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.

Creating Believable Characters

Rebecca Tran

Many authors love to tease their friends saying "be careful, or you'll end up in my novel" while true this isn't always a bad thing. I have friends begging to be warriors, mages, or even a villain in my books. They want to know what kind of character I'd make them. I have an ex-roommate who is an elf, a friend who is a pathologist, and another who is a detective. 

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As authors, we are always told to write what we know. Why? Because it makes our work more realistic and well rounded. Writing characters shouldn't be any different. They should be based on characteristics we see in people every day.

The easiest way to begin writing a hero or villain is to think of the person who fits that character the most. Then you write that person. Try to imagine how that person would react in whatever situation your hero/villain finds him or herself in. This application will not only help you develop your character and storyline but dialogue as well. For instance, if your model was trying to convince the townspeople to fight for themselves how would they do it? What would they say? It's not something they would probably ever do but for creative minds its easy enough to imagine mannerisms, speech patterns, and probable courses of actions. 

When I was writing my first book, I always placed myself in the role of the heroine. It's a bit cliche' I know although I was writing my way through a tough time and it was very therapeutic. Any time my heroine was placed in a tough situation I tried to imagine what I would do if I were her. Alternatively, she had just as tough of a relationship with her mother as I did. All of her interactions with her were based on my own relationship with my mother at the time. Using these real-life experiences made it easier to make an imaginary character real. I could see them interacting and hear their voices rather than reading static words on a page. 

In the early stages of your character development, the devil is in the details. Each character needs their own personality. Again this is where having a person to model them after comes in handy. Think about one person you know. Do they have something unique that they do? Is it a specific speech pattern, word, phrase, tick, or habit? If they do use it. Those idiosyncrasies make characters believable as long as they aren't overdone. One or two of my characters rub the back of their neck when nervous while others fidget with their hair. One of my women has a huge attitude, and another is a sex fiend. Each trait is unique to the character's personality. 

As your writing progresses, you should be able to draw on multiple sources to make new people. Although, you as the author must know the whole character before you can fully flesh them out for the reader. What makes them happy, sad, or angry? Why are they in your story and what are those character traits? Whatever you decide, be consistent. 

Some authors have the bare bones minimum on characters while others could write a book on each one. I personally tend to lean towards more information on my characters than the reader will ever know. It's not necessary, I just have a wild imagination, and my people tend to talk to me after a while. I learn more about them than I ever wanted to.

Using these basic techniques should help new and even seasoned writers develop more believable characters. Next post,  February 23rd, I’ll cover ways to build your imaginary world. 

I am a blogger and author of fantasy and romance novels. I have two small children and a Boston Terrier. I love all things sci-fi and fantasy. Comic books and anime are always welcome in my house, and a woman as The Doctor is okay by me. If you are interested in my books or my blog, you can find it here.

COMMENTS

Erika M Szabo via Google+

2 days ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Rebecca writes about how "Characters should be based on characteristics we see in people every day." at #OurAuthorGang

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Erika M Szabo

2 days ago  -  Shared publicly

 

"Using real-life experiences made it easier to make an imaginary character real." So true Rebecca! Most of my characters are a mix of 2-3 people I know or knew :)

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Joe Bonadonna

1 day ago  -  Shared publicly

 

You got me  right where I live, Rebecca. The thing I strive for and work the hardest at, and what keeps me reading an author's books are the characters. They have to be believable. I have to love the good guys and hate the bad guys. I want to understand them, to cheer for them, feel sorry for them, experience their thoughts and emotions. Good job!

 

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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

1 day ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Today on #OurAuthorGang, fantasy author Rebecca Tran​ talks about one of my favorite subjects: creating believable characters.

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Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

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Rebecca Tran shares the (true) joke about writing people into our stories and how observing real life helps build believable characters.

Of course, when we're done, they're our own creations. Stop by #OurAuthorGang and share your observations!

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Ruth de Jauregui

1 day ago  -  Shared publicly

 

I completely agree! Real life helps us build believable characters. On the flip side, sometimes life is stranger than fiction!! Great post Rebecca!!

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Rebecca Tran via Google+

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Today on #OurAuthorGang I shared a few ways that I write believable characters.

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Chris Weigand shared this via Google+

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Rick Haynes

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Iv'e never thought about basing characters on people I know. But Rebecca has piqued my interest and maybe, in a few cases, I did. However, on looking back, I can see some protagonists loosely based on heroes or villains that I had read about decades ago. Thank you for posting.

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Toi Thomas via Google+

2 days ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Today, Rebecca Tran discusses how drawing from real life can make believable characters. #OurAuthorGang

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Eva Pasco

2 days ago  -  Shared publicly

 

I can honestly say that my characters aren't based on anyone I know--perhaps that's a good thing.

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