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Introduction
World
building is crucial for planning dynamic environments
in whatever medium you are working. Crafting believable
worlds is at the very heart of speculative fiction and
modern digital gaming. It is vital for the creation
of believable characters to have believable worlds in
which your characters exist.
The
World Building Master Class, presented as a series of
four, one hour-long sessions with a chance to discuss
your issues with industry professionals, will equip
you with a blueprint for creating rich, realistic landscapes
for your story.
1.
World Building 101
Tools,
techniques and processes based not only on the teachings
from DePauw University, John Brunner, Asimov, and Darko
Suvin, but the experience of two internationally published
authors, the first hour looks at why writers and game
designers must obey certain fundamental and broadly
accepted simple rules for grounding and consistency.
Understanding
these principles will help you avoid continuity problems
before they begin. We'll show you the importance of
setting up a consistent framework at the outset, which
can be modified as you delve further into your narrative
in order to accommodate new or changing elements of
your story, screenplay or game.
2.
Crafting the Physical Landscape
The
second hour of our workshop we'll examine the art of
building a believable world, by covering three main
areas:
- Map
making or diagrams (eg space ship cross-sections)
to orient characters and readers, with simple exercises
explained.
- Planetology:
including elements such as the function of a magnetosphere,
geomorphology (plate tectonics, volcanoes), climatology,
oceanography, and tidal forces.
- Ecology:
relationships (if all mammals have 4 legs, why does
your talking horse have 6?) Evolution-concept of predator/prey
evolving a mutual 'arms' race; the Kryptonite factor;
all creatures have weaknesses, biological accuracy:
eg, a horse can't gallop for hours…unless it's genetically
modified/robotic/alien.
We'll
also work on examples of how subtle inaccuracies in
world building can be used in foreshadowing, or to leave
clues answering larger problems, as well as learning
the art of coaxing your audience into the "suspension
of disbelief".
1/2
hour break
3.
The Sentient Landscape
Characters
do not merely navigate worlds; they're integral to them.
We will devote the next hour to the craft of creating
a symbiotic relationship between your physical landscape
and the creatures who inhabit it.
- Sentient
Life: the characters inhabiting your world-are they
native or alien? How many sentient species are there?
How do they interact? Who holds the balance of power?
Includes exercises to discuss how characters perceive
their world.
- Cosmology:
how do your characters perceive their existence? Covers
examples of human perception of the universe from
ancient Babylon to the modern era.
- Mythology:
gods, afterlife, what are your characters prepared
to die for? - we'll look at Joseph Campbell's Hero
With a Thousand Faces and other works to explain the
role and attraction of myth and its function in world
building.
4.
Building a Civilization
So,
you have your world, your landscape, your sentient creatures
and a great idea for a story. But in order for it to
be "real" you need a civilisation unique to your world.
In this hour we will work on: Ž models in human geography:
the notion of division of labour, economy from Neolithic
to post-modern, and the patterns of settlement and growth
Ž Transport systems and their impact on society
- The
influence of landscape, myth and cosmology.
- Consistency
in science & technology and magic.
- Concepts
of ruling bodies, evolution and purpose of laws from
myth and social response.
- War
and warfare, weaponry as a function of technology,
economics and magic.
Expected
Outcomes:
This
course offers writers a substantial grounding in the
fundamentals of world building for speculative fiction,
how to create believable worlds, the necessary components
to building your own worlds, how to use them to maintain
continuity and foreshadow narrative twists. You will
also have gained an understanding of simple mapping
and how characters are an integral part of, and an adaptive
component in world building.
After
that... it's up to you...
Book
Now!
The
course has been created by Jennifer and Sonny and will
be presented by one or both of them, depending on the
city where the course in held.
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