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Michelle Knudsen is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 40 books for young readers. She won the 2015 Sid Fleischman Award for Humor for her YA novel Evil Librarian, and she talked to us about world building.
She started with a definition: World building is the physical world and the cultural world your characters inhabit.
All kinds of novels require world building. Fantasy and speculative fiction have other kinds of requirements, because you can't pre-suppose knowledge on the part of your reader. "Nothing can be taken for granted. You need to tell your readers everything they need to know about the world in which it takes place."
"The world of your fantasy story is just as important as your characters are."
As a young reader, she loved the Xanth books by Piers Anthony. In this world, everyone was born with a magical talent—it could range from a tiny skill like projecting a color on a wall to the ability to transform people, animals, and plants into other things. "As a young reader, I wanted desperately to go there. Everything about the world was literally magical."
World building also helps readers believe the things that happen in your world. The belief in the viability of the plot if affected by the viability of the setting (an idea she learned from the poet Julie Larios). Here's a sampling of the craft tips she shared with us.
Effective world building requires consideration of these five interconnected areas:
- Physical environment
- Inhabitants
- Social structure
- History
- Beliefs
- Are the laws of nature and physics the same in this world?
- How does magic fit in?
- How do magic beasts fit in?
- Is it like an alternate earth?