October Novel Prep Challenge

Here's a short word from me about world-building.

Your story's setting is an important element of your story and should, in some way facilitate the play-out of the plot. Since readers can't see into your mind, you need to draw a vivid picture of your setting, using the senses so readers can build up an image in their minds. They want a sense of a living, breathing place where your characters play out their drama.

Unless you're writing other-world fantasy or science fiction, it is a good idea to write what you know. If you have never been to a real place and you rely solely on something like Google Earth, readers who have been to, lived or still live in that place will know you've never been there.

It is the little details in your setting (e.g. the, sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and tactile aspects of things) the culture and the general atmosphere) which make the story world come alive for readers—making it feel authentic.

I've read stories where writers not from the UK have set their stories in the UK. It was so glaringly obvious that the author had never set foot on these islands because they got so much so glaringly (and sometimes laughably) wrong. Please don't be like those writers. If you're not writing other-world fantasy or science fiction (where you're making up your world from scratch) then for your readers' sakes, set your story in a place or places with which you are familiar.

Here's a great world-building guide link -
https://blog.reedsy.com/worldbuilding-guide

If you're writing a historical novel then you will need to do thorough research to achieve an authentic feel, e.g. Don't have bales of hay in a medieval setting because the hay baler was a 19th Century invention. Also, in the past, most people were illiterate and people had a completely different mindset about the roles of men and women for instance.

If your other world fantasy or sci-fi story is set in an entirely made-up world, then it needs to be internally consistent. It's a good idea, to create a world-building bible (somewhere to store all your concepts, places, races, cultural stuff etc. Here's a link to a great world-building bible template - https://ellenbrockediting.com/worldbuilding-bible-template.


Happy prepping.