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Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding
((For the ignorant: Worldbuilding = creating a fictitious world))
So I recently started a MASSIVE WORLDBUILDING PROJECT. This grew out of a desire to create a floor plan of that University of Magecraft that's been growing in my head. Then I was all like: So, yeah, how does that magic actually work? And how many branches has it got? (7, at last count, and I might just keep it like that because, well, "Isn't seven the most powerfully magical number?" don't'cha know.) And then: And those magical lightning storms that are so VITAL TO THE PLOT, how do they work? And why don't I have a map yet? And mightn't it be good to have a calendar? Being the obsessive individual I am... well, okay, let's be honest here, I've gotten rather sucked in. The first draft of the map is nearly done (if only I could THINK OF NAMES FOR ANYTHING, arrgh), and the magic might soon appear vaguely coherent! Yay! And this is all so much fun!
Does anyone else worldbuild? This is a place to discuss your adventures doing so. If you want to rant/brag about your world, that's cool too. Whatever floats your metaphorical boat.
~*P ZNZ
submitted by ZNZ, age 13, Thulcandra
(February 27, 2011 - 7:48 pm)
(February 27, 2011 - 7:48 pm)
I don't really worldbuild. The stories I write are never fantasy, and the novel I tried to write that was fantasy turned out horribly and the world was boring, so I normally stay away from the fantasy stuff. :) If that made sense. But on the 7 being the most powerful number, it's true! Seven is a complete set and that point is made in the Bible. My family takes pride in that because there are seven of us. Yup. ;)
(February 27, 2011 - 11:32 pm)
Hey, there's seven of us in my family, too! Yes, the number 7 is popular in the Bible. Number 40 is, too. But there's aren't 40 people in my family, so I guess we'll just have to settle with 7. :)
(March 3, 2011 - 5:51 pm)
Oh that's so neat! :) Are you oldest or... ? I have an older sister and a younger sister and two younger brothers! And how old are you? Sorry- if you don't want to answer, that's fine. ;)
(March 5, 2011 - 4:30 pm)
*poke*
(March 1, 2011 - 5:10 pm)
When I was little, I used to do a tiny bit of worldbuilding, but I haven't in a while. I really should. (Hmm, 8 is also powerful for Discworld lovers - octograms anyone? But yes, in general 7 is very nice and magical.) Also, do let me know how you end up naming things. It's hard sticking to a pattern, you know, so you don't have Mary and then all of a sudden Krachinalinkanoodle. Well, that was a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean. And do they have a separate language with names that mean things in that language, and the likes of that? I have an abandoned Word document somewhere in the depths of my folders with a dictionary when I tried making up a language. It didn't really work. But... for names it could. Anyhoo, you ideas inspire me. I should worldbuild when I have extra time (well, I guess I need to make some time, since none of it seems to be extra). Oh, and sorry if that post was a bit incoherent. It made sense in my head...
(March 4, 2011 - 7:06 pm)
Most of my characters have real names, though I try to go for slightly more unusual ones. The weather mage MMC, for example, is Tristan. (Hate hate hate story of Tristan and Isolde, but I like the name.)
The map is mostly planned out, though I haven't decided on some crucial issues of history that will affect the geography of the place. ((Tell me, do you think it's too dreadfully cliché to have had a Mage War far in the past, which has left magical contamination on the land? If I do that, then there'll be large areas no one dares venture into, and a few large cities, each one inside some kind of magic bubble dome thing. The cities are pretty technologically advanced, in a steampunky way, because there's no reason for everything to be so darn mediaeval.))
I have a basic calendar planned out, though it might change. Right now, years are 365.25 days long, as in our world. They are divided into 7 months, or moons (again, one for each branch of magic). The moons have the names of the branches of magic as well, hence: Plant Moon, Air Moon, Fire Moon, Earth Moon, Animal Moon, Water Moon, Weather Moon. (NB: Plant Moon ≠ January; years begin around March, with Spring, new life, etc. etc.) Each moon has 52 days, or 4 13-day weeks. At the end of each year, there is a day which does not belong to any of the moons. Every four years, there are two of them instead of one, to account for that .25.
(March 4, 2011 - 10:45 pm)
I'm sure everybuggy's pretty darn sick of hearing about my imaginary world-which I mention at every possible opportunity, and a few that aren't really possible opportunities-but, here goes:
I took a few of the characters from Pokemon and started making my own world with them. We live in Wyoming--a pretend part of Wyoming-that is covered with mountains and lakes and forests and canyons and just about everything that is wild and interesting that you can think of. There are some magical creatures-unicorns and mermaids, mostly-and then we have the wolf gods and their own special language, Karen, but it's actually more of a sci-fi imaginary world than anything else.
OK, going to shut up now before I bore everybody. ;)
@ZNZ: Wow, that sounds cool. I like the magical lightning storms. :)
@Leaf: I have a tendency to just write down whatever name comes into my head that seems to fit the character. Hence, Kartani, Wackler, Atanea, Korola...you get the point. I also like to take two words and piece them together, hence Starspirit, Firestorm, Darkwing, and Stormheart.
Andy P. C. says txik.
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
(March 5, 2011 - 2:32 pm)
My names are generally things I've sort of heard before, but are kind of generic. Like "Corelle" and "Fyrra". Sometimes I manipulate ordinary names, like in "Alyss".
Re: laws of magic: magic in my story is an odd thing. Certain days are more magical than others, and it seems that all magic comes from a certain island. Plants from that island are sentient. Faeries come from the island. And I think the Pearls come from there. There pearls are the main source of ordered, usable magic. Their magic can be channelled by whoever owns them.
(March 25, 2011 - 8:25 pm)