In Cixin Liu's seminal science fiction trilogy the 'Remembrance of Earth's Past (地球往事)', an alien civilisation is governed by the chaotic orbits of three suns. In the latest multiverse blockbuster (no, not Dr. Strange), 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', a Chinese-American woman can connect with versions of herself across parallel universes to fight a powerful being bent on destroying the multiverse.
So, even with a single guiding principle, wonders can occur—such is the beauty of world building. That's what the 'Flying Objects and Dairy Queens' workshop is all about. Our speakers for the workshop Meihan Boey and Jerry Hinds teases a little more:
How do you go about worldbuilding when you're creating a new story? Does it come naturally as you go along the story? Or do you set rules before you even start the first scene?
Meihan Boey: This hugely depends on the ‘world’ being built. Hardcore sci-fi needs to follow at least the gist of existing rules of spacetime, physics etc, so this type of worldbuilding requires set rules in place. Even if you want to break ‘real-life’ rules, you have to be aware of them to break them in a manner that makes sense!
Fantasy, horror, ’superhero’ etc have a little more leeway, and it’s possible to just let things that seem to fit just ‘come about’ in the text as you go. But you do have to go over the whole creation a few times afterwards and create coherence, and establish rules of the world. E.g in Transformers, only Decepticons can fly, so if you earlier created an Autobot who’s a helicopter, that character needs to change.
Jerry Hinds: I always start from the perspective of a main character. The 5 Ws of that character then literally dictate the world or ‘universe’ he or she resides in. ‘It’s all in a name’. Once I know WHO the main character(s) is, the rest flows quite nicely.
What's your favourite thing when it comes to worldbuilding?
Meihan Boey: The power to bend the rules of reality!
Jerry Hinds: The fact that you’re kind of acting like God! You get to even dictate if whether or not a planet has gravity or prolonged periods of daylight.
Do you have any fun ways to go about worldbuilding?
Meihan Boey: I’m not sure there is a non-fun way to do it! It allows you to essentially fulfil your own idea of what the world might be like, should be like, or that you think would be a great adventure to be like. There is literally no dull way to do it.
Jerry Hinds: I think the answer to question #1 is big fun. Getting to know a character and the cast can be almost overwhelming; the ideas may come faster than I can type. Waking in the middle of the night to make notes that just come into your head is awesome.
What's one book or story that has always inspired your worldbuilding? How did it inspire and fascinate you?
Meihan Boey: I don’t think there could possibly be just ‘one’! My earliest influences range massively from DC Vertigo comics to Victorian fiction, Shonen manga to space opera, Star Wars to Lord of the Rings. Every creator who has built a successful ‘world’ has something a reader can draw from and be inspired by.
Jerry Hinds: I was knocked out by the worlds created by Jim Starlin back in the early days of the original Captain Marvel. It’s why to this day my hair is dyed yellow.
Worldbuilding can be daunting, so what's one tip you'd give to writers?
Meihan Boey: My advice would be to create way more than you actually need for the story, because that’s how you give your world structure.
After that, edit down to only the information you need to keep the story moving. Save the rest for a sequel, prequel, or just a very large appendix.
Jerry Hinds: Again, point #1; get to know your cast, and ideas for the world will flow; anatomies and body types, costumes, behaviours and architecture. Most plots involve quests for power of some sort and romance. It’s the WHY that can make any world worth caring about - it starts with the main character & cast for me.
Join Meihan Boey and Jerry Hinds in 'Flying Objects and Dairy Queens: The Art of World Building'
People think 'worldbuilding' applies primarily to speculative fiction such as science fiction, fantasy and horror. But almost every piece of fiction - and indeed, quite a lot of non-fiction - requires the author to 'build' a world, to facilitate the reader's understanding of the motivations driving the characters and plot.
We explore the art of worldbuilding in all its glorious forms, from comic books to fantasy novels, anime/manga to sci-fi, with an emphasis on Singapore-based writers.