This post first appeared on my former blog Nov. 8. 2010.
The concept of world-building in a story always makes me think of fantasies and science fiction. Epic stories such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potteror Star Wars. Places where the world, the beings, and the “rules” are foreign to me.
I find it fascinating how people cope within these worlds. But these stories present real challenges. What a risk for Rowling to teach us all the game of Quidditch. I mean, what if we hadn’t been able to follow it? What if readers had found Tolkein’s hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards and, well all those other creatures, just too incomprehensible?
Comedies—especially the poignant, thought-provoking ones—often build unique worlds. The Truman Show. The Invention of Lying. Talk about bending your sense of reality.
Of course, what we often overlook is the amount of world building that takes place in contemporary stories. Don’t we all appreciate Glee just a bit more because we’ve learned about that high school drama club world? Readers return to Debbie Macomber’s worlds book after book. Her website even proclaims: “wherever you are, Debbie takes you home…” Readers love how each additional story takes a familiar setting and characters and builds upon it with new faces, new problems, new loves.
British racing jockey turned mystery author Dick Francis used the world of horse racing, and I read book after book because I had enough familiarity with horses and stables that I felt at home in his settings. Of course, I had no firsthand knowledge of Regency England, but I love Jane Austen,Georgette Heyer and a slew of historical authors.
So, what is the mystique of world-building that draws you into a story? Is it the elements you recognize or the elements that are unique and new that raise your curiosity? And who do you think is building terrific worlds out there?