By James L. Hill (aka J L Hill)
World building is one of the major aspects of science fiction. Reviewers rate science fiction on how well the writer creates their worlds. So how do you create a world?
If you are God, you create it in seven days. If you are not God, take a hint from Genesis, create light and darkness; create land and sea; create animal and bird; create man. As writers it is our job to play God and create worlds for our readers. Our readers expect us to take the same detailed approach as in Genesis and leave nothing out. So how do you create a world?
I will cover this topic in two parts because it is that important to get it right, and it is too complicated to cover in a couple of quick sentences. World building means creating environments that life can thrive in as well as the life forms that inhabit it. In part one we will take a look at creating environments. The next part will cover creating life forms. Notice that I used the plural forms of environment and life form, not an accident; you need to create a multi-faceted world. Take a look around our world is light and dark, wet and dry, and full of life.
Building your world will depend upon the story you are trying to tell. If you are telling a story about a desert society it shouldn’t be devoid of clouds or the occasional rain. I was in Egypt recently where it was mostly clear blue skies and blazing hot. But I was extremely grateful for the occasional passing cloud. Another important fact is that not all deserts are hot; the Gobi Desert annual mean temperature is 27.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Deserts are caused by lack of water not necessarily by heat; the Gobi is a desert mainly because the Himalayan Mountains block the rain off the Indian Ocean from reaching it.
Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture, the planetary view. The expression - size matters - really matters when you are creating your world. The bigger they are the more gravity they have, the more massive everything on your world will need to be. Big planets have big heavy atmospheres, enormous pressure, and faster revolution and tend to be mostly gas. Smaller planets have a tendency to be composed of denser materials (rock and metal) move slower and have less gravitational pull. That is the norm. I call it the “bowling ball effect”. When you go bowling and use a heavy ball, sixteen or eighteen pounds, you have to throw it really hard to keep it going straight all the way down the lane. Slow moving balls will verve off into the gutter. A lighter ball will make it all the way to the pins with less effort. So the larger the planet the faster it must go to avoid being pulled into its star.
Also true planets are spherical, because after an object reaches a certain mass gravity crushes into a ball. I don’t think scientist have discovered any Jupiter size rocky planets yet. My theory is a rocky planet of that magnitude would be unstable and tear itself apart. (Again, my opinion, if someone knows differently I welcome information.) Think of a disc thrower, he spins around and around building up momentum until the disc is nearly pulled from his body. A large rocky body will build up momentum as it rotates and revolves, over time those forces will cause the world to fracture and break up as the lighter elements move faster and its denser counterparts drag behind.
My point is - build a world so that it will stand up to the physical forces it will face. Build it on multiple levels; if the world is in a synchronous orbit around its star, one side will always face the sun and will always be hot. And the other side will be in total darkness and freezing cold. And if it has an atmosphere expects hurricane winds to ravage the surface constantly. Plan and write accordingly.
Part II – Who shall inherit the Earth?
World building is one of the major aspects of science fiction. Reviewers rate science fiction on how well the writer creates their worlds. So how do you create a world?
If you are God, you create it in seven days. If you are not God, take a hint from Genesis, create light and darkness; create land and sea; create animal and bird; create man. As writers it is our job to play God and create worlds for our readers. Our readers expect us to take the same detailed approach as in Genesis and leave nothing out. So how do you create a world?
I will cover this topic in two parts because it is that important to get it right, and it is too complicated to cover in a couple of quick sentences. World building means creating environments that life can thrive in as well as the life forms that inhabit it. In part one we will take a look at creating environments. The next part will cover creating life forms. Notice that I used the plural forms of environment and life form, not an accident; you need to create a multi-faceted world. Take a look around our world is light and dark, wet and dry, and full of life.
Building your world will depend upon the story you are trying to tell. If you are telling a story about a desert society it shouldn’t be devoid of clouds or the occasional rain. I was in Egypt recently where it was mostly clear blue skies and blazing hot. But I was extremely grateful for the occasional passing cloud. Another important fact is that not all deserts are hot; the Gobi Desert annual mean temperature is 27.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Deserts are caused by lack of water not necessarily by heat; the Gobi is a desert mainly because the Himalayan Mountains block the rain off the Indian Ocean from reaching it.
Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture, the planetary view. The expression - size matters - really matters when you are creating your world. The bigger they are the more gravity they have, the more massive everything on your world will need to be. Big planets have big heavy atmospheres, enormous pressure, and faster revolution and tend to be mostly gas. Smaller planets have a tendency to be composed of denser materials (rock and metal) move slower and have less gravitational pull. That is the norm. I call it the “bowling ball effect”. When you go bowling and use a heavy ball, sixteen or eighteen pounds, you have to throw it really hard to keep it going straight all the way down the lane. Slow moving balls will verve off into the gutter. A lighter ball will make it all the way to the pins with less effort. So the larger the planet the faster it must go to avoid being pulled into its star.
Also true planets are spherical, because after an object reaches a certain mass gravity crushes into a ball. I don’t think scientist have discovered any Jupiter size rocky planets yet. My theory is a rocky planet of that magnitude would be unstable and tear itself apart. (Again, my opinion, if someone knows differently I welcome information.) Think of a disc thrower, he spins around and around building up momentum until the disc is nearly pulled from his body. A large rocky body will build up momentum as it rotates and revolves, over time those forces will cause the world to fracture and break up as the lighter elements move faster and its denser counterparts drag behind.
My point is - build a world so that it will stand up to the physical forces it will face. Build it on multiple levels; if the world is in a synchronous orbit around its star, one side will always face the sun and will always be hot. And the other side will be in total darkness and freezing cold. And if it has an atmosphere expects hurricane winds to ravage the surface constantly. Plan and write accordingly.
Part II – Who shall inherit the Earth?
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