Worldbuilding For Pantsers
By Cynthia Sax
Before I start, I would like to stress that there are very few rules (if any) in writing and none of those rules (if they exist) are mentioned in this post. We’re all different writers. We are writing different stories. We have different goals and different visions of success. What works for me might not work for you. Use what you can and discard the rest.
I am a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. Often when I start writing, I have an idea for a character and a vision of the first scene and that’s it.
I’ve thus far written 23 cyborg romances and 12 alien romances set in the same world. It is (now) a huge world and it is constantly evolving. And I wrote those stories while pantsing.
Basing a new world roughly on an existing world makes worldbuilding SO much easier. Yes, it is a cheat but it is a cheat most writers use either consciously or subconsciously.
Maybe the small town your contemporary romance is set in is based on a small town you once lived in or visited. You know fundamental truths like it will have a post office and a convenience store and everyone will know everyone’s business.
Maybe the underwater world your merman romance is set in is based on research you’ve done on deep water exploration. You know there will be pressure issues and you might have an image in your mind of the plants and the creatures sharing that world with your merman. Perhaps you scuba dive and can bring that knowledge into the story.
I combined (at least) two different existing worlds when I started writing the first story in my world (Releasing Rage).
Similar to Star Wars, my world is based VERY roughly on World War II. The Humanoid Alliance, my baddies, are the empire i.e. the Nazis and my hero and heroine are the rebels i.e. the Allies.
I have studied the spread of fascism and the rise and fall of empires extensively (due to personal interest) so this was an ‘easy’ setting for me.
Then I combined that existing world with the reader expectations for futuristic settings. I’ve watched quite a few science fiction TV shows and movies and I’ve read quite a few scifi romances. There’s a default image most of us ‘see’ for spaceships and other scifi tools or garments. The flight suit, for example, is a standard garment many futuristic beings wear.
Writing The First Draft
I subconsciously merged these two existing worlds in that first scene I envisioned. As I started writing Releasing Rage, however, I would come across things that were specific to my unique world. The cyborgs needed a means to communicate without the enemy overhearing them, for example. I grew up with CB radios and had them speak through built-into-them transmission lines.
When I wrote the first quick (for me) draft, I didn’t know how these transmission lines would work. I left gaps that I filled in after the first draft was completed. At that point, I knew all that I needed the transmission lines to do (within that story). I researched how that could work (as SciFi Romance is based on science, I like to have science behind any tools).
Sometimes I didn’t have any idea how something would work. I wanted my cyborgs to have babies, for example. I left that as a big question mark. When I attended a Consumer Electronics Show (the big one in Vegas), I talked to every scientist and product developer who would listen to me, asking them how it might be possible. They generously gave me their thoughts, deriving a plausible solution which I used in my world.
The World Needed For That Story
My story wasn’t about the world. It was about the characters. So I only mentioned what I needed to mention for the story to make sense, to ‘exist’ for the readers.
I didn’t need to know what was happening on the next planet, for example, because my characters wouldn’t be visiting that planet during the story. I didn’t talk about currency, as another example, because my characters didn’t use any currency during the story.
If the point-of-view characters wouldn’t know something, I didn’t mention it. If the information wasn’t key to the story, again, I didn’t mention it.
This reduced research time and it also made my pantser heart happy. I could pants those detail in future stories.
Plan For Multiple Stories
I wrote Releasing Rage, the first story, originally just for me. When I completed it, I knew I wanted to share it with readers. But I thought it might be a single story.
Thankfully, when I added to my world, I envisioned what the ramifications of these additions would be…and EVERY addition leaves ripples in our worlds.
The ability to transmit stealthily, for example, meant all information would likely be shared by the cyborgs. Once one of them realized they could have babies, ALL of them would have that information. Once one of them escaped the Humanoid Alliance, ALL of them would know it was possible to escape.
The less limiting the world, the less limited your future stories will be. When you add an aspect, think to yourself, “Will I want to adhere to this new world ‘rule’ for 30 more stories?”
World Unique Language
Please learn from my mistakes and use world unique language sparingly. Consider testing it with readers and other writers first.
In my world, for example, the beings use a$$ coverings as the term for pants/slacks/leggings, etc. This is extremely awkward and many readers HATE it. Unfortunately, I used it in the first story and have, thus far, been forced to use it for 34 more stories.
If you’re writing in a niche like scifi or fantasy, consider using enough unique words to make your world special but not enough to be limiting or draw the reader out of the story.
An Ever-Expanding World
My world grew with each new story. The heroine in my second story (Breathing Vapor), for example, was a Humanoid Alliance insider. She knew things about the enemy that no one in the first story knew. The heroine in my third story (Crash And Burn) was a pilot. She knew things about ships that no one in the first two stories knew.
Everything in the previous stories is brought forward to the current story. The stories might be pantsed now but the world is definitely NOT pantsed.
That is how I, as a pantser, build my worlds. What are some tactics you use for world building?
Blurb:
Releasing Rage
Half Man. Half Machine. All Hers.
Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, has two goals—kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that’s all he’s been programmed to experience.
Until he meets Joan.
Joan, the battle station’s first female engineer, has one goal—survive long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice.
When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage’s priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg’s heart for both love and revenge?
Read Now for FREE:
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Bio:
About Cynthia Sax
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes steamy Cyborg, Alien and Contemporary Romances. Her stories have been featured on TV, in Star Magazine and on numerous best of top ten lists.
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I know what some pantsers will say - How does basing the story world on an existing world help us? We're pantsers.
ReplyDeleteAs pantsers, we tend to do this subconsciously.
What I do is I write the scene and then I try to figure out which world or worlds I've subconsciously based the scene in the story world on.
THAT is the world I use as a guideline going forward.
For example, I'll picture the hallway of a spaceship.
I'll then search through images online of TV shows or Movies I've watched featuring interiors of spaceships.
Often there are small differences (or it might be a combination of interiors) but I can usually find something similar.
THAT is the reference I'll use for future scenes.