Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books in lots of weird genres like fantasy (Blood of Kings and Kinsman Chronicles), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). She has a podcast/vlog at www.StoryworldFirst.com. You can also find Jill on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website. Tagboth (Tag for short) is a goldhorn dragon from Belfaylinn, a hidden fantasy realm on the western end of the Sargasso Sea. Jill is working on the first book of this tale for this year’s Grow an Author series.
I need more world building.
At this point, I’ve done A LOT of brainstorming and making lists. I have a list of fairy names. Lists of types of stones and what their magic will be. List of colors and their meanings. Lists of different types of fairies. Lists of place names to use if I need them. List of character names. I have a map. I have research on thin places. I have pictures I printed off the internet for all my main characters and many side characters. The list goes on and on. In fact, I have a file folder filled with research and a 3-subject notebook full of worldbuilding work and research. (See pictures below.) I once had tentatively called the Belfaylinn series Ultraviolet, so that is what is written on the tab of my file folder and the front of my notebook. I think you can get an idea of how much worldbuilding I’ve done so far. That’s about two inches of stuff.
It’s a great start. But I’m still finding it difficult to answer some of the “why” questions I had from the initial list in my first blog post, specifically: Why are these fairies peoples fighting with each other? Why are they hiding from the modern world? And why do they continue to live without technology?
I think part of my problem here is that I haven’t developed the culture of the three fairy types beyond the physical and the location of their homes. Arials have wings and live in the mountains. Grounders live on the ground. Merrows have webbed fingers and toes and live in or near the ocean. That’s all good to know, but it’s surface stuff. I need to go deeper. I need to know why there are three types. I need to know what each type (race? species?) values. I need to know the goal of their ruler. That will help me as I set out to answer those three “why” questions. I can’t really answer them well until I know more.
Besides that problem, I’ve found some other areas lacking in this story. I spent a lot of hours the past few weeks reading over everything I had in that series file and notebook. I also read the chapters of Onyx Eyes I wrote and made a list of plot holes and problems I need to fix. So, I’ve taken all of that and made this updated “To Do” list for more research and worldbuilding.
MY NEW TO DO LIST
-Develop the culture for the three fairy types. Include a history for their land, how they came to live there, what each kingdom cares about, and why they are fighting.
–Why are they hiding from the modern world?
-Why do they continue to live without technology?
-Fill out a detailed character chart for Drake and Kaitlyn. Perhaps also for Tagboth and Roose.
-Brainstorm sayings or popular phrases that have to do with colors to incorporate into fairy dialogue.
-Research the Hebrew “Breastplate of the High Priest” that has twelve each to represent a tribe of Israel. See if I can somehow incorporate it into the story or backstory.
-Interview a Hebrew speaker on some of the words I’d like to use.
-Make a list of books or series to read for inspiration that either have to do with fairies or Celtic mythology. I want to know what is out there so that I can make my story different.
Ruler’s goal:
Ruler’s motives:
Nation’s colors:
Nation’s flag/standard/sigil:
Type of dress:
Architecture:
Weapons:
Adjectives that describe these people:
History:
Religion:
Types of food:
Any important animals:
So while I’m working on that this week, I’d like to challenge you to answer a question about the culture of one of the peoples in your story. I’d like to know:
1. What does that culture most value? (Wealth? Power? Freedom? Happiness? Family? God? The environment? Survival? Food? Water? Individualism? Loyalty? Logic? Tolerance? Etc.) Share your answer in the comments.