᴏꜰᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ ꜱᴄʀᴇᴀᴍ (a Romantic's List)

godhood is just like girlhood: a begging to be believed

What she sees in me, I got no idea. I'm just grateful.

feliz día de la independencia!!

Some ship dynamics:

• *six months into cuddling and calling each other "babe"* wait... Are we in love???

• an incarnation of evil and an incarnation of the person meant to slay them fall in love before either of them learns of the fate that awaits them

• a person stuck in a timeloop and their partner who unbeknownst to them is also stuck in the timeloop and had to watch them die thousands of times

• "we used to date the same person but honestly I like you way better than I ever liked them"

• "I need to do this alone" "not if I can help it"

• big & grumpy one becomes affectionate and needy when in love and the small sunshine one LOVES to indulge them

• graveyard keeper x necromancer (bonus points if they're bitter exes)

• vampire eager to learn about the current state of the world after long slumber x divorced librarian in their 40s

• old gods who treat planets and their inhabitants as pawns on a board, about to settle a millenia-old argument (bonus points if the argument turns out to be about something really stupid)

• "I want to study you" "get in my guts then" "what" "what"

I did some more fantasy archery trope testing. This time the arrow stabby thing!

Creating a Distinct World

@kaulayauwrites said:

what is, in your opinion, the best way to world build? how can you avoid writing a bland, archetypal universe or copying an already existing one? sorry if I’m not being clear, haha, and thanks so much!

Hey there, thanks so much for your ask! I honestly love talking about the world-building process, so I’m really glad you sent this; let’s dive right in!

Best Way to World-Build?

In my opinion, there isn’t a best way to world-build. The “best” process depends on what is needed and what you’ll actually need to know for your writing. What follows isn’t necessarily what I would call the best way, but it’s a good way to cover your bases and opens up a lot of options for going in-depth with details. (It’ll be a bit of a long list, but definitely worth it in the long run.)

For each country you’re going to include or mention in your story, think about:

Name

Capital and major cities, and locations

Border shape

3 most common landforms

Historical sites or places that mean a great deal to the people living there

General economic scheme (ex. capitalist, Communist, Socialist, etc)

Most important laws

Major differences from the character’s homeland

Military setup (different branches, enlistment age, etc)

Climate

Relations with surrounding countries

Societal norms (gender roles, public & professional behavior, etc)

Stance on LGBT+ rights, and treatment of LGBT+ people

Most and least respected professions

Common religions

Stereotypes about this country (any and all)

Common pastimes and hobbies

Popularity of sports, movies, and other forms of entertainment

Genres of music (and possibly stereotypes of people who listen to them)

Language(s) spoken

Beauty standards and the commercialization of them

Commercialization that feeds off of the peoples’ insecurities

For each city you’re going to include or mention in your story, think about:

The “aesthetic” (think of it the way NYC’s aesthetic is taxis, skyscrapers, and nightlife)

Public opinion of street performers

Any recreational centers and common activities

Popularity of a town counsel or the idea of opening to the public for improvement ideas

How well-known the city is by everyone around it, or how much of a tourist attraction it might be

State of educational buildings

Percentage of unemployment versus those who are actively searching for jobs, and how this affects the city’s reputation

3+ popular businesses, maybe food or clothing stores

The way business is generally conducted

Opportunities for nightlife (etc. bars, night clubs, etc)

Usual daytime attire, usual nighttime attire

Any sort of tradition (ex. sharing dreams in the morning, praying before meals, etc)

Stance on more advanced technology

Treatment of different age groups

Again, cliches and stereotypes that might exist of people who live there

Most common architectural style (ex. modern, Victorian, etc)

Commonly seen colors

Any inflation that might exist, local economic troubles

People’s opinion on the government as a whole (then in-depth, if you want)

As you can see, these two lists are very open-ended. I can’t go too far in-depth with world-building ideas and explaining, because it’s all up to you to create this world. Every single item on this list here can be expanded into tons of different things, but if your goal is just to cover your bases and explore needed details then I think this would be a good place to start.

Making Your World Distinct

This can be pretty tough, honestly. There’s (almost) always a world themed around something out there that’s probably more well-known, famous even. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite wizarding world, that of the Harry Potter books. Your world can be as interesting and different as it gets but because it includes wizards, someone out there is always going to relate it to Harry Potter. So how can we avoid this?

There’s one proven way to this this, especially if you don’t want to change your world. Accentuate any and all differences that would set your story apart from a more well-known world. Maybe our wizards’ spells depend on a material transaction, or they won’t work. Maybe there’s some sort of wizarding god who must be pleased to cast a successful spell. Not so much like HP anymore, huh?

Just remember, there’s a huge difference between world-building through details and world-building through exposition. Both are acceptable, but both have their own appropriate time to be utilized. Take a break from telling the reader flat-out how this thing works, and instead reveal it through the world’s details. Not only does this help treat your readers like the competent individuals they are, it also immerses them so much in the world that there isn’t much of a chance to compare your world to others.

Tl;dr—World-building isn’t really something that can be explained for you by someone else. There are certainly questions that exist to help you, but following a guide that works for someone else might not work for you. Explore the details! (And let the reader explore them, too!)

In the club

They deceived us when they told us that there is an International Court of Justice, and they deceived us when they said that they are human beings or that they know humanity, and they deceived us when they said we are with you and will not leave you. They are developing and developing and developing everything in life in order to try to reduce the death rate and preserve the lives and safety of people, but all of this is a lie. Where is all of this in what is happening in Gaza? Why does the International Court of Justice not stop the war in Gaza? Why do they not stop Israel from committing massacres? Why do they let us die? Why do they let us starve? Why do they let us be besieged? Why do they let us leave our homeland by force? Why does this indicate? Where is their humanity? Where is the International Court of Justice that they boast about? Where is all of this about the thousands of children who were killed? Where is this about the thousands of children who were wounded? Where is this about the thousands of children who lost their families, fathers and mothers? Where are you regarding what is happening to us? Hundreds of innocent citizens die daily, hundreds are injured, and dozens of homes are destroyed. Why is all of this happening to us? Aren’t we human beings like you? Don’t we deserve to live like you? We want this? We want a normal life like everyone else. We don’t want to starve, we don’t want to be displaced, we don’t want to be besieged, and we don’t want to be killed. Show some of the humanity that you claim to have. Help us, please, help us. We don’t know how long we will live, so stand by us so that we can get out of here safely.

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