This is a post in favor of world growing rather than world building. I know it sounds like a distinction without a difference, but it's the best I can do in describing how I approach Altearth.
As some of you know, I've been working in this alternate history version of Earth for many years. Rather than trying to figure everything out ahead of time, I have studiously refrained from defining anything until it became unavoidable. Call it Just In Time world building.
The reason for this is simple enough. As long as I don't say what dwarves (for example) are, where they live, how they behave, their history, their culture, etc., I can make modifications. As soon as I say dwarves live in mountains, especially if I say it in a story, then that becomes an unmovable fact. One of those unalterable points in time like in Doctor Who.
This has brought two advantages I've been able to identify. One, it gives time for things to cook. Being an alternate Earth, I already had a timeline--the human one. So it was a matter of figuring out when dwarves needed to make an appearance. By the time I needed to invoke that, I had already had many hours of thinking or daydreaming about dwarves, trying out various ideas like trying outfits at a clothing store. The long cooking time also gave more opportunity for unexpected ideas to come along.
Two, as I developed stories and other ideas (including ideas about other non-human peoples), I began to see places where dwarves not merely fit but actually contributed to the general history. I began to see ways to have dwarves have a history not only in relation to humans but also internally. Just recently, the points of intersection have multiplied. Now elves are the way they are because of how they came into Altearth. That conditions how they deal with other peoples, who themselves come to the table with their own vision and agenda. This in turn directly affects the core events over centuries. I'm finding this to be very satisfying.
And a little surprising. That is, I have been letting the basic history of elves, dwarves, orcs and gnomes cook for a long time. Now, rather suddenly, I find the need to fill out their stories. And pieces are locking into place in ways that feel entirely appropriate and interesting. My Altearth website will soon have essays on each of them--a public commitment to the narrative that I sure hope I do not have to amend!
Too often in fantasy stories, humans may have a history, but non-human history is all but static. Or, the world itself has a history, and the peoples within it have a history only in reaction to that. This latter in particular is a tendency for the build-it-first school of epic fantasy. The organic approach will have its weaknesses, too, though just now I'm rather like the proud parent who sees no fault. I'm not really trying to persuade anyone away from their own approach, I'm just offering this alternative in case it catches anyone else's fancy.
As some of you know, I've been working in this alternate history version of Earth for many years. Rather than trying to figure everything out ahead of time, I have studiously refrained from defining anything until it became unavoidable. Call it Just In Time world building.
The reason for this is simple enough. As long as I don't say what dwarves (for example) are, where they live, how they behave, their history, their culture, etc., I can make modifications. As soon as I say dwarves live in mountains, especially if I say it in a story, then that becomes an unmovable fact. One of those unalterable points in time like in Doctor Who.
This has brought two advantages I've been able to identify. One, it gives time for things to cook. Being an alternate Earth, I already had a timeline--the human one. So it was a matter of figuring out when dwarves needed to make an appearance. By the time I needed to invoke that, I had already had many hours of thinking or daydreaming about dwarves, trying out various ideas like trying outfits at a clothing store. The long cooking time also gave more opportunity for unexpected ideas to come along.
Two, as I developed stories and other ideas (including ideas about other non-human peoples), I began to see places where dwarves not merely fit but actually contributed to the general history. I began to see ways to have dwarves have a history not only in relation to humans but also internally. Just recently, the points of intersection have multiplied. Now elves are the way they are because of how they came into Altearth. That conditions how they deal with other peoples, who themselves come to the table with their own vision and agenda. This in turn directly affects the core events over centuries. I'm finding this to be very satisfying.
And a little surprising. That is, I have been letting the basic history of elves, dwarves, orcs and gnomes cook for a long time. Now, rather suddenly, I find the need to fill out their stories. And pieces are locking into place in ways that feel entirely appropriate and interesting. My Altearth website will soon have essays on each of them--a public commitment to the narrative that I sure hope I do not have to amend!
Too often in fantasy stories, humans may have a history, but non-human history is all but static. Or, the world itself has a history, and the peoples within it have a history only in reaction to that. This latter in particular is a tendency for the build-it-first school of epic fantasy. The organic approach will have its weaknesses, too, though just now I'm rather like the proud parent who sees no fault. I'm not really trying to persuade anyone away from their own approach, I'm just offering this alternative in case it catches anyone else's fancy.
Istar
Sage
