Things To Consider When Making A World

Because tomorrow I'll be making a society for a new comic idea I thought I should explain how I go about doing that. Now to be perfectly clear I'm technically world building. But I think calling what I'm doing tomorrow isn't exactly building a whole world so I'm society building. I'll be explaining how I make worlds and then explain what I mean by society building. It's also good to know that "world-building" doesn't mean making a new planet. It means creating a reality different from our. Of course, in that reality you might not live on Earth, in which case you would need to build a new planet.

The only reason to build a world is to give a story a place to live, when the story wouldn't necessarily fit into the world we already have. So to start I always look at what my story needs. Usually this isn't too hard to figure out. If the story takes place after the apocalypse, you need an apocalyptic world. If it's about a wizard that fights trolls, it will probably be in a medieval land. The story is key to starting the world-building process. My rule of thumb is only make what you need. If you have a cool detail about your world, don't shoe-horn it into your story. But if the story has a neat little factlet, make sure that it makes sense within the world.

The next thing I consider is my characters, or more specifically how my characters fit into and react to this world. What are these characters in this world instead of any other one? Plot makes a story cool, but characters make a story real. In my comic "Nuclear Family", I have five main characters. Each react to the world in a different way. Sage wants to fix, Millie wants to keep it from destroying itself, Grit wants to figure it out, Meredith wants to fit into it, and Oliver wants survive it. They all live in the same world, a world that's been blown to hell but nuclear war and god knows what else. I had a thought about fossilized cities. That lead to fossil bombs which lead to the idea for a character who's parents were fossilized.

The last thing I do is put everything together with the little details. How do people live? Who rules? What are the settings like? Things like that. By the time I get here I usually have everything pretty much nailed down. Sometimes building worlds aren't that involved, sometimes it get's extremely detailed. at the end of the day you just need to have fun with it and it will turn out cool.

Fight The Future

Today I started writing a script. No preparation, no outline, just a thought. And what sparked this thought? 711 of all things. You see, I have a love of post-apocalyptic fiction. And a hallmark of the apocalypse is scavenging what's left. 711 is a great place to start, especially if it's right next door to you. I was just waiting for my chicken tenders to be ready and usually when I do that I prepare for the apocalypse by seeing what would earn it's weight in my backpack. That got wheels turning and when I got home I started writing.

The basic plot is about a guy who has to travel across the country to find his girlfriend after a nuclear attack. The attack happened two weeks prior and everyone that survived has been holed up since then. It's definitely a work in progress but I like where it could go.

Best!

Unnecessary Amounts Of Television

That's what i should have called this blog. I just looked over at my TV on DVD shelf and realized that I have way too many shows, at least for any normal human. I have 186 seasons of 80 different shows. That seems to be a lot. In fact, I've run out of room on my shelf. I need do some pretty clever rearranging soon. and I need to get a shelf. All the rearranging in the world won't fit ten pounds of shit into a five pound bag. Check it out to the left.

I haven't even watched it all. Right now I'm trying to knock out Castle and The Colony by my lonesome. I can't watch season 3 or 4 of Digimon until my friends want to, because we Digimarathon them for eighteen straight hours, which is brutal when four in the morning rolls around. My roommate/bff and I are trying to watch the entire series of X-Files, of which we're on season 2 (We'd be done now but we accidentally took a year off. Oops). I started watching Season 4 of 24, 1 of Mad Men, and 1 of Monk over two years ago but I decided to watch other things instead and never got back to them. Yesterday I bought three seasons of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, completing the set (plus, they were under $15 each. Where else am I going to find them for that cheap?). On top of all this I really want to re-watch Veronica Mars, which would only set me back more.

I have a big problem. I understand that. I'm out of control. But I love TV. Some day I'll be able to get whatever I want and It'll be a tax write-off. That's going to be a great day.

Best!

So much for that 'One blog a week' thing

I realize that just two weeks after the last post, I'm finally getting around to posting. But since I hate blogs that's every post is "sorry for not posting" I won't apologize, I'll just try to keep the promise starting today.

First off: I went to Astronautalis on Wednesday. It was absolutely amazing. That guy is something else. He raps about the battle of Trenton and diving bells and being a con-man in the early 20th century. And his freestyle is so good I can't really explain it. Go here to hear some of his music.

Second: I'm writing yet another comic. This one is surprisingly fun. I started out with less than an idea and now I'm working with an artist on it. It's pretty exciting because we're making the story together instead of me saying "Here's a thing I thought up. Go draw it.

There is no third.

Best!