Overthinking: World Building

Great fantasy books come with gorgeous maps – Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones. My WIP, Tales of Mundus does not.

It's not from lack of trying on my part.

On the mirco-scale, I have 'mapped' bits of Mundus. I know what's around Leon and Celebramar's lake and the general direction to big cities and different ecological zones. (Mainly so that I can keep track of what the dragon Celebramar eats.)

On the marco-scale, I keep tripping over my education. I try to map out anything bigger than a neighborhood and I start thinking like an environmental engineer.

A typical world building exercise challenges the storyteller to think about plant and animal life, terrain, and seasonal weather cycles. In my mind, that's just window dressing. The land itself is shaped by plate tectonics, glacier drifted, and the ocean tides. In short, I can't just doodle a coast line and it feel 'right.' (As much as I enjoy Middle Earth, Tolkien had a habit of using mountain ranges like picket fences.)

There's also the anthropological side to consider. Cultures are shaped by the land. Oklahoma folklore has no sea monsters or vampires. We have Thunderbirds, heralds of the storms, and the trickster Old Man Coyote who laughs in the night.

Mundus is a magpie collection of mythos and characters. They need their native habitats, or they lose something in translation. Centaurs don't work in boglands. Everyone also needs plenty of space. Being 'culture siblings' doesn't mean any two races will get along. Imagine Elrond the Half-Elf trying to share space with Tinkerbell. Those picket mountains are starting to look attractive.

I've started, scrapped, then restarted the 'map' of Mundus several times. It's an exercise in frustration. Frankly, I'd rather spent time writing about the characters than fighting my brain. I have notes on which races and cultures are neighbors with how easy it is for people to travel. Anything more than that and I start building bio-domes (Start at both ice capes and work to match along the equator.)

There's also part of me that thinks it is good for parts of Mundus to remain Terra Incognita. A blank spot on the map is a challenge and promise that you haven't see everything.

My education emphasized structure and systems, but a good scientist has a strong sense of curiosity. All my good ideas come from letting my mind wander off the beaten path. Do centaurs wear horseshoes? Can dragons get sinus infections?

Tales of Mundus won't be published with a typical fantasy map. However, if it does get one, I pity the artist/cartographer who get roped into helping me.

Cold Weather and My Sense of Humor

Winter is beautiful. Winter is eventful. Winter is also slump season for me.

November to March has plenty of excuses for the procrastinating writer...

SADs, stress, hay fever and flu season, the holiday marathon, stress, the muse killing earworms from Christmas carols, fingers aching from the cold, and of course more STRESS.

Now, some writers avoid these traps by focusing on their word count. There's a large support system out there, Write a Novel in One Month or other winter bootcamps. Unfortunately, my problem isn't just time management. (Look, look everyone! I got another blog out on time.)

During slump season, my muse turns morbid. Not Grendel's Mum ripping off arms morbid. More like, “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.” My wit becomes gallows humor. Needless to say, this tone doesn't match Tales of Mundus at all.

As a teenager, I saw my peers writing angst filled stories and dark poetry, and I hated it. I didn't want to marinaded my brain in gloom and doom. A storyteller's job is to enrich life, to inspire and entertain.

The shorter days and cool weather bring out melancholy feelings and thoughts. I do still write during a slump. I just don't have anything I want to make public.

Unlike laughter which spreads freely, pain and sadness are more personal. I have multitude of trials and struggles in my history. However, I don't want to be known for my bad health, weird childhood, etc. Those stories are not for entertainment – they are for uniting and giving hope to individuals.

I also don't think it's polite to leave my battle scars and sharp edges out where an unsuspecting reader can trip over them. You came there to be entertained, not get a Reader's Digest special ;p

However, I don't want to just go silent for weeks at a time. I am trying to take my writing to the next step (I am currently somewhere between hobbyist and starving author.) That means learning to write through a slump and keep on topic. That means pushing and, ugh, working instead of hibernating until next summer.

This winter will be interesting – hopefully it will be entertaining and fit to print.