Writing: The In-depth Approach

Chapter 3: Building Worlds

So you have your characters. You've developed them, given them a personality and described them. But we shouldn't stop there. You should also focus on deepening the story world your characters occupy. Just like your characters, your story world should take on a life of its own. It should pop from the page. It should come to life. As the writer, you want your readers to become immersed in the story world. If the story world is deep, rich and complex, it will make a dramatic difference to the quality of your narrative.

Think of J.K Rowling for a moment. In the 'Harry Potter' series, Rowling developed a deep, complex story world, a fantasy world inter-lapping with a contemporary, British, 'muggle' society. In her novel, she created a rich, multi-layered, magical society, a story world complete with new branches of government, education, transportation, laws, sports, myths and a history of its own. Rowling uses extensive detail to breathe life into her story world, creating unique, memorable details that result in a unique narrative and an immersive reading experience. From flying cars, broomsticks and owls that deliver the post, these details develop a well rounded story world.

Now, your world doesn't have to be as complicated as J.K Rowling's. And remember, she didn't develop the fully formed vision of Hogwarts overnight. She developed her magical world over the course of six novels. Your story world should be deep enough to immerse the reader, to capture the reader's attention and hold it.

So how can you build a deeper, complex world? With the right details, you can make a mundane storyworld interesting and turn an unbelievable world into something believable and vivid.

What makes a story world engaging? Details. Using details can create rich, complex settings. Be specific. Narrow down on specific details and ideas. Use vivid imagery and sensory details to colour the world. What do you imagine when you see the world? Can you associate any smells, sensations, tastes or sounds to the location? Say you write about a city. For instance:

... Renee waited at the bus stop, checking her watch. The bus was late again.

It was peak hour in the city. Cars banked up bumper to bumper, coughing out exhaust fumes, engines rumbling. Noon had come and the sun hung heavy in the sky. A dead, stinking heat settled. Heat ripplded in waves from the asphalt. She could already feel the sweat rolling down her forehead, leaving cool trails on her skin.

The street was busier than usual. The crowds bustled on the side walk, waiting at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the pulsing hammer of the walk signal. A woman in pumps clacked past the bus stop, muttering low profanities into a phone, raising her voice to shout, but cutting short, fearful of drawing attention to herself. Across the road, a man with dreadlocks and a loose fitting, tie-died shirt strummed on a guitar, singing a Beatles tune. 'All you need is love' she could make out. That made her laugh. 'Buddy, right now, all you need is a job', she thought, rolling her eyes...

In this passage, the details help build up a vision of the setting. It helps to build a mood and a sense of what the place feels like. There are a few sensory details to colour the scene and I've been specific about a few things here and there. But let's broaden this even further. We want to deepen the world, not just the one setting. We can apply the same process of adding details and being specific to a story world too. But before you do this, you need to know and understand your story world.

Your narrative could be set in the real world (contemporary or historical), or a fantasy world. You might had a futuristic world or a psychological world. No matter what your story world is, every world has rules. For instance, our world has the fundamental rules of gravity. In the human population, we have different laws, forms of government, different environments, technology, politics, customs, religions, superstitions, minorities and authorities. Some people have power, others are powerless. Some people are rich, some are poor. There might be strict laws, or maybe none at all. When building a world, there are different areas you can explore. It's like a cut diamond. It's a single rock, one gem stone, but it never has one face. It'll always have multiple facets, different angles to view it from.