Worldbuilding
- Jun 19, 2022
- 1 min read
Updated: Jun 20, 2022
Imagine yourself reading a really good book that has hooked you from the very first page. You have completely immersed in the fictional world built inside of the story, the endearing characters, the rich culture and language, the history, and the meticulous attention to detail. There is a feeling of realism in the author's world as if it were an actual place on earth.
Worldbuilding is the process of creating a fictional world. It can be as complex as inventing something entirely new (such as the existence of Hogwarts in England for the Harry Potters series by J.K. Rowling), unique with its own laws of nature and populations of imaginary races and creatures. Or it can simply be by altering aspects of our own world to fit a story.
Our interview with Ms. Prieto, a New Shoot Mentor, gave us insight into the process of creating a world for a story through her own experiences. She recalled being at a stage where she was completely immersed in her story and everything in the world suddenly became a clue to something she could use for her story. A strange character on the bus could display a strange gesture and it could be impersonated by her character in her story. Ms. Prieto acknowledged that many authors come across this phenomenon and referenced Zadie Smith’s reading, where she goes more in-depth about this “magical thinking”.
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