When I started outlining Renegades, I must admit that I didn't give much thought to creating the universe in which the story was taking a place. Renegades take place in a different star system in a world where Earth never existed, but the people are like normal people and there are no aliens. (This greatly confused at least one of my aunts, but she only reads romance novels and not any science fiction/fantasy, so I'm just going to ignore her.) I had given all the planets names and had an idea in my head of what I wanted them to look like. Some were very industrialized, while others were more primitive. I was trying to create a sense of the have and the have nots in a different star system.
But besides planet and city names and general ideas, I didn't do much else on world creation until after I outlined. As I was preparing my character descriptions, I found myself creating a lot of the world around them. For example, it's important to figure out your characters' religions and belief systems. Mine was pretty easy because I already knew that I wanted my story to take place in a world without religion, so all my characters are atheists.
Other things you want to consider:
I also think it's helpful to draw a map of your world whether you have different planets or everything takes place on one planet. My drawing skills are sub par, but a sketch is all you would need. I even included details about how long it takes to travel between each planet by my preferred method of travel. These are details your readers will think of, so you need to have the answers!
Hope that helps. And if you haven't yet, you can enter to win a signed copy of Renegades on Goodreads! And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter.
But besides planet and city names and general ideas, I didn't do much else on world creation until after I outlined. As I was preparing my character descriptions, I found myself creating a lot of the world around them. For example, it's important to figure out your characters' religions and belief systems. Mine was pretty easy because I already knew that I wanted my story to take place in a world without religion, so all my characters are atheists.
Other things you want to consider:
- Education system
- Government
- Races/cultures
- Travel methods
- Ecosystem
- Wildlife
- Pets
- Currency
- Language
- Topography
- Weather
- What houses/living structures are like
- People's jobs
- Laws
- Societal norms
- Fashion
I also think it's helpful to draw a map of your world whether you have different planets or everything takes place on one planet. My drawing skills are sub par, but a sketch is all you would need. I even included details about how long it takes to travel between each planet by my preferred method of travel. These are details your readers will think of, so you need to have the answers!
Hope that helps. And if you haven't yet, you can enter to win a signed copy of Renegades on Goodreads! And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter.
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