Our contest with Natalie Lakosil closed at 9 am this morning.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Courtesy of heban

World building.

If I were to stereotype, I'd say it's something that every author who writes speculative fiction is intimately familiar with. And yet, it's a tool that all authors--regardless of genre--can make good use of in deepening their stories and bringing them to life.

World building, in it's most basic form, is the process by which an author takes the story as it is in his or her mind and carefully reconstructs it on the page.

In speculative fiction, it involves creating a new world from the ground up. In other genres, especially in contemporary settings, it involves catching the world and pinning it in strategic places in the story.

So what's involved in a world? There are three main components to any world:

Language


For any people in any world to live together, they have to be able to communicate with each other. How this is done--both verbally and nonverbally--will depend on the people and their world view. What's important to this people? What do they value? Have disdain for? Fear? What sounds do they make, and why? How formal or informal is the language, and in which situations?


Having a basic understanding of the people's language will enable both the author and the reader to have a better understanding of the world and the characters that populate it.

Culture


Culture covers a wide range of things: architecture, morals, values, laws, dress, grooming, fashion, foods, expressions, governments, religion, customs, art, daily life, etc. A person's culture helps to shape who they are. How they see the world. And how they react in certain situations.

Having a basic understanding of the people's culture can help the reader connect with the characters better, and can also present all kinds of opportunities for conflict.

Geography


How the world is shaped and formed will have a huge impact on who populates what areas, if they are to be populated at all, and how they must adapt in order to survive and flourish. Geography will also shape a culture and language as people integrate it into their daily lives.


During the world building process, it's highly likely that you will have more built than you may ever use--and that's okay. More than okay, actually, because the more world building that makes if from your mind to the story, the more real and vibrant your world will feel to the reader. (Caveat, like everything else, there is a balance. All world building and no story makes for a very dull time.)

Once the basics are down--even in a contemporary setting--it's all a matter of details. Of allowing the world to intrude upon the characters, to help shape who they are and who they will become. It will inform potential conflicts in the story, and deepen the sense of history of the tale.

Some great resources I've used for my own world building include: allowing my muse (a.k.a. my subconscious) to run wild, Patricia C. Wrede's world building questions, and Holly Lisle's world building series that (for now) includes language and culture.

What about you? Any good world building resources out there?

Success Story

Congratulations to Melodie Wright, who has recently signed with agent Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Read Melodie's success story on Query Tracker.

Publishing News

It's been a landmark week in the history of the Internet. On Wednesday, many websites went "dark" to show their opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives or the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate. Wikipedia shut down completely, as did many others.

If you haven't heard much about this legislation (beyond the blackout reactions) it's a good time to read up on the subject. Many are concerned that, in an effort to control "internet pirating", the laws will impose censorship on everyone--pirates and ordinary citizens alike.

Chuck Wendig speaks out against the proposed laws and Tim O'Reilly discusses the White House's response. Because of the pressure created by those blackouts, the legislation lost a lot of support. You can see if your Representative opposes this legislation. If you are interested in doing so, you can also sign Google's petition.

The legislation goes up for vote on January 24th.

Conference Calls

In more positive news, many writers, agents, and editors are looking forward to the upcoming conference season.

Attention, romance writers! Registration is now open for RWA2012, which will be held July 25-28 in Anaheim, CA.

Also, my group (Pennwriters) will be hosting our 25th Annual Pennwriters Conference May 18-20 in Lancaster, PA.

Writing conferences are fantastic ways to network with agents and editors, to meet up with writer friends new and old, and to take in workshops that help us hone our crafts. Most of all, they are an opportunity for us to leave the confines of our solitary writing efforts and simply enjoy being one of a fabulous group of peers.

Have a conference you'd like to mention? Want to encourage a new writer to attend their first one? Leave a comment and spread the word.

To the Blogs!

Rachelle Gardner writes about timing and trends and the "maybes" that sit on agents' and editors' desks for months—perhaps "no response" doesn't mean "assume rejection", after all.

Janet Reid prefers simple uncluttered queries—read about tips to keep your queries free of unnecessary information.

Vickie Motter goes a step further and clarifies what your query is not supposed to be.

In this older post, author Roni Loren describes her experiences at a writers conference and shares what she learned during an agent version of the Gong Show. Check out the list of things that may get your query "gonged" by an agent.

And Don't Forget...

...about the upcoming contest.

Agent Natalie Fischer Lakosil from the Bradford Literary Agency will be judging our next contest, which opens January 30, 2012. She'll look at the first hundred words and a one-sentence logline for children's lit, romance, and upmarket women's fiction manuscripts. Find details about specific genres as well as the guidelines here and start working on your pitch perfection.

Unsure how to write that killer logline? We can help.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!


Ash Krafton is a speculative fiction writer who resides in the heart of the Pennsylvania coal region, where she keeps the book jacket for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" in a frame over her desk. Visit the Books of the Demimonde blog for updates on the release of her debut novel, Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde, forthcoming in March 2012 through Pink Narcissus Press.