Building Believable Worlds

Rebecca Tran

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Creating a believable world in your book can be more challenging for some authors than others. Genre, setting, and time period have the largest influence on the world you are building. Typically, books set in the real world in modern times are the easiest to write. However, research is key if you plan to set your story in an actual city or location. You never know when a reader that lives in or has visited that city. If your details are incorrect, they will notice, and you will hear about it.

Period pieces are more forgiving depending on your genre. Most readers are not history buffs, but

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they probably read the genre. Again research your time period. You want to include enough historically accurate details to keep your world believable. I like to say the devil is in the details. Costuming, weapons, and the style of buildings all lend realism.

Try to use reliable sources when researching time periods. Be especially careful when researching costuming choices. Thanks to Hollywood there are many mixups out there. Wikipedia is wrong from time to time so be careful. There are other sources available from universities and historical societies. These sources tend to be more reliable.

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The hardest yet most fun world to craft is a fantasy world. The first thing you have to figure out is setting and a general time period. For example, is your world similar to earth now or is it an alien world with three moons and very little technology. Everything builds from here. This will determine costumes, building styles, weapons, and even dialogue.

When building your world, your characters may have a need to travel, and everywhere they go needs a name. Naming towns can be challenging. There are several methods to name cities, towns and even streets. Many websites offer name generators; some are better than others. I personally never cared for using them although they are fun to play with. You can reuse city names if they fit with your character naming scheme. My personal favorite is to collect street and subdivision names. Many of them fit in well with the fantasy books I write. For instance, Meadowbrook is a local street name and would make an excellent town name.  I used to keep a notebook in my purse or car at all times for ideas or good names. Now I just put them in the notes section on my phone.

I am a blogger and author of fantasy and romance novels. I have two small children a Boston Terrier and a Pitbull. I love all things sci-fi and fantasy. Comic books and anime are always welcome in my house, and Doctor Who is my favorite show.
Currently, I have 11 titles available ranging from sci-fi, fantasy, and romance. My current favorite series is my dragon shifter series: Dragons of the North and Dragons of the South 1& 2. If you would like to learn more about me or my books you can find it at these links.