W is for World Building

I've done a series of my own on world building.  You can find them here, here, here, and here.  I introduced you to Ashe Steinburg and her world.  Ashe's story is on hold while I finish Only A Name, Birth of the Silver Lady, and Cracked World.  Ashe's world also needs a much more in depth work over than I gave it.

That's where this link comes in: Very cool link.  This link was provided to me by @KDSarge when she started doing the world building exercises on her own blog.  I intend, eventually, to use these exercises to do Ashe's world and probably Aislinn's as well.  I may use portions of it to adjust the Aleran world building notes as well.

The point is world building - especially for science fiction and fantasy writers - is vital if you're going to create a rich tapestry of stories.  You can keep it simple, limiting yourself to a handful of facts about your world.  Or you can do what I've done with Aleran, what Tolkien did with Middle Earth, and what many other authors have done with their own worlds.  You'll draw maps, write snippets of creation myths, describe all of the cultures and countries in your world, etc.

Don't shrink from building the best world possible.  Even if most of those facts never see print in your books, they'll still show through in your writing.