Hey everyone! Here we are again with another week’s post. I’m so excited so far with how this series is going and I hope you guys are enjoying reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it. So, without further ado…
Worldbuilding: Laws and Rules
The next step that I usually take in my world building is establishing the Laws and Rules. I’ve been told that a lot of people who have been writing for a long time or who are taking a writing class start with this section first but that a lot of people consider it inconsequential and skip it. Personally, I think this is the next most important step of worldbuilding compared to anything else that might come up in this series.
When I was a beginner writer I skipped this step every time. I would see the word laws and rules and I would go, “The same laws and rules that exist now? I guess? Like Newton’s laws? Gravity? That stuff? I don’t know how that works.” And I would just skip it. But the further I get into writing the more I realize this step is very important to the rest of the worldbuilding I am seeking to accomplish.
There are a lot of different definitions as far as writing goes for the word law and the word rule. As mentioned, when I was a beginner writer, I first considered the word law and the word rule to mean the natural laws of the universe or the rules of nature. This is only one possible meaning for this set of words.
These two words can be applied to both the actual government of your world, and also to the rules and laws of a magic system. If you are creating a fantasy world where magic exists or a science fiction world where new advanced technology beyond what we have now exists, than understanding how the magic or technology work is something important to establish for your story. Does the magic center around colors? Music? Spoken spells? Is the magic something people create? Is it developed? Is it inherent? Does it come from the world? Does it come from the people? How did the technology advance? What did it advance from? Did it advance for a specific purpose like a war or mining or agriculture or did it just develop naturally as the next step in something? These are the laws and rules you need to know about the magic and technology of your story.
On the side of government, there are also important laws and rules questions that you need to establish for your story. What is the governing system? Who is leading everyone? Are they a king, a president, a senator, a dictator, something else? Are there different governing systems? How do those countries with alternate governing systems really interact with each other? In one country, are there different government factions? Are there different people in government with more or less powerful and is that different than how the system is supposed/should work?
These are the real questions that need to be asked as you develop the Laws and Rules of your world. How do they work? There’s a Masterclass you can take on World building and a quote from that class is this, “The inhabitants who live in this world you’ve created will have their own independent existence. … Setting up boundaries helps create a more realistic world that functions like a real one.” This is the reason that the laws and rules of the world are important.
This step doesn’t have to take up a lot of space if you’re writing a historical fiction or a contemporary but these are still things you should consider. Especially if you are writing a historical fiction set in a country or time period that you might not be 100% familiar with. If you’re writing a book that takes place in Edo Japan – who is in charge in this specific year that you are writing about? Who has more power? How is power allocated? These are questions you need to consider regardless of the genre.
This step will really help you to set up the rest of your world once you know how the government works and also how the magic systems work. This step can be the shortest step in the whole thing, or it can be the longest – it just depends on how important or new the laws and rules you are developing are.
That’s all I have for this week. I hope that it was a bit helpful for all of you. This is one of my favorite sections when I’m writing a fantasy novel because I love writing about the magic systems and how they work with the governing systems in my world. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the links below. And remember,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
Comments