World
The word, World has a diverse use in the English language. The word may be used to refer to a planet such as Earth or it could be used to refer to a segment of that planet, such as the outdoor world. It may also be used to refer to a defined area of existence in which a human lives and it may also refer to a singular experience or a area of shared interest, such as the Western world.
Carl Sagan, (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) American Astronomer proclaims: "Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours and every one of them is a succession of incidents, events, occurrences which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time."
When creating a fictional world there is no requirement that it must be a spherical planet, though many world builders use this standard characteristic.
Setting Limitations
One of the first decisions you need to make as you begin building your world is to define the limitations of your world. The limitations can then be used as a reference point.
Limitations are important for they keep everything consistent. If you loose consistency you can loose the believability in your world. Fantasy worlds and role-play worlds need limitations for they set the rules that can never be broken.
As you begin to imagine your world, you'll need to set limitations on:
- the genre of your world
- the perspective of your world
- the boundaries of your world's physical space
Genre
Genre is a class of artistic forms that Geofictions can take. Geofictions can have broad genre's as there are no limitations on a conworlder. Some of the popular geofiction genres are:
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Realism
- Medieval
- Dark
These genres are often combined to create other sub-genres such as Dark-Fantasy?.
Fictional worlds come in all shapes, sizes, colours, perspectives and attached to them they have varying laws of nature and science. World Builders may choose to use realism to explain certain characteristics about their world or they may rely completely upon their own imaginations to create a world of fantasy.
Choosing a genre can be daunting at first. A genre will set limitations on characteristics of your setting, background and style. You may find that choosing a broad genre to begin with is easier and that through your creativity the genre will naturualy develop with your world.
Perspective
Perspective is a subjective choice. It is a person's point of view. If you are the sole author of your Geofiction than your perspective of your world will be much easier to form. A group's perspective will require team decision making and a brain storming session is useful for creating a team's perspective.
A perspective may include limitations on appearances, races, society, fauna, flora, genetic code, gases, chemicals compounds, minerals, technologies and knowledge.
Questions to consider:
Is your world flat?
Is your world round?
Is your world Square?
Is your world an unusual shape?
Is your world segmented?
Is your world small?
Is your world large?
Is your world one dimensional?
Is your world multi-dimensional?
Is your world inhabitated by intelligent lifeforms?
Is your world inhabited by non-intelligent lifeforms?
What minerals exist (discovered or undiscovered)?
What chemicals exist (discovered or undiscovered)?
How much knowledge is known of the physical world by its inhabitants?
How has that knowledge been gained?
What technologies exist in your world?
What type of social structures exist in your world?
By making these choices on the outset you are less likely to run into issues of inconsistency or confusion later on.
Perspective could also inlude the delivery or development method of the geofiction:
Do you want your geofiction to have an audience or is personal?
Are you going express your geofiction through writing?
Will your geofiction include pictures and diagrams?
Will your geofiction be created purely as visual art?
Is your geofiction evolving through role-play?
Are you going to publish your geofiction as part of, or as a whole work?
Are you going to publish your geofiction on the Internet?
Do you want to share your geofiction through the eyes of an inhabitant or group of inhabitants?
Because of the broad nature of Geofictions, setting persepectives is an important first step. These choices help to define and shape the world, setting it apart, making it different to the many other multitude of worlds that exist, even if it is through subtle variations.
Boundaries
Setting boundaries of your world will help to provide you with further limitations especially limitations that reflect the scope of your Geofiction.
The physical boundaries of your World will not only provide you with the area in which your geofiction has a direct interest, but the area in which you as a conworlder have an interest in exploring.
Physical Boundaries - Direct & Indirect Interest
If Earth was the setting of your geofiction, than you might decide that the physical boundaries of direct interest might extend out to the upper hemisphere. Those of indirect interest might extend to the edges of the Solar system.
If you are writing the story about an Ant, the Ant's world might be a lot smaller. You might decide that the physical boundaries of direct interest might extend to the ant nest and the park land above it. Where as those of indirect interest would include the city around it.
Links of Interest
Space.com - Planet Types
Nasa.gov - Space Exploration
New Scientist - Sci-fi model worlds aid planet classification
Habitable Planets
Saving Virtual Worlds from Extinction