tales of Suchita

When it comes to writing fantasy, worldbuilding as a word is not far behind. As a reader and writer of this genre, I love it as much as I hate it. Some books do a tremendous job of it, some are lean but still work, some are too heavy on it, some do it poorly and some don’t have any.

Irrespective, worldbuilding can be quite a challenge and no matter how many times I write or plan a book, it can be overwhelming. There are two ways in which I usually begin; I either take a top-down approach (or go from macro to micro) or I take a bottom-up approach (or go from micro to macro).

I don’t think either is superior or makes worldbuilding easier. But I do think they have their own use case. For example, a top-down approach serves me well when I’m plotting a series. A bottom-up approach works better for me when I’m planning a stand alone novel or I’m writing an urban fantasy that is set in say Bombay or Dehradun.

Here’s how I do it.

Top-down Approach (macro to micro)

Map

I start with setting down what my fantasy land looks like. What are the borders, geography and topography of this land. I define where the rivers, forests, seas, mountains, etc are. What kind of climate each country has, how that may impact way of life, the kind of people who live there, etc.

I use India’s map as my guide a lot. It helps answer the questions and makes the visualization a whole lot easier. And it inadvertently adds some desi elements too to my world.

Once I have a visual, it helps me to figure out the politics, trade, hierarchies and how the land is ruled. If you see the above map, the visual tells me that Beas and Narda will have to have a treaty that dictates how that river body is used.

Rules

Though I have written stories where there is no overt magic system, most of my stories do have some kind of magic. Now comes the time where I start defining the rules of my land. What “real world” rules do I want to carry forward in my world and what rules I want to subvert are important choices.

For example, I find it tedious when misogyny or homophobia become a part of a fantasy world, like women not being allowed into academia or not having visible LGBTQIA+ characters.

This is also my favourite part because as much as I love the freedom of colouring outside the lines, I also love to curb this freedom by putting down rules that I cannot break.

Setting

Once I have a handle on the big picture, I start zooming in. I go to the country and the city where my story will be set. Deciding whether the setting is a city, town or village impacts how it’s laid out.

It’s important to me to know where my characters live, how they interact with these outer elements and if they have some favourite parts of where they live.

For example, in one of my stories, there is a Bargad ka ped which is central to the plot of the story but equally, it’s a part of the village life.

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Bottom-up Approach (micro to macro)

Logline

I learnt this word from a screenwriter friend of mine. It’s basically a single line statement that defines the entirety of your story. For example, the government has been slowly replacing humans with AI bots and no one knows why.

The beauty of a logline as a starting point is, it cuts away the noise and flaff and forces you to answer a simple question: what am I trying to say?

Detailing

Once I know what I’m trying to say, I have to figure out why I’m saying it and how I want to say it. This section takes care of a lot of the details and rules that my world will rely on.

For example, taking the logline I mentioned above, is the government replacing humans in key strategic places in order to consolidate power? Or maybe they’re being replaced to control a narrative.

Answering such questions help me build layers into my world.

Core groups

Next, I define the core groups that are in play. For example, in my book All Roads Lead Here, there are three core groups: the teens and their homes, the school and Division Bright.

For the logline, there would be the government, the AI bots, the humans who are assisting the government, the humans who are resisting and probably the ethical dilemma of what is being done and why.

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Worldbuilding is a lot of background work. There is a possibility I’ll use only half of it in my actual story. But knowing the details is important because it provides the story some length, breadth and depth.

Should you start with worldbuilding, plot or characters?

The short answer is, it depends on how ideas usually come to you.

For me, my ideas start with either a character or a logline. Sometimes I expand from that central point or immediately zoom out and start with a map. One thing I have noticed is, every book I write follows its own meandering journey and no matter how much I try to wrangle it into some form of method, the chaos is not far behind.

Once I have the structure of my world, I start putting together my characters and plot. In case there are gaps in my worldbuilding – maybe some questions I didn’t answer or new questions that emerge as my brain begins to play – I take care of them here.

I don’t plan a lot of my story, I get bored of the planning pretty quickly. So side characters and side plotlines I write as and when the need arises. This is the part where I get to have fun so I try not to put too many rules. I do keep an excel handy to note down any details I come up with on the spot that may become pertinent down the line.

Writing a synopsis before I begin, a bare bones of this happens, then this, then this…until I have a summary of my story in front of me, has been a lifesaver.

How much research should you do?

If you notice, I haven’t mentioned research anywhere. That’s mostly because research bores me which I have never understood about myself because I love going to museums and reading histories.

But, I use a lot of things I’m familiar with to build lore and my worlds. Like any time I travel, I take pictures of landscapes so I can potentially use them in my stories. I use a lot of current world and India politics to define the power play in my worlds. I use all the books I read as a bedrock of what I want or don’t want to do. And mostly, I rely heavily on instincts and allowing myself to have fun.

A lot of the times I have realized that a story is ready to tell me how it wants to be written only if I get out of my own way. So as much as I plan, a lot also happens on the page. There is a reason it is said a story gets written twice: once when you’re writing it and once when you’re editing it!