Readers love maps. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing fantasy, thriller, or romance, whether your story takes place in the real world, your version of the real world, or a completely invented world. Readers enjoy pinpointing locations on a map and visualizing the spaces between events and locations. Taking the time to create one is general worth it–both for your readers and for you as the author.
Maps keep you honest and lock in your world details–if the hero’s apartment is at Point A and the murder occurs at Point B and you said those points are 30 minutes apart in book one, having it visualized on a map helps you maintain that distance for the other books in the series.
There are plenty of ways to create a map. Many apps will do it for you if you aren’t artistically talented (I really like Wonderdraft!).
If you want a more old-school approach to mapmaking–with a dash of roleplaying games and fate–consider the following method:
Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Did you enjoy these kinds of activities? Check out more in The General Worldbuilding Guide, available wherever books are sold!
Thinking about the way different people behave is an integral part of worldbuilding. Often it impacts your story, but sometimes, it’s just background that gives readers the feeling that there is a lot more below the water’s surface–that the iceberg is indeed quite deep. One way to do that is to flesh out small details as well as the big picture ideas.
When it’s time to build the cultural practices of the people in your world, consider the following questions:
What are the cultural practices of the people in your world? How are the cultural guidelines unique? Are they specific to different groups? In what way? (Do they brush their teeth with their toes? Do they leave their babies with strangers? Do they shave their heads before childbirth? Do they use distilled human remains to lengthen their lives like in Jupiter Ascending?)
How do different groups of people view one another and why? What is the power dynamic between different groups (gender, race, country, etc.)? Are men in charge of women or vice versa or are they equal? Are certain races or nationalities seen in specific ways? (Women are subservient, Vikings are wild men, orcs are evil, Native Americans are noble savages, etc.).
What religions exist in your world? How do they function and who follows them? How important is religion in this world—enough to fight wars over?
Does slavery exist in your world? How does it work? Which group enslaves what other group? How do people become slaves and how can they be freed? How do other cultures view those who practice slavery?
What is considered a family unit in this world? How does the average person define “family”? What determines who runs a family unit? Is it the breadwinner, the oldest, the one born under a good sign?
Are small or big families common in your world? At what point has one reached a “big” family? Is this a social status thing—do lower classes have fewer children while higher classes have many?
What is the general attitude toward birth control in your world? Is it available? Is it encouraged or frowned upon? Does abortion exist as a medical procedure or a concoction of plants? How do people view single parents?
At what age is an inhabitant considered an adult? What is the average life expectancy for your people? How does social status affect that projection? Do wealthier people live longer?
How is adulthood different from childhood? Is “childhood” a thing in your world or are children expected to behave like little adults from the time they can walk and communicate?
What are common child rearing practices among inhabitants? How are children treated in your world? How do parents discipline their children? Are children expected to work right away or can they wait until they are older?
What kind of stories are told to the children of your world? Is there a boogeyman? What are children taught to fear? To respect? Why?
What kind of games do children play? Where do those games come from?
What are some of the sports in your world? How are they played?
What is considered art in your world? Is it the traditional Humanities (painting, sculpture, music, literature, etc.) or is there more to it? Do people argue about what is “art”? Is art valued in this world or seen as a waste of time and energy? Is reading stories or listening to music a treasured moment or a lazy indulgence?
Can the average person in this world read? Are fiction/non-fiction books a thing, or are they oral stories, or both? How many books does the typical person in the world have at home? What kind of books would a person read—fiction, history, science?
How do people relax in your world? What are some common hobbies? What activities would the average person do at home after the “major” work of the day is over—needlecraft, painting, sculpting, cooking, watching television?
Is the schedule of the average person set by sunlight and everyone goes to sleep at sunset, or do people stay up after dark to do things? Is non-natural light available? How is the average day divided into work and play?
Are there major holidays in your world? What are they? Where did they come from? How do inhabitants celebrate important days throughout the year? Do people celebrate equinoxes/solstices? Are certain days more important than others?
How do inhabitants keep track of birthdays? Are they celebrated? Do birthdays involve cake and presents or something else? (Hobbits give away presents on their birthday.)
What are common hygiene practices for the people? Do they bathe every day, wear perfume, wash their clothes often? Is there an industry of products around hygiene (hair, body wash, soap, make-up, etc.)?
How much food does the average person have in their home? Is it common for people to make dinner at home, or do they grab food elsewhere? Is food delivery a thing in this world (Doordash, Uber eats, etc.)?
What are some popular foods that are unique to your world? What is considered a lavish meal, an afternoon snack, a poor-man’s-breakfast?
Is food preserved in some way, or is it all fresh? Do people store food for the winter because they must supply it themselves, or is it always available?
What do the inhabitants of your world celebrate (birth, graduation, new cars)?
What do they grieve (war, famine, death of a loved one)? What do they fear (spiders, zombies, pandemic)?
What do they love (other people, satisfying pens, great advice)?
Do people have pets? What is considered a normal pet in your world? Where is the line between a pet and a food source?
What do people value? What is considered beautiful or handsome? What facial/body features are prized right now?
Are certain traditions prized more than others? What practices are looked down on by most people?
How much does the average person know about the cultural practices of other people?
Considering the answers to some of these questions when you aren’t writing will allow you to continue writing when you reach the moment when you need to insert a detail about one of these beliefs or behaviors or practices. Like thinking this way? Check out The General Worldbuilding Guide for more questions and fun activities!
An often overlooked element in worldbuilding, the weather is more than just background noise. Tiny details here and there–along with a reliable and consistent system–can bridge the gap between a fun read in an interesting world and a fascinating read in a richly developed world that lingers long after the last page is completed.
Here are some questions to consider when planning the weather for your world (and story):
What is the typical weather in your world? Are there seasonal changes? Describe these shifts.
Is your world big enough to have different seasons at the same time (winter in North and summer in South)?
What are some typical weather patterns in your world? Is it the stuff we know: snowstorms, rain, humidity, sunshine, and clouds?
Do you have weather phenomena unique to your world? Does it occasionally rain shells in the mountains, or does sand show up over the ocean?
How do people respond to the weather in your world? Can they affect it at all (weather machines, magic, or just wear a warmer coat)?
What kind of natural disasters are a result of the weather in your world? Do people freeze to death in blizzards, drown in tsunamis, suffocate in mudslides?
Do people study the weather in this world? Is there an understanding of weather patterns, or is it just angry gods playing in the sky? Is meteorology a thing in this world or do people guess (“My hip aches—snow’s coming”)? How trusted are meteorologists?
Is the weather changing, or has it always been this way? Are the inhabitants of the world affecting the weather patterns (climate change)?
Do people have special names for different seasons in your world? What are they?
How much does the average person know about the weather in your world?
Bonus questions to ponder:
What weather events from our world will you incorporate in your world? Why those and not others?
Describing the weather in our world is easy enough based on the location of the situation: it’s colder in the North and warmer in the South. Does your world have such distinctions?
In our world, science explains natural phenomena (thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.). How do the inhabitants of your world explain why natural events happen?
In our world, we are often at the mercy of the weather. How much agency do the inhabitants of your world have when it comes to the weather? Can they make it rain?
How much personal experience do you have with certain weather phenomena and what will you have to research?
When worldbuilding, a good habit is to create a weather tracker for your world (or at least one location in your world—pick the dominant one in your story). You should know the answers to the following questions without interrupting the writing process: What are the seasons of the year? What is the weather like during those seasons? How will the weather impact your story? For more Worldbuilding Questions, check out The General Worldbuilding Guide!
Looking for a new composition book for your class? The faculty at Hillsborough Community College decided that none of the publishers had what our students needed, so we wrote our own book that meets the needs of today’s students.
Composition & Grammar is an easy to use, ADA-compliant textbook that includes useful overviews, practice exercises, and student samples.
Take a look at the Table of Contents to see what is included in the textbook:
Part 1: Reading
Ch 1 Active Reading Techniques
Ch 2 Reading Comprehension Strategies
Part 2: Writing Process
Ch 3 Writing Situation
Ch 4 Writing as Exploration
Ch 5 Planning/ Prewriting
Ch 6 Outlines
Ch 7 Thesis Statements
Ch 8 Introductions
Ch 9 Conclusions
Ch 10 Organization
Ch 11 Drafting, Revising, & Editing
Part 3: Modes and Types of Writing
Ch 12 Writing Modes
Ch 12.1 Narration
Ch 12.2 Description
Ch 12.3 Exemplification
Ch 12.4 Definition
Ch 12.5 Classification/Division
Ch 12.6 Process
Ch 12.8 Cause & Effect
Ch 12.9 Argumentation
Ch 13 Types of Writing
Part 4: Grammar
Ch 14 Parts of Speech
Ch 14.1 Nouns
Ch 14.2 Verbs
Ch 14.3 Adjectives
Ch 14.4 Adverbs
Ch 14.5 Prepositions
Ch 14.6 Pronouns
Ch 14.7 Conjunctions
Ch 14.8 Interjections
Ch 15 Sentence Structure
Ch 15.1 Parts of a Sentence
Ch 15.2 Types, Patterns, & Structure
Ch 15.3 Coordination & Subordination
Ch 15.4 Modifiers
Ch 15.5 Parallelism
Ch 16 Punctuation
Ch 16.1 End Punctuation
Ch 16.2 Commas
Ch 16.3 Semicolons
Ch 16.4 Colons
Ch 16.5 Apostrophes
Ch 16.6 Hyphens
Ch 16.7 Dashes & Parentheses
Ch 16.8 Ellipses & Brackets
Ch 16.9 Quotation Marks & Italics
Ch 17 Common Errors
Ch 17.1 Verb Errors
Ch 17.2 Pronoun Problems
Ch 17.3 Run-on/Fused Sentences
Ch 17.4 Comma Splices
Ch 17.5 Sentence Fragments s
Ch 17.6 Mixed Sentences
Ch 17.7 Commonly Confused Words
Ch 18 Style
Ch 18.1 Person
Ch 18.2 Voice
Ch 18.3 Diction
Ch 18.4 Clarity & Conciseness
Ch 18.5 Tone
Ch 19 Reference Overview
Ch 19.1 Numbers
Ch 19.2 Abbreviations
Ch 19.3 Capitalization
Part 5: Research
Ch 20 Plagiarism
Ch 21 The Research Process
Ch 22 Finding Sources
Ch 23 Integrating Sources
Ch 24 MLA Format
Ch 25 APA Format
We live in a world of words.
The way we interact with our fellow humans is very often based on the language that always surrounds us, whether it be the messages we send, the news we read, or the assignments we complete in classes that give us the education intended to lead us to success.
What might be the best way to navigate the complexity of language, especially in a first-year composition course? This book addresses these issues by presenting lessons, examples, and student samples through an approach that is friendly, conversational, and realistic.
Created by actual instructors of composition at HCC, this book includes many resources to guide composition students of different skill levels:
In-depth overviews of reading, writing, and revising
Engaging exercises that anticipate and address the most common errors of writers
Actual student samples that provide the basis of class discussions and analysis
With guidance that includes both theory and practice, Composition and Grammar for HCC by HCC provides students with the skills they need for their educational goals, their careers, and their lives.
An important aspect to consider any time you are creating your world is how the inhabitants there interact with one another. You don’t need to be writing a romance to have relationships between characters, and those parameters should be clear to your readers.
Here are some questions to consider when building the relationships in your world:
What does the average relationship look like in your world? Describe the typical romantic relationship.
What does an atypical romantic relationship in your world look like? Describe a relationship that exists but would surprise others.
Is gender the deciding factor for one’s role in the relationship? How does gender present in your world? How are genders defined in your world (if gender is the social expectations associated with one’s assumed sex while sex is the biological determination using physical attributes)?
How many sexes exist in your world? Are there same-sex relationships? How does society view same-sex couples? In Prince’s Priest by VC Willis, the scandal is that the relationship is between a vampire prince and a human priest. The fact that they are both men is an expected option in that world.
How do people feel about relationships between classes? What about relationships between races? How does the average person feel about people from different places being in a relationship?
How does a typical relationship progress? Describe the usual steps of a courtship (meeting, wooing, dating, flowers, sex, meeting families, moving in together, proposal, marriage, family, children, etc.).
Do people choose their partners, or are relationships arranged by family members? Are arranged marriages the norm? Are they outdated or outlawed? If they are a thing, how do families determine a fitting suitor?
How do couples introduce prospective partners to their families? Is this an important step in the courtship process or just a casual affair?
Do couples live together (before/after marriage)? How does society feel about those who break this expectation one way or another?
Do couples get married, or does cohabitation mean they are an official relationship? Which relationships are recognized as official by the government? Does marriage matter, or is it just a minor bit of paperwork?
What does a typical wedding ceremony look like? Who attends? Who speaks and what do they say? Does someone need to vouch for the couple or forever hold their peace?
Do couples need permission to marry? From whom? Is there a waiting period, or can people get married right away?
Do people elope to Vegas or run away to be together? How does society feel about this behavior? Is it cute or romantic, juvenile or crazy?
Do people change their name when they get married? Is the new member fully embraced by the partner’s family? (You’re a Jones now!)
Is there a physical sign that shows a person is married (ring, hairstyle, article of clothing, etc.)? Can someone tell at a glance if a person is in a committed relationship or not?
Do couples marry for love? Convenience? A combination of both? Why do most couples pair up?
Can anyone marry anyone, or are there rules? Who establishes these rules? What happens to those who break the rules? Are they ostracized like Anna Karenina or forgiven like Count Vronsky?
What are the rules regarding marriage? Who established them? Why?
Is marriage about procreation and children and continuing the family name? How does society feel about childless couples? What is the general view on couples having children?
In terms of children, do couples value one sex over another (boys over girls)? How about twins or triplets, etc.? Are such children a blessing by the gods or a curse?
Consider the maternal mortality rate during childbirth in your world. Is childbirth a dangerous proposition for women in your world? (If only women can give birth.)
Are relationships limited to two people, or do people support multiple partners in relationships? How does society view thruples/poly-groups? In Signs of Affection by Lynn Chantale, the main character courts a love interest who practices polyamory.
How does the average person define love in your world?
Is love something that happens to a person (over which there is no control)? Do people fall in love like they fall off a cliff? Is love a conscious decision made by a person? Can a person choose to fall in love?
Is love an expectation in relationships? Or is being part of a relationship more commonly a matter of convenience and love is found elsewhere?
How do people view adultery? How do people view emotional affairs? Physical affairs? Where is the line when a relationship has become adulterous (a glance, a stolen kiss, a long hug, sex)?
Are there established punishments for breaking a vow to a partner? How are they enforced? Are they different depending on who has committed the offense (women are killed while men are chastised)?
Is love predetermined by an outside force? By what/whom? Are certain lovers fated to be together in your world?
Is there a deity of love? Who is it? What powers do they have? How do people view this deity? How much control does a love deity have over the inhabitants?
Are there love potions/love spells in your world? How do such things work? How long does a love potion/spell last? What are the long-term effects of a love potion? (Are the children of such unions born unable to love like Voldemort?)
Do people believe in love at first sight? How do people feel about such relationships?
Is love an acceptable excuse for irrational behavior? Do people excuse “crazy” behavior on account of love?
Does love have physical symptoms? Can others see that a person is in love?
Are the majority of the inhabitants romantics or cynics when it comes to love? What do your characters think about this?
What does the average person think about relationships in your world?
Bonus Questions:
What kinds of familiar relationships are you featuring in your story? Why did you choose those and not others?
What new types of relationships appear in your story? How are they different from traditional real-world connections?
How much of the relationships depicted in your story are a reflection of your own experiences? What elements did you add to the relationships and why?
How important are relationships in your story? Do they reflect real-world behavior, or are they exaggerated in some way? If so, how and why?
If your story were turned into a film, what category would Netflix put it under: romance, romantic comedy, drama, horror, etc.? How much of the distinction is based on the types of relationships you include in your story?
Thinking more broadly about how relationships work beyond the scope of the story you’re telling allows you to write a story in a well-developed world, something readers will appreciate as they get to know your characters and the world they inhabit. For more Worldbuilding Questions, check out The General Worldbuilding Guide!
Covers are a tricky business. I’m a writer, someone who works well with words and characters and dialogue. Graphic design is not my strength in any way, and my art skills peaked with stick figures. I am not the person to ask about cover design, but even with my shortcomings, I still know a few things about covers and marketing.
You know the drill–your books come out, and you are super excited about those first covers. They nail the genre, convey the feeling of the story, and look cool on your shelf (or behind you during meetings online). Usually, this is the result of your cover designer’s hard work–they researched the market, considered the trends, and created something you are proud to show off atop your baby book.
However, the crazy (and cool?) thing about books is how often things shift. A bestselling cover ages out, sometimes in a few years–but sometimes over a span of a few months. When you design your covers, think about how long you predict this trend will last. Yes, this often requires a crystal ball and some scrying stones–but there are some people in the industry who have the marketing sense and judgment. Follow them and heed their advice.
Think about the shifts in these covers for Stephen King’s The Stand over the years:
This is the cover I had when I first read this book in the 80s (a tattered secondhand shop version I hid in my backpack to read at school). Yes, I now know this version is worth money (it was the first edition!), but mine has long been lost to cross-country moves and bookshelf updates. No worries–I now have more copies of this book than I know what to do with, the result of writing my dissertation on it–people keep giving me copies (and I LOVE all of them!).
Here are a few more over the years:
Think about how these have shifted. The fonts have changed, though the name is always at the top. The graphics shift from artwork to abstract to realistic. They each convey a slightly different tone: some focusing on the post-apocalyptic feel while others emphasize the horror undercurrent.
My own series, Klauden’s Ring Saga, just got re-released with new covers, and it’s only been out five years! Check out the difference between the old covers and the new:
Note the changes: no more people! Less vibrant color shifts! The new covers follow current trends for fantasy romance, symbols buried amid swirls and designs.
How can you tell when it’s time to update your covers? I’m glad you asked.
Look at the top 100 bestsellers in your category on Amazon. Scroll the covers–they will probably all be quite similar. Does your book match that vibe?
Do a google search for your genre + book covers. Does your cover look anything like the images popping up?
Watch reels about your genre on social media. Does your book resemble the ones you keep seeing?
If the answer to these questions is no, it’s time for a new look. Yes, I know it’s time-consuming and expensive to redo your covers (not to mention the stack of old covers you probably still have to sell!), but keeping up with trends in your genre is a great way to stay relevant and catch the attention of new readers.
And what to do with old stock? So many options!
Sell them at a discount at shows (“Get the old version on the cheap!”)
Wrap them up and call them “Blind Dates” with a book!
Send them to readers–prizes, free copies, review exchanges, etc.
Offer them to libraries or local community centers.
Any of these will get your name out there–and get new readers buying the rest of your books! I know we say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but we all do it. Don’t let readers pass you by because of an outdated look. Update your covers!
One thing to consider when creating the world for your story is the stories the people in your world tell one another about creation. How did your world come to be? What do the people in your world commonly believe about the beginning of it all? Generally, this kind of worldbuilding can be divided into two categories: the truth about creation and the myths about creation. Let’s start with the first part–what actually happened?
To start developing the truth of your world, consider the following questions:
How did your world come into being? Was it formed out of the Void, the result of some cosmic Boom, the plaything of a godlike being? Tolkien’s Middle Earth began as a song of the Ainur, a vision in music that the Valar had to then build based on their understanding and memories of that experience.
Is there just one world/planet? Is it a free-floating ball in space or a disc with an edge that people can fall off? Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is literally a disc on top of four elephants on top of a turtle that swims through space.
Is the world part of a larger galaxy/universe? Is there a larger cosmos with other solar systems in the galaxy or just the lone world floating in the void by itself? Think about the night sky your inhabitants would see—are those lights in the sky other stars or something else (Shrek’s ogre ancestors, for instance)?
What does the rest of the galaxy/universe look like? Solar systems with planets and suns or black holes or dwarf stars? Titan AE explores a universe where the earth is a tiny piece of a huge tapestry of galaxies.
How big is the universe? Are other worlds nearby or far away? Can people see it or travel to it? How is this done? Get a general sense—if light speed is 186, 282.397 miles per second, how far away is everything from everything else? For example, the sun is 91.4 million miles from Earth while the moon is only 238,900 miles away.
For the people in your world, are there visible stars in the sky? Other planets that can be seen? Do people create constellations from the patterns? What meaning is attributed to these lights in the sky? Is astrology a thing in your world?
Has anyone seen the planet from beyond the surface? Do people travel to space to get that perspective, or do they think the world is flat or ends beyond the mountain range in the distance?
Has the world always looked like this or has it changed over time? Was there an age of dinosaurs and prehistoric plant life or a world covered in oceans, or has it always been as it is now? (This relates to the “how old is your world” question too!).
If it has changed, why? What happened to make it look different? Was this change a result of some natural catastrophe (meteor strike, volcano eruption, ice age, etc.) or the result of the people who live in the world? What did the people do that caused such dramatic shifts in the world? Even earth has had some dramatic environmental shifts over time (*cough* dinosaurs *cough*).
How old is the world? Does the world have an expiration date—like will the sun explode at some point or the gravitational pull let it drift away into the void, or will the world always be there?
If your world is loosely based on the real world, how is it different from the known universe? What world-features are your characters familiar with that readers will recognize? What distinct world-features have you added to distinguish your world from the real one? Do things in the universe have the same name that the scientific community uses (Big Bang, quarks, Jupiter, Io, etc.)?
Bonus Question for Earth-Variants: Is Pluto a planet or a planetoid in your world? How do people argue about this distinction?
Now, think about the second part: What stories do people tell about creation in your world?
How do people explain the creation of the world?Are there competing theories about how it all began? Which ideas will your characters embrace? Which will they deny?
Are there immortals who remember the beginning? How accurate is that recollection (and do they share that knowledge with others)? Will those beings be around for the end of the world, like the robots in AI?
Has the truth of creation been altered in some ways? How? Why? By whom? How does this difference affect the story you will tell in that world?
How much is known by the average person in the world about the creation of the world? Is this knowledge protected or is it shared? How do people share this information (Giver-style or oral culture or what)?
Where would someone go to find creation stories? Are they written down and stored in a library or shared freely among the people? Who is permitted to learn the truth and who is not? Why?
Mythmaking will be the foundation of your world, but it doesn’t need to be the first thing you decide. Let your creative inspiration wander from topic to topic as you wish! Don’t box yourself into getting all of this information carved in stone from the start. One of the great things about being an author is the ability to shift things as you need–creation stories can change as your story develops. You don’t need to know everything from the start. That said, you should have some inkling of these answers somewhere in the back of your mind. Stories that take place in worlds with solid backgrounds, even if those details aren’t known by readers, tend to satisfy in a way that others do not. Readers can sense a solid foundation beneath the plot, details available should the need arise to start digging.
Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Did you enjoy these kinds of questions? Check out more in The General Worldbuilding Guide, available wherever books are sold!
