The next area of World building to consider is Characters. There are a number of areas where people help weave the world web.
Clothing is a must. In
contemporary stories all manner of places and pictures can help clothe your
characters and point to their career, their status in life and where they life.
For historical characters there are costume books. If paranormal is your bent,
imagination can take over. You can also adapt clothing from pictures of books
to dress your people.
Language is important in world
building. In paranormal stories finding words that give an other world flavor
can be difficult as well as confusing. I’ve read some books with glossaries but
constantly turning pages to decipher meaning can turn a reader to a different
book. Also using too many strange words can turn prose into gibberish. What you
need to do is find words that hint to what the characters are tasting, seeing,
hearing, touching and smelling.
If you say. “He raised a con of
lug and sipped, the reader’s brow will furrow. But if you say He raised a mug
of kafa, the reader will think coffee.
I have three reference books I
use. One is a seven language dictionary and the other is an etymology. They
have helped me find the words I need. When writing the Egypt books I
found an encyclopedia of terms that helped there. The third book is Orson Scott
Card’s How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Great world building chapter.
For historical stories the wrong
word can jolt the reader out of the story, Also too much usage of the right
words such as dialect can send a reader searching for another book. Sometimes
the word can be right but it seems too modern to the reader. Take pothole.
There have been potholes that were called just that during historical periods
as well as today. A friend had to change pothole in her book because an editor
felt the word was modern. Also remember when you’re searching for a word to use
is that words can change meaning.
In contemporary stories language
plays a role in creating the dream. Every career choice, region of the country
have specific words. There’s argot, cant, slang whatever you choose to call
these expressions, using one of these words can point to a specific area or
career.
For example, I’m from Pittsburgh . When
company’s coming I’m apt to red up the house rather than clean.
If a character says “Heart
attack:” we might think lay person but if "Cardiac arrest,” is used we
think of medical personnel.
He aimed his piece, or his gat
or his gun or his Glock. Those words can change an opinion of a character and
of the world he or she inhabits.
One good thing about writing a
contemporary story is there are experts to interview who can provide language
and information to help build your world. These people are almost always happy
to talk to a writer.
Actually when doing an interview
I had an interesting event. How I was nearly arrested for murder.
I needed to speak to a policeman
to learn when I could schedule a murder victim’s funeral as this led to the
climax of the story. My daughter had a friend from school who became a
policeman. He had been at the house many times and was semi-adopted into the
family. I called his off-duty phone and left a message for him to call me back.
A few hours later he returned
the call. “What’s wrong? What can I do?” he asked.
“It’s about this woman I just
murdered. How long before she can be buried.”
Then I heard. “No, Guys settle.
She’s a writer.” There was a pause. Then he said, “Ma, I’m at the station.
You’re on speaker.”
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