Worldbuilding: Law & Order

What legal system did they have and how were they chosen?

Who enforced laws? Local councils made up of citizens, judges only, local or regional magistrates, or a court system with juries?

Who served on juries? How were they chosen?

Did they have representatives such as lawyers, solicitors, etc. and how were they chosen: court appointed or services purchased?

How often did the judges or courts convene?

Were they local or traveling?

List the legal hierarchy. Did they have uniforms or badges?

Did they have guards, sentries, police, detectives, or private investigators, and how were they chosen or qualified?

Were they armed or trained to fight?

List the enforcement hierarchy. Did they have uniforms or badges?

Did they have cages, oubliettes, dungeons, prisons, jails, or other forms of incarceration?

What were the top crimes? What was the punishment for each?

How did they feel about rebellion, peaceful protest, or violent protests?

What type of intelligence agencies did they have: CIA, NSA, MI5, Scotland Yard, spies?

What type of military did they have? Did they have uniforms or badges?

How did they view their veterans or warriors? Were they valued? Were they taken care of? Were they admired or looked down on?

What methods of execution or torture did they have?

Next week, we will explore government.

For advanced world-building, the SBB Build A World Workbook is available in print and e-book.

Other titles in the series:

Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book takes you from story seed to conflict outline. The fourteen companion Build A Plot Workbooks, in print and e-book, offer step by step development prompts: Comedy, Con, Heist & Prison Break, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Literary
(Drama),  Mystery, Road Trip, Romance, Science Fiction, Team Victory, Thriller & Suspense, Western.

SBB II Crafting Believable Conflict in print and e-book and the Build A Cast Workbook in print and e-book help you build a believable cast and add conflict based on the sixteen personality types.

SBB III The Revision Layers in print and e-book helps you self-edit your manuscript.

Free story building tools are available at www.dianahurwitz.com.  

Worldbuilding: Shelter

Where do your characters live? Once you pick a time and place,  or started creating your fictional world, you have to decide how and where they will live. 

Research your historical setting. You can use a real place. You can utilize a real place and change the name. You can invent a plausible town in a real geographic place.

What type of housing do your characters have: outdoor nests or caves, stacked stones, carved stone, wattle or mud huts, adobe, clay, grass and feces, tepees, tents, wigwams, long houses, log cabins, wood houses, thatched roof, or brick walls. 

Are there tiny homes, McMansions, or palaces?

Do they have communes or group homes with assigned quarters?

Perhaps they live in apartments, hotels, or rented rooms.

Is the place rural, suburban, or urban? Do they live on farms, small towns, cities, the frontier, quaint villages, hamlets,  the wild, the woods, the mountains?

Do they have states, counties, districts, regions, provinces, states, countries, continents, or multiple planets?

Where do they sleep: outside, hammocks, cots, trees, caves, roof, porches, lanais, lofts, bedrooms, floors, shelves or benches, or rugs? 

Do they have communal sleeping areas, dormitories, barracks,camps, or segregated housing based on gender or status?

Do they have mattresses, linens, and pillows? Perhaps rope beds, feather beds, corn husks, furs, flannel, wool, or animal skins?

Do they have cots or elaborate four-poster beds or sleeping cabinets? 

Do they have bed warmers or warming bricks for warmth or fans to keep them cool? 

How did they keep warm: fireplaces, heating stoves, furnaces? Did they have fans or air conditioning when it was hot? How did they deal with the temperature extremes if they didn't have mod cons?

Do they live together in large groups or tribes, a large family together  in one home, or separately either as individuals or couples?

What domestic amenities did they have: cooking stoves, brick ovens, electric ovens, microwave ovens, ice chests, ice boxes, refrigerators, spring houses, dishwashers, toasters, pots and pans?

Did they have wooden trenchers, clay plates, metal, ceramic, wooden dishes, or finest china? 

Did they use knives, forks, spoons and all the myriad kitchen gadgets, fine silver, stainless steel, wood, or plastic?

Did they drink from carved wood, jeweled chalices, or tinkling crystal?

Did they have "kitchens" with shelving, cabinets, pantries, dumbwaiters, sinks and running water, indoor plumbing, and water heaters?

Did they use clay tea and coffee pots, samovars, iron cauldrons, silver tea service, oriental tea service,  or fancy espresso machines?

Did they have wine or food cellars, spring houses, smoke houses, summer kitchens, greenhouses, or conservatories?

How did they clean things? Did they wash in the creek or river, boil the washing and hang it to dry, or have electric appliances to make it easy?

Did they have towels for their wooden tub, clawfoot treasure, or massive master suite? Did they use face cloths, loofahs, brushes, or showers? Did they have saunas or hot tubs?

Did they utilize chamber pots, outhouses, or flushing toilets?

What types of rooms did their homes have? 

Did they have outbuildings like stables, carriage houses, mews, garages, attics, basements, dungeons, guard houses, gate houses, servants quarters, barns or animal corrals.

What furnishings did they have, wooden benches, cement built-ins, or silk settees? 

Did they have dirt floors, rugs, rushes, carpets, or wooden floors? Stone, tile, mosaic, or marble floors?

Did they have windows with or without glass, shutters, or french doors?

Where did they store things: hanging on pegs, trunks, closets, wardrobes, vanities, dressers, drawers, or cabinets?

Did they have lighting: candelabras, oil lamps, wall sconces, chandeliers, gaslight, electric light?

Did they have options for art work and other decor items from vases to statues to collectibles?

The types of homes and how the characters cared for and decorated their private spaces can tell the reader much about the character and the world he lives in. You don't have to pile it on, but knowing the answers can help you bring the world alive with careful selection of details as they move around the setting.

Next week, we will explore public spaces.

For advanced world-building, the SBB Build A World Workbook is available in print and e-book.

Other titles in the series:

Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book takes you from story seed to conflict outline. The fourteen companion Build A Plot Workbooks, in print and e-book, offer step by step development prompts: Comedy, Con, Heist & Prison Break, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Literary
(Drama),  Mystery, Road Trip, Romance, Science Fiction, Team Victory, Thriller & Suspense, Western.

SBB II Crafting Believable Conflict in print and e-book and the Build A Cast Workbook in print and e-book help you build a believable cast and add conflict based on the sixteen personality types.

SBB III The Revision Layers in print and e-book helps you self-edit your manuscript.

Free story building tools are available at www.dianahurwitz.com.  

Worldbuilding: Flora & Fauna

 Developing unique flora and fauna for your Science Fiction or Fantasy novel adds depth and intrigue to your story world. 

What plants (non-food) do they have in the area? List five to ten of each category. Insert them into descriptions and settings as needed. 

Did they have wild flowers, cultivated flowers, vines, weeds, toxic plants, bushes, trees, ground cover, grasses? 

What plants were of value to them? Tulips were once a valuable source of trade. Orchids can be extremely rare and expensive. Some plants are carnivores.

What domesticated animals were pets in your story world? Did they have pets?

What domesticated or wild animals were used for food or on farms?

What wild animals, dangerous, or magical animals roamed their world?

What kind of insects did they have?

What aquatic animals did they have?

What animals were endangered or held sacred?

Did they have sanctuaries, reserves, or zoos?

Did they have legal or illegal hunting or trading?

Did they worship any animal?

Did they have any myths or legends surrounding animals?

Did they have dinosaurs or know about them?

Have you invented Fantasy, magical, or futuristic animals?

Suggested resources:
1. A New World: England's First View of America by Kim Sloan
2. Biologia Centrali-Americana: Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America by A. P. Maudslay
3. Fauna and Flora in the Middle Ages: Studies of the Medieval Environment and its Impact on the Human Mind by Sieglinde Hartmann
4. The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition by Charles Darwin
5. Nature Illuminated: Flora and Fauna from the Court of Emperor Rudolf II by Lee Hendrix & Thea Vignau-Wilberg
6. Amazonia: Flora Fauna by Salvador Monteiro & Lionel Kaz
7. Field Guide to the New England Alpine Summits: Mountaintop Flora And Fauna In Maine, New Hampshire, And Vermont by Nancy G. Slack & Allison W. Bell
8. Bogs of the Northeast by Charles W. Johnson
9. Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest: Timber Press Field Guide by Mark Turner & Ellen Kuhlmann
10. The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants by Department of the Army
11. The Wildlife of Southern Africa by Vincent Carruthers
12. The Biology of African Savannahs by Bryan Shorrocks & William Bates
13. Southern African Wild Flowers - Jewels of the Veld by John Manning & Colin Paterson-Jones
14. Trees of Panama and Costa Rica by Richard Condit, Rolando Pérez & Nefertaris Daguerre
15. Handy Pocket Guide to Tropical Plants by Elisabeth Chan & Luca Invernizzi Tettoni 

Next week, we will explore governance.

For advanced world-building, the SBB Build A World Workbook is available in print and e-book.

Other titles in the series:

Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book takes you from story seed to conflict outline. The fourteen companion Build A Plot Workbooks, in print and e-book, offer step by step development prompts: Comedy, Con, Heist & Prison Break, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Literary
(Drama),  Mystery, Road Trip, Romance, Science Fiction, Team Victory, Thriller & Suspense, Western.

SBB II Crafting Believable Conflict in print and e-book and the Build A Cast Workbook in print and e-book help you build a believable cast and add conflict based on the sixteen personality types.

SBB III The Revision Layers in print and e-book helps you self-edit your manuscript.

Free story building tools are available at www.dianahurwitz.com.  

Worldbuilding: Climate & Weather

What is the atmosphere like on earth, your fantasy world, or distant planet? Is it a heat wave, an ice age, stable, or unstable?

Do they need special equipment or adaptations to live there?

What is the climate zone: subtropical, tropical, temperate, equatorial, or polar?

What are the average temperatures for the different times of year? Do they have seasons?

How clean is their air, water, and land? 

How safe is their natural world overall? 

How safe is their ten-mile radius?

What weather do they experience?

What is their ecosystem : aquatic, marine, large marine, freshwater, lake, river, wetlands, rain Forest, swamp, terrestrial, forest, seaside, riverbank zone, urban, suburban, rural, desert, bio dome, space station, space outpost, or magical kingdom with other unique features? It could be above ground, underground, or floating in the sky.

What is the topography: craters, deserts, forests, mountains, plains, savannas, tundra, valleys, canyons, volcanoes, caves, caverns, lava tubes, lava flows, waterfalls, unique rock formations, sandy beaches, rocky beaches, cliffs, rolling hills, hot springs, geysers, rain forest, glaciers, ice caves, ice floes, or permafrost?

 What natural resources do they have?

Do they have easy access to drinkable water?

Do they trade or travel via water?

How easy is it for them to leave their area?

How easy is it for other people to reach their area?

Next week, we will explore flora and fauna.

For advanced world-building, the SBB Build A World Workbook is available in print and e-book.

Other titles in the series:

Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book takes you from story seed to conflict outline. The fourteen companion Build A Plot Workbooks, in print and e-book, offer step by step development prompts: Comedy, Con, Heist & Prison Break, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Literary
(Drama),  Mystery, Road Trip, Romance, Science Fiction, Team Victory, Thriller & Suspense, Western.

SBB II Crafting Believable Conflict in print and e-book and the Build A Cast Workbook in print and e-book help you build a believable cast and add conflict based on the sixteen personality types.

SBB III The Revision Layers in print and e-book helps you self-edit your manuscript.

Free story building tools are available at www.dianahurwitz.com.  

Worldbuilding: Food

Whether exploring the past or developing the future, it is important to consider what types of food they had access to. It is hard to imagine today that we didn't have aisles and aisles of exotic foods and a hundred types of ice cream back in the 1970s a in small town grocery. Our town didn't have lots of fast food options. We had a root beer stand and a drive-in with popcorn and pop.

What will we eat in the future and how will we produce it?

In fantasy, I always wonder where all of the magical food items appear from. I know it is magic, but you still have to assemble molecules, right?

What is your character's favorite beverage or meal? How hard is it to obtain?

Is it a land of plenty or famine? What are people willing to kill or die for?

How do your characters obtain food? Are they hunter gatherers, farmers, fishermen?

How do they grow food: household gardens, community gardens, commercial gardening, greenhouses, hydroponics, or some future technology?

Do they have Frankenfood (genetically modified) or synthetic substitutes?

In your fantasy world, can they make food magically appear? Do they take it from somewhere or does it materialize out of thin air?

Was food scarce or plentiful?

Was it available to some or all?

Were there droughts, famines, fires, or other shortages affecting supply?

Where do they acquire the food? Individual homesteads (you grow/kill what you eat), local farmers or sellers, community co-ops, butcher shops, bakeries, farmers' markets, local grocers, distant suppliers, importing? Do they have soup kitchens or cafeterias?

Do they have kitschy diners, drive-ins with skaters, food trucks, or fancy restaurants?

What foods did they have access to: nuts, seeds, berries, greens, legumes, gourds, fruits, meats, dairy, cheeses, vegetables? What food items were common and what were considered rare?

Did they have sweets like sugar, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, or other synthetic sweeteners?

Did they bake and have access to baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, yeast, or salt or some form of grains or flour? Did they have common or exotic spices?

In your Science Fiction world, what do they eat in space? In a Fantasy world what kind of food items are magically delicious?

What meals did they eat, when, where, how often, and common menus?

Did they have special feast days or holidays they celebrated with food?

What beverages were on tap: milk, fruit juices, ales, beers, whiskey, rum, champagne, vodka, or other alcoholic drinks? Do they have alcohol in space or special magical drinks that affect the senses?

Did they have cocoa, coffees, teas or other hot drinks?

Suggested references:

1. Everyday Life in the Ancient World: Learn about homes, houses, and what food the Romans, Celts, Egyptians, and other people of the past used to eat by Halstead, Rachel
2. What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat?: Diet in Biblical Times by Nathan MacDonald
3. Agriculture in Iron Age Israel by Oded Borowski
4. Hunter-Gatherer Foraging: Five Simple Models by Robert L. Bettinger
5. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
6. Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner
7. Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History by Rachel Laudan
8. Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages by Patrick E. McGovern
9. The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Lou Heiss & Robert J. Heiss
10. Coffee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Coffee by Jack Frisks
11. The Complete Guide to Your New Root Cellar: How to Build an Underground Root Cellar and Use It for Natural Storage of Fruits and Vegetables by Julie Fryer

Next week, we will explore Climate and Weather.

For advanced world-building, the SBB Build A World Workbook is available in print and e-book.

Other titles in the series:

Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book takes you from story seed to conflict outline. The fourteen companion Build A Plot Workbooks, in print and e-book, offer step by step development prompts: Comedy, Con, Heist & Prison Break, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Literary
(Drama),  Mystery, Road Trip, Romance, Science Fiction, Team Victory, Thriller & Suspense, Western.

SBB II Crafting Believable Conflict in print and e-book and the Build A Cast Workbook in print and e-book help you build a believable cast and add conflict based on the sixteen personality types.

SBB III The Revision Layers in print and e-book helps you self-edit your manuscript.

Free story building tools are available at www.dianahurwitz.com.  

World Building: Public Spaces

What types of public spaces did they have: town squares, courtyards, gardens, parks, circles, lawns, shared land, public walkways, pavilions, bandstands, clock or bell towers, arenas, or common grounds?

What public buildings do they have: churches, temples, or other holy spaces, masonic or other lodges?

Did they have monuments, statues, fountains, reflecting pools, museums, or memorials? Who did they celebrate? What did they memorialize?

Did they have motels, hotels, hostels, or inns?

Did they have office buildings and skyscrapers in a crowded urban area, or sprawling suburbs, or distant and isolated rural spaces?

Did they ruins, catacombs, graveyards, mausoleums, or other architectural marvels like the seven world wonders?

Did they have large university campuses, libraries or reading rooms, government buildings, palaces or castles, mansions, or presidential residences and embassies?

Did they have slums and ghettos?

Were they near water (lakes, rivers, or oceans)? Did they have lighthouses, wharves, ports, or piers? Did they have canals, waterfalls, waterwheels, bridges, ponds, lakes, or piers?

Did they have industrial parks or warehouse blocks?

Did they have fair grounds, carnivals, amusement parks, pleasure palaces, or freak shows?

What utilities did they have or pay for: electric, sewage, gas, water, cable, internet, satellite, telephone service.

How did they handle garbage? Did they have garbage dumps? Did they recycle?

Did they have driveways and roadways: dirt, grass, gravel, cobbles, paved, runways, helipads, airports, or armories?

Using carefully selected items to illustrate your story world brings it to life. It can support theme and aspects of this exterior world can create conflicts your characters must overcome.

Next week, we will explore food.

For advanced world-building, the SBB Build A World Workbook is available in print and e-book.

Other titles in the series:

Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict available in print and e-book takes you from story seed to conflict outline. The fourteen companion Build A Plot Workbooks, in print and e-book, offer step by step development prompts: Comedy, Con, Heist & Prison Break, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Literary
(Drama),  Mystery, Road Trip, Romance, Science Fiction, Team Victory, Thriller & Suspense, Western.

SBB II Crafting Believable Conflict in print and e-book and the Build A Cast Workbook in print and e-book help you build a believable cast and add conflict based on the sixteen personality types.

SBB III The Revision Layers in print and e-book helps you self-edit your manuscript.

Free story building tools are available at www.dianahurwitz.com.