This craft analysis will provide an overview of the literary world, including guidelines for how to set the rules for your world and tips for how to manage scope. Let’s begin by defining the term world as it relates to literature. A literary world is a framework that provides a backdrop for the characters and a sense of scale for the reader. A world can be as humble as a hotel room or as grand as a galactic empire.
Scope
The scope of a story and the world of a story are intertwined and inseparable. A large scope demands a large world, and a small scope demands a small world. A short story typically has a short scope and a small world, and a novel typically has a larger scope and a larger world. It is essential to manage scope early. As tempting as it may be to write a short story set in a galactic empire, it is usually not feasible to do so. You would not have enough time to describe everything in your world. Managing your scope requires understanding the scale of your story. Instead of attempting to compress a large world into a small scope, ask yourself if it would not be better to reduce the size of the world itself. Whatever the scope of your story may be, it must necessarily follow the rules.
The Rules
The rules represent the nuts and bolts of the world, the inner workings of the story. Every literary world has rules, just as our world has rules. In our world, things are attracted to each other by a force called gravity. Therefore, if I jump, I am inevitably drawn back to the ground. However, if you are writing a story that takes place on Mars, the rules for gravity would be different.
You should:
- Set the rules early. (A sudden magical event can be distracting if a rule for magic is not set early in the story.)
- Be logically consistent. (Vampires are expected to drink blood, not cherry punch.)
Logical Consistency
Logical consistency is the backbone of every story. Story-tellers use it to make even the most fantastic story seem real. As fantastic as the creatures and legends of Middle-Earth are in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, you do not doubt that you are indeed reading about a real world. The events that occur during the end of the Third Age of Middle Earth follow inevitably from the events that precede them. This is logical consistency. In order to create logical consistency, a writer must first be knowledgeable about the world where the events of her story take place.
Be Knowledgeable
In order to present a convincing world, a writer must first become knowledgeable about that world. If the world is based upon the real world, then the narrator can simply use a search engine to find information or look at an encyclopedia. If the world exists only in her imagination, then research will involve more invention than anything.
Whether you’re a fantasy writer or a literary fiction writer your aim should be the same: create a believable world. How do you achieve this? You use a model. When attempting to describe something in your literary world, first research its real world analog. For instance, if you are trying to describe an elf, do so keeping in mind that an elf is an analog of a human.
When you describe things in your world, make sure that:
- They serve a purpose
- You are being specific and concrete
- You describe them actively, avoiding passive verbs and so on
World as a Mirror of Emotion
An often overlooked guideline of world-building is emotional mirroring. That is, the descriptions of the world should mirror the feelings and emotions of the character whose point of view the reader is sharing. A happy world clashes with a depressed character. A depressing world clashes with a happy character. (I will expound on point of view in the next craft analysis).