[Note from Frolic: Today, we’re so excited to have author Laura Brooke Robson guest posting on the site. She has some great tips for any science fiction writer. Take it away, Laura!]
So, you want to do some world-building for your speculative fiction novel? Here’s how!
1) Fill out an extremely detailed world-building form.
2) Just kidding.
3) Seriously, please do not.
4) Figure out your theme instead.
On the list of writerly buzzwords, “theme” and “world-building” are not often allowed to sit at the same cafeteria table. “Theme” is wearing a wool coat and reading James Joyce (“No, I swear, I’m really enjoying Ulysses.“) “World-building” is hanging with the nerds planning the next Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
I, for one, think they should be friends.
This is a somewhat new revelation for me. Before my debut, GIRLS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, I didn’t think much about theme, and I definitely didn’t consider how it informed world-building. Here’s a list of things I did think I needed to know: How are full moons celebrated? Do characters wave at each other? What is the population per square mile of the largest city?
Maybe there’s a time and a place to figure all this out. Maybe full moons will be crucial to your plot. But I promise–this isn’t the place to start.
Theme is the reason you’re writing this story. It’s the thing that keeps you up at night. “The commodification of women’s bodies,” or, “our growing dissociation with nature,” or, “the staying power of stories.” In GIRLS, I knew I wanted to talk about all of these themes. To examine the commodification of women’s bodies, I made sure the world my characters inhabited shared features of our world that connect to this commodification–reproductive policing, the erasure of sexual liberty, economic inequality. To examine the staying power of stories, I created a world with an important religious text and important fables, seemingly at odds but with a surprising amount in common. When you know what you want the reader to walk away feeling, the little details fall into place.
The way I see it, speculative fiction and theme are a perfect pair: in speculative fiction, you can turn the metaphorical into the literal.
But here’s my bonus secret: Theme isn’t just useful because it helps you figure out whether or not your characters howl at full moons. It’s useful because it keeps you going. Writing a book is a long endeavor; editing and publishing it, even longer. During that time, you’ll ask yourself a thousand times if what you’re writing matters. If anyone will care. If you care. And if you’re writing from a place of theme–if you’re writing from a place of resonance, love, fear, and attention–then you’ll always have a touchstone to help you find the path forward.