Writing Tips, Part 2: Are You Taking Your Readers on a Journey?

Like anything in your story or narrative, you want it to be absorbing and engulf your readers. You want your fans to feel like they have been dropped into London, Middle Earth, or some space station above Scarif. And like visiting any place or foreign land there are cultures, laws and languages. Why would the world you write be any different? Fiction is always based on reality. Let's look at some ways to build your world. 

1. Culture. If you are a reader of Asimov, you will notice he has a few cultural themes throughout his work. One of them is Agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces. This is why in many of his visions of the future, people are living in domes or underground. In other examples, we see civilizations who warmongers or passive. Are you staying true to the culture you create? What is the style of clothing for that culture? Does the culture of one group offend another group? Be careful you don't create a dystopian world where some people are rich, if you do, you will need to explain how they have money while everyone else is eating old cans of beans.

2. Language. Now, I'm not saying you create a whole language like klingon. And for those that don't know, the klingon language in Star Trek is a real language. Many books have been translated into Klingon, including the bible. But maybe in your story include some made up words, replacements for "Damn it" "Hello" "Goodbye" "God bless you." It's fun to add flavor, and it will put flesh on the bones of your story. Even if you are writing a story based in one location, can you write in accents? "Av bin tryin to hit the target. Ya know?" or "Pahk yah cah in Fenway pak."

3. Weapons, power and magic. Are your weapons realistic for the story? Does your magic have rules? Author Brandon Sanderson is one of the best world builders in today's writing world. He had developed Magic Laws, which include limits and costs to strength. The same is true with Asimov and his Robot Laws. Have you developed some rules for weapons or powers? Are you adhering to them? You can't have your hero stop a moving car with his hand in one scene, but then not be able to smash a wall in another. Life is full of rules, our stories should be structured the same way, making them realistic even within a fictional world.

4. Technology. Make sure that your spaceships, transporters, engines, machinery are all consistent with the time period you are writing. With tech and some of the other aspects of world building, you may find that there are differences between cultures of people, especially in the sci-fi or fantasy genres. For example, you may have a race of people who have far more advanced technology than another race of people yet still sharing the same world. Play around with it. Have fun. 

Continuum. When world building, make sure that you hold true to your rules and parameters. Write as if you are in that location, this may mean searching images of clothing or architecture. Are all the buildings made of the same materials for that time period? While writing a recent sci-fi short story, I used both "money" and "credits" as the form of currency. Thankfully, I noticed it before submitting it to a magazine. Having a discombobulated world can be jarring and confusing to your readers.

Thanks for joining us for Writing Tips, Part 2: Are You Taking Your Readers on a Journey? Find the rest of Robbie Sheerin's writing tips here in the SFI Blog.

Robbie Sheerin is a Scottish-born author currently based in the United States. He has written five books, along with numerous short stories, published across a range of print and digital platforms. His books are available on Amazon, and more about his work can be found at www.robbiesheerinwriter.com.