Writing Tip Wednesday--Worldbuilding

Many writers hear the term Worldbuilding and immediately dismiss the chance to learn about it because they don't write sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, etc. Although creating a believable world that doesn't actually exist (that we know of) is vital for those genres, every story requires some level of setting that goes beyond what we see.

Cheryl Brooks' Cat Star Chronicles books are great examples of worldbuilding. She's written a fictional world in space, with numerous species of humanoid and non-humanoid creatures, each with unique cultures and physical characteristics. Each planet has its own type of society. All the "rules" associated with those characters and worlds help build and support her stories.

The same can apply to vampire-, werewolf-, shifter-, ghost-, demon-related stories. The characters and their communities become part of the setting--part of that unique world. Lynsay Sands' Argeneau vamps don't fit the traditional Dracula mold. With their nano-blood, blood banks, and interaction with "normal" humans, they help form a new world that operates under different conditions.

What about historical and contemporary stories? Do they need Worldbuilding?

Some may disagree, but I believe every story uses worldbuilding to a certain extent. In a historical setting, the writer can use time period and location to define how the hero and heroine interact. The social norms of the setting can easily make the heroine seem like an outspoken, overly independent woman. Family dynamics or a non-traditional occupation in a contemporary book can push the limits of what's socially acceptable in Amish culture or small-town America. Use those challenges to make your reader more invested in the outcome.

The combination of physical setting, characterization, GMC, and character arc create your world, whether it's in present-day Texas, medieval England, or the Klingon Empire. Your readers live in that world while they're reading your stories.

Now comes the tough part--building your world without backstory/information dumps. Instead of using several paragraphs to describe your aliens, shifters, etc., add small bits of description at a time. Compare their features to familiar objects. Use color and size to create an image. Work these details into an active scene for good pacing.
Example: Rumbling snores assaulted my ears as I carried the first crate into the cargo hold. My chief engineer was passed out on the floor near the entrance, forcing me to step over her tail. Gorba's scales seemed more orange than usual and her snout was swollen like an over-sized gourd. Had she tried to drink a band of Norwellian Habiks under the table again? She'd never been able to handle more than half a flagon of the fermented mugfruit they passed off as wine.

You can do the same for physical settings by using the senses as your character passes through an alley or marketplace. Smell can be especially effective at helping draw the reader into the scene. Which is more interesting--a paragraph that describes the buildings or an active scene where the character ducks into the doorway of a gambling den for a moment before moving on to an alley that reeks of rotting garbage?

If you're a plotter, make a list of details you want to include and then add them as needed. If you're a pantser or plantser, be the character and see, hear, smell what he sees, hears, smells as it happens. Keep the action moving, show rather than tell, and use careful exposition to reveal your world.

Next week we'll take a look at Creating Sexual Tension!

Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With A Kick!

Writing Tip Wednesday--Setting

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Setting is an important element of every book, whether it's as general as the name of the city or town where the story takes place or as specific as the lab where the heroine is working on a vaccine for a rare disease. The question is...How much is too much?

Like your characters' backstory, setting can become an information dump if you're not careful. Do your readers really need to know the precise pattern in the carpet? Is it vital to the plot? Or is it a way to increase your word count?

By dropping in pieces of the setting as they become necessary to the story, you can avoid spending two or three paragraphs describing every building on Main Street or all the furniture in Aunt Emma's parlor. Instead, the blinking neon sign in the hardware store window can flash splotches of red on the bride's disheveled wedding dress. The hero can clamp his hands on his thighs so he doesn't pick at the strings on Aunt Emma's threadbare couch and risk making the whole thing collapse beneath him.

Those details add subtle layers to the scene without intruding on pacing and losing the reader's interest. Characterization can also benefit from the use of instances like the threadbare couch. The hero's feelings for Aunt Emma will show in the care he takes of her belongings, and Aunt Emma's character might be revealed by her inability to part with the items she and her dead husband shared.

Besides location, Setting also gives the reader a sense of time. When the heroine strips off her sweaty T-shirt and cutoffs to jump in the creek, we can be relatively certain the season isn't winter and that we're in a contemporary setting. Shadows creeping into the alley suggests dusk is falling. Horses' hooves clip-clopping on the cobblestone street almost always defines the story as historical. Use well-placed descriptions to help identify the time period and season, whether it's in the past, present, or future, winter, spring, summer, or fall.

Worldbuilding for sci-fi, fantasy, futuristic, steampunk, etc. also falls under Setting. Rather than trudging along with an opening chapter that tells the reader all about the rules of your world, add small components as your characters encounter them. Let your setting grow in the reader's mind with the story. Build it a block at a time to create a memorable place.

Writing craft is a web of interconnecting parts. As I explore one aspect, another piece overlaps, which overlaps with yet more parts. Use what you know and learn to help improve other areas, and you continue to grow as a writer. I am. :)

Up next--Numbers in Writing.

Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With A Kick!

Writing Tip Wednesday--Pacing

Yes, I picked another tough topic! Pacing--the movement of your plot from beginning to end. You can have great pacing, where the reader absolutely can't put the book down because she can't find a slow part for stopping. Or you can have mediocre pacing, with sluggish scenes that don't move the story forward fast enough to keep the reader's interest.

While an action-packed romantic suspense or thriller lends itself to faster pacing by definition, you have to take advantage of the twists and turns to make it work. Use fewer drawn-out descriptions and focus on the suspense.

Typically, other genres need a little boost. Contemporary romance won't have the same tension a well-written RS has, but keeping the characters active and the plot moving forward can help maintain good flow. Remember backstory and info dumps??? Those slow down the pacing and give the reader opportunities to stop reading or lose interest.

Ways to create good pacing:

1) Keep your characters as active as possible. Don't allow them to spend much time thinking about things that have already happened. Avoid the cursed beginning-of-the-chapter recap.

2) Don't fall victim to backstory and/or info dumps. Ease tidbits of information into the story as needed--exposition!

3) Don't define pacing by action alone. Sexual tension, good opening and chapter-end hooks, and emotional ups and downs can produce a story that moves along at a steady pace.

4) Use your genre to help decide what good pacing means. It won't necessarily be the same for paranormal and historical.

5) Remember to use POV to your advantage. Show instead of tell. Use active rather than passive sentence structure. Be the character!

6) Avoid unnecessary description, movements, and dialogue.

7) Use tight writing, with minimal adjectives/adverbs and crutch words. Use contractions wherever possible.

8) Internal dialogue can draw the reader in and reveal important details about the character while keeping the pacing strong.

9) Keep GMC a vital part of characterization and the plot.

10) Use POV choice to create tension. Who has the most to lose in each scene?

Are you noticing how almost every part of writing craft ties into pacing? Actually, each aspect of craft overlaps with others. As one area improves, another will follow. The most important point is never stop trying to improve your craft. You didn't think I'd get all philosophical, did you??? :D

Let's take a look at genre definitions next week. Do you know what makes a paranormal a paranormal and not a contemporary or a historical?

Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With A Kick!