Wolfe Tracks: Worldbuilding and End of January

Where I wax on, wax off about worldbuilding and what's coming.

So, here we are at the end of January, start of February. Time flies, doesn’t it? It was a busy month with a lot of writing on my one serial and planning for the others. Which got me thinking about rambling on about ‘worldbuilding’. I’ll get to where the state of my serials and all are. First, pull up a chair and sit a spell, lets break this worldbuilding thing down a bit.

If you’re here for my serial fiction, fear not! There’s a chapter dropping this coming Friday, Feb 7th for Death Whispers of the Etherwave!

Worldbuilding

Now there’s a big topic, right? Pretty charged one, too. Some writers don’t mind and dive right in. Others? They step carefully, feeling like it’s a distraction. Then there are some that say ‘never do this!’

The thing is, as a writer, you’ll wind up doing this even if you don’t realize it.

Worldbuilding, at its heart, is simply laying the groundwork for your story. The more fantastical your story, the wider worldbuilding net you have to cast. It could be as elaborate as a non-human fantasy species, or as simple as a special meal two characters cooked together. It’s all ‘worldbuilding’. The trick is how deep do you need to go for what you’re writing?

There are all sorts of techniques and ways to do this. It simply is getting organized so in your fiction, especially fantasy or science fiction, story you can ‘write what you know’. Only in this case, ‘what you know’ is entirely made up from your imagination!

I won’t get into the techniques. There is a lot out there and really it comes down to personal preference. You should try different ones, see what means and methods of organization suit your mind. But I thought I would share some insights into my method of worldbuilding.

Method to My Madness

If you’ve followed me here for a while, you know I’ll toss out worldbuilding articles on Sundays for Windtracer Tales or Hoist the Colors where the Legends of the Privateers is set. (But if you’re new, hey! Welcome! Great to meet you!)

The method I tend to follow is close to what’s called “Spiral Worldbuilding” (at least my version of it). That’s when you take one concept, expand it, run it down, and explore it. Then pick out pieces in that one concept that are related, then run those down. It covers a lot of ground briskly.

But in each worldbuilding piece I write, I also go deep using a structure I call “in world reflection”. Let’s take one I posted not long back, the Manta Leech. Species are really fun to worldbuild and are a good place to start.

My general structure for species starts like this:

[ in-world quote from a character in the setting .. how do they feel about it ?]

[ general wide view of the species ]

[ what’s the critter look like? ]

[ Optional character quote about how the thing looks ]

[ what, and how, does it eat? ]

[ Optional character quote about it’s eating habits ]

[ What eats this creature, if anything? ]

[ is it, or any part of it, used as a trade good? ]

[ closing in-world quote about the critter ]

Seems like a lot, I know. But you don’t have to write tons of paragraphs. Just a few sentences, so when you come back to reference it for your story, you can get the details and description right.

But, for me, the in world quotes are almost as vital as the description.

See, those quotes remind me of how the setting views the creature. For example, here’s an in-character quote from Manta Leech:

A manta leech? Survivors call it the Devil’s Blanket. Given how it catches prey and eats, the name is fitting and accurate.

- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer

Pretty dire and absolutely a warning. This reminds me that the people in the setting are pretty nervous about the things. Which means they keep their distance, have some protection they keep around against them, and so on. It reminds me of the tone I want for these creatures in a story.

Now, again, what I do above is just what I do. This is not dogma or some “worldbuilding rule”. Pfft. I stick to writing rules about as well as Sir Terry Pratchett did. What I’ve got above? That’s just what works for me.

Now, that structure above is mostly for species. Outside of those quotes, usually the structure will change if it’s for an organization, or a piece of technology, etc.

When, and When Not To Worldbuild

That brings me to a question I’ve been asked before. When should I worldbuild?

Answer? That’s really up to you.

I know that’s no help. But really, it’s true. Some people like to get really organized all at first. They’ll worldbuild everything and that’s ok. Some won’t, and will worldbuild as they go. Both are valid!

Me? I’m somewhere in the middle. I worldbuild a large chunk of where the first 1 to 5 chapters will or might go. Then I dive into the story. Often, I’ll make it pretty far into those chapters before I find something else I need to research, worldbuild, and so on. So, I’ll stop and worldbuild out a chunk, then dive back into the story.

Now, I will say, if you’re writing fantasy and get in there deep, there is one type of worldbuilding you might want to figure out before you get too deep into the story, and that’s languages.

Nuts and Bolts of Languages

Languages are a really tricky thing. You don’t have to use them in a fantasy story, or much of them. But they can really expand your understanding of your made up cultures. Case in point, in the Dark Device of the Great Chasm in Windtracer Tales, I needed the main character, Tela Kioni, to talk to some kobolds. But this was on the kobold’s home turf. It made sense she might know how to speak kobold since there are a lot of them in her hometown.

But what in the heck was that language, anyway?

So I ran off and invented a language called ‘Belari-scal’. That’s worldbuilding (a bit extreme, but we won’t go there!) Yes, this included Spelling, Phonology and all so I could toss out things like:

Lixēx loiʻau kaill!

Which in English is “Sounds good to me!”

All so I could have Tela greet the kobolds with:

Buzet’el!

Which in English means “You eaten yet?” and brings me back around to culture. Kobolds, in my setting, are small and energetic. This means hungry buggers. So food and worried if a guest hasn’t eaten is high on their ‘good manners’ list. Therefore, they waste no time in their greetings to get to the important parts to make sure guests are fed well!

I say all this to suggest, if… and that is a big if… you go down the path of making a language for your setting, I really recommend you get some of the basics nailed down fairly early in your story. This is only because languages dive into what a culture calls a river, a cup, a cloud, or a friend. Maybe even some Happy Trees! Pretty basic things your main character might run into! It also might help get a culture or three in your setting a bit deeper.

Whew. Deep right?

It can be.

Now, I didn’t start deep. Because I do this in small pieces, it starts small. Just a bit at a time because that’s what works for me. But… it 100% adds up fast. At that point, you really need to keep all this in some sort of order. Use Google Docs, Obsidian, World Anvil, Worldbuilding journals, what have you. I personally use World Anvil (no, this isn’t a paid plug for them, I just happen to like World Anvil to organize my nonsense). You should use what works best for your mind.

With that, I think I’ll break off on the worldbuilding talk for a while. If you’ve any questions, hit me up in the comments! I’ll do my best to answer. If I get enough questions, I’ll start a chat and answer them there.

Now, let’s jump to a quick rundown of what’s coming.

Windtracer Tales

Ok! Worldbuilding and the first chapters of the next Windtracer Tales story of Kingdom of the Slithering Maze is in the works. It’s still cooking, so I’m not ready to share. Not yet. Well… ok… maybe just a teaser:

Basysus, 12, 1278: City of Osidore. River Junction Inn. Where I had something like a plan.

It really was a great plan.

I slammed the door shut to the room, then tore off down the hall. The stairs out were at the far end, which felt like they got farther away the harder I ran for them. Panic was a jerk like that.

Kingdom of the Slithering Maze is still on track for March 2025, which isn’t far off! I’ll be making more noise about it the closer I get to releasing it to you.

Legends of the Privateers

So! I hope everyone is having a good time with Death Whispers of the Etherwave. It’s picking up speed in the plot and I’m seriously considering releasing it every Friday instead of every other Friday. The story has a different tone and pace ( aka “Voice”) from anything in Windtracer Tales. Which is fantastic. There’s plenty of story here to go before I even have to think about “what is the next story I want to tell?”

Curses by Darklight

This is one that is in the works, lurking in the background. I’ve had some people take a look at parts. A certain Shannon W Haynes was wonderful enough to beta read chapter 1 for me. This is a modern (as in circa 2024) setting with yet another voice all its own. But this one is still on the stove simmering so it may be a few months before it comes out. Rest assured, it will! You’ll know when I start moving tabs and menus around on the newsletter. The first story here will be called Inkwell of Shadows.

Hoist the Colors

Last but not least, for those subscribing for the roleplaying game angle! Yes, Hoist the Colors is coming along. I’ve finished the spellcasting rules (which came together nicely) now I’m working on crafting rules. Oh yes, that means crafting in a game session, in a scene, etc. No, I’m not kidding. These rules will let a player make an on-the-fly customization to a weapon or item once per scene. In between sessions, it will let them (with game master close approval) invent new items or alterations to new items! This also includes potion crafting and enchantments.

Overall, these are the most sensitive and delicate rules of the system. Mostly because these rules could break the tar out of the setting in an instant. So, I’m wanting to be careful. Once done, I’ll let you know, maybe give over a sneak peek!

And that, as they say, is that! What do you think? Got any questions? Let me know in the comments!

For more about Hoist the Colors, Windtracer Tales, or any of the other fiction I write, please consider subscribing as I would really appreciate the support, sometimes I post behind the scenes on writing, worldbuilding and more. If you’re wanting a deeper look at Hoist the Colors, take the plunge here at the link: Hoist the Colors.

Until next time!

-Kummer Wolfe