World Building – Page 2

So, trying to make a bowl shaped planet work with physics (even taking magic into account) is proved to be difficult – to put it simply. Even just the inside was difficult, but trying to make the outer side also have a proper gravitational field, proved even harder.

At many points I wanted to just say ‘it’s magic’ and be done with it. However that didn’t sit right with me, as I’m the type that needs things to make sense to me so that I can write consistently.

So that meant ironing out all the kinks, and making sure everything worked well together. You just know that someone will do the maths, so at the very least, it needed to be self-consistent. And this was just for the planet … most of it won’t even get put into the book!

However, situations like this is also part of the reason I started this blog. Aside from anything else, it helps to solidify the world in people’s minds (mine included). Besides, one of my ultimate goals is for other writers to be able to use this world as a setting for their own stories. As such, definite rules need to be in place – otherwise each writer will have their own interpretation of how it works, and nothing will mesh right.

Running various numbers as a person who failed maths A level, definitely wasn’t easy, and they’re probably not even correct, but it at least makes enough sense for me to start writing in the universe.

When I’m sure I won’t cause any spoilers, I’ll try to upload a sample picture of the crazy way my mind worked when trying to figure these things out. If, even after all that, no other author wants to write in this world, I’ll be sad. Naturally, though, as the creator I would still like veto rights.

I think Terry Pratchett also let other authors write in his disk world, that’s what gave me the idea for all this.

I decided to write a blog to give an idea of how an author like myself goes about creating a story and a world. Of course there are many valid ways to go about creating such a world, and my process will probably seem rather slapdash and chaotic in contrast.

I’m not the sort of author that likes to plan my stories too much before writing, as this takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. I like to travel along with my characters and discover the plot as they do. As a result, I often only have a few key ideas in my head at the beginning of the process. As I go along, various parts will begin to flesh out, and I will spot parts that need more developing (even if I never end up putting it into the book). It’s only with those parts sorted out that I can create a consistent story.

In this particular story, I’m trying to keep a lot secret from the reader at first, so (to avoid spoilers) I can’t reveal too much of what I’ve already sorted out. Of course, I’ve dropped hints from the very beginning, but I think it would be nice to let the reader speculate before it’s finally revealed in it’s entirety.

Before I ramble on for too long, here is a rough sketch of my completed map for Axis. It helped me to solidify how my world works, and makes it easier for me to plot a course for my characters as they move about. Once I’m done writing the story, I will plot on key places as well. This is a fantasy story that follows two men as they try to find out what happened in their pasts.

Axis is bowl shaped, and this is the inside view.

There’s an interesting explanation behind why the planet is this shape, so I can’t wait until it’s revealed later in the series. I may not plan the actual plot too much in advance, but I make sure the backstory and world building is clear. This helps to solidify the world in my mind, and I have my own fundamental rules to follow so that things don’t get too out of control.

Category: World Building

Axis and Physics

Axis Map