Fantasy world – Mythic Scribes Test Site

Defining Human

After a recent break from writing, I’m back in the chair and am assessing my unfinished stories and the world I’ve forged around them.

One story in particular, The Rage Within, was written to explore a race called the Dagorans. They are a gray-skinned folk afflicted with a berserk-like rage. Sifting through my notes revealed the possibility of them interbreeding with eight out of nine physical races.

This fact conflicted with my original intent of having a diversity of races. Were all my races really humans with differing physical traits?

The Fact and the Fantastical – 5 Tips for Creating an Urban Fantasy World

by Featured Author

This article is by Michael Cairns.

Fantasy is an expansive genre in which the reader can be transported to far-off lands. Urban fantasy does something quite different, laying the fantastical world over the one in which we live.

This can be a tricky thing to get right. Too much fantasy and the realism can be lost. Not enough fantasy, and the wonderful sense that anything can happen disappears, and the story becomes humdrum.

Following the writing and copious editing of my Urban Fantasy Trilogy, the Assembly, I’ve identified a few pointers as to what works and what doesn’t. Here are my top five tips to help you blend the real with the fantastical, and create a world your reader will become lost in.

4 Tips for Worldbuilding Success

by Featured Author

This article is by Katie Cross.

It was so hot that summer, I would have preferred vomiting barbed wire to walking outside.

The air was muggy and thick with humidity so high that a permanent haze settled in like a fog. I didn’t see my thermostat go below 80 degrees for far too long, even with air conditioning.

Living in a two-story red brick house in southern Georgia, I had a lot of great story ideas stuck in my head. I was brimming to the point it was paralyzing. There were so many ideas! I started on one tangent, just to start to explore another.

The scene was bitter cold, with snow and frosty windowpanes. Or …. was it supposed to be hot and arid? Wasn’t my character chasing a dragon? Yes, but they got lost on a trail and found a flow. Wait, that pink flower is poisonous. Or was it the one that turned into an umbrella when touched?

Adding Depth to a Fantasy World

by Alice Leiper

When worldbuilding, writers tend to focus on topics such as magic systems, fantasy races, kingdoms, politics, and religions. These elements form the settings, the backdrops against which our stories take place.

But consider your world. Not the world you’ve created, but the one you live in.

What is important to you? What aspects of your life do you take for granted?

Your world consists of things like your job, your family, your education, and your friends. It also includes the places you buy food from, or visit for entertainment.

It should be the same for your characters. They’ve got to eat and have fun too, so they’ll have places where they do those things or ways to do them.

Transforming a World Into a Setting

by Brian DeLeonard

Every time I ask other fantasy writers a question about the worlds I create, one of them will inevitably respond, “What does this matter to your story?”

That’s because many new writers, influenced by roleplaying games and the illustrations featured in our favorite fantasy novels, are prone to view worldbuilding as filling in the gaps on a map, cataloging the monsters, or finding new ways to justify fireballs. But these details alone do not create immersion.

Hobbyists build worlds. Authors build settings.

Mythic Justice – Crime and Punishment in Your Fantasy World

by Robert MacAnthony

How you handle crime and punishment in your fantasy world is an important aspect of creating a vibrant and real culture. The legal system you create should reflect how society views law generally, as well as the values of society.

This article provides a starting point for considerations of criminal law in your fantasy world.

The Source of Law

At the outset, you should decide where laws originate in your society. This is not necessarily limited to deciding which individuals or bodies make the law. Take it a step deeper. It is useful to examine two broad categories for the ultimate source of law – Divine Right and Natural Law.

Welcome To My Worlds – One Author’s Approach to Building Fantasy Worlds

by Featured Author

This article is by S.G. Rogers.

I’m a fantasy author who enjoys building worlds. Perhaps my interest in world-building stems from the wonderment I feel in the presence of beauty. Magic exists in the waterfalls of Brevard County, North Carolina, the stunning views at Big Sur, and the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Magic radiates from the paintings of Michelangelo, the castles of Europe, and the sculptures of Bruno Torfs in Australia. When I experience this magic, I feel compelled to communicate my sense of awe in the stories that I write.

I’ve sold eight fantasy manuscripts so far on the strength of my world-building, with two sequels in the works. Although each project has its own unique challenges, my approach to world building involves a few common principals.