Worldbuilding Questions: Here or There?

[Spiral Thoughts]

Preface: I made a little doodle to give an idea of where I imagined the continents and islands. I doodle it knowing that I have no skill whatsoever; I also doodle it with the clear intention of changing whatever needs to be changed to make my world realistic, interesting, and right (Right here refers to the feeling of duty to the story that I get when writing about something. The story supersedes any other consideration that I have. And thus I'll know when the world is right. At present, it is not, hence the thread creation). I actually have pretty low spatial intelligence, not to totally use Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences as a crutch, and as such I don't scale very well and tend to be rather rudimentary with my perception of shapes. My art teacher will attest to this, I'm sure. I'm not one to get trapped by a label, though, so I am willing to work on this area of weakness.



to JBGIBSON:

1)

I NEED the setting to spawn the characters and situations. I let a world grow, and situations arise, THEN I decide what likely would happen.

I am similarly concerned with the development of my world. The world must tell me its story, not the other way around. Actually, my novel's story came about as I began to develop Glumdomy more. I had some bizarre idea in mind at the start but I realized that it didn't work; however, the world of Glumdomy, which I had created for this bizarre idea, was fascinating to me. I decided to write a story inside that world and *TA DA* my protagonist appeared, ready to be interesting.

2)

Hmmm - for your #2, town spacing, I'd want to know if these continent-spanning nations have been unified a long time, or if there was a heritage of smaller political units?

Very good question. You're right! This affects a lot! And I totally had a longer message here explaining this and that about my world, and then I realized how all of it was incredibly irrelevant and masturbatory. In summary, I came to the realization that I don't have an issue with my settlement placement. I have two hyper-controlling rulers to work with *WINK*.

3)

A further deciding condition is what historical level is your land's development? If travel is all afoot or by rowboat, settlements will generally be smaller and closer than if one has railroads and steamships.

They travel mostly by train. The roads aren't very sophisticated and have been largely abandoned in favor of improving trains, their railways, and the like. Almost everyone rides a train when they need to get somewhere; wagons never were invented (I have reasons for these strange things). Nearly every settlement has a station nearby to use; there are only about 2 to 4 that do not and that will be corrected within the century or perhaps shortly after. I have a fascination with trains, as you might have guessed from my avatar (and thank you for your avatar approval; it makes me feel better about myself. )

As for travel by water, I imagined that they had boats, but who knows, maybe they have "Sky Trains" to take them over the water. Maybe Subtrainmarines to take them into the water *totally making fun of myself right now*. Let's say that they have some decent ships; nothing special, but nothing too basic. People living on the islands have rowboats, though, to be completely stereotypical.

4)

Back on #7 . . .

The paragraph following the above words has utterly confounded me. I found the analogy confusing, which may stem from my impaired ability to visualize space (Yes, another lame excuse!).

5)

The main reason you get the impression rivers spring from mountains is that water DOES flow . . .

the paragraph following the above words was extremely helpful; thank you! I shall take these things into account when deciding upon my evil (I said EVIL!) rivers. Only, I must ask; I intend for there to be a lot of forest on Bulldosa. Should there be more rivers to account for this? Disregard the next sentence. I also intend to call the forest "The Dark Forest", where only "EVIL" lurks *again, making fun of myself, though this time more obscurely*.



6) In response to your 7 (c): I don't know if this is possible, but Bulldosa doesn't have any deserts. How do all the things you said work in concert to make this possible and what does that bode for the continent at large? I also didn't imagine any snow on the continent, but I am pretty sure that there has to be snow somewhere and that I'm a dork. I hope this helps you help me.

7)

A possible solution for your #6 could come from an amplification of your #3. To wit: just how extensive are these two continents? If the area you're focused on is in *just* the right latitude with the right topography you could get a whole bunch of clouded days.

I know that Persussa is fairly large, whereas Bulldosa is somewhere between the size of Germany and the United States (but closer to Germany). Perhaps the Bulldosa continent is just the first bit "to fall off" of Pangaea or something?

7a)

Say, the 'natural' temperature of your planet was chilly, and a period of increased volcanism (per Gidde's #4) is currently spewing a fair bit of greenhouse gases -- you might be in a geologically-brief period of artificial warmth, with atypically high cloud cover.

I am really feelin' this solution. I think this is what is happening. But where would human evolution be in relation to this (if speaking about our Earth)? I understand that volcanoes would be the trend of Mother Nature at this early stage of the world and I feel said volcanoes fit symbolically with the nature of society in Glumdomy.

7b)

A largely-water-covered world will have climate that's moderated mostly by the oceans, even if the land gets weather that would push things to extremes. So again - how big and where are these two landmasses? And do you mind the islanders having a different view of the sky (clearer) than the continental folk?

A largely-water-covered world will have climate moderated mostly by the oceans . . . understood. Now what does that entail for my dear planet if it were so? I am perfectly fine with the islanders having a clearer view of the sky; it fits them absurdly well. Yes, my story says 'yes'.

Did I miss anything that you said? I'll respond to Gidde in my next post (I'm going backwards).

~S.P.I.~

P.S.: I love lists. I also love signing my signature, even though I know it is unnecessary for me to do so.

P.S.S.: I totally forgot. See the group of dots directly beneath Persussa? Those little dots represent the island conglomeration of Tarragol. The islands can be moved all about the ocean, I don't mind, but they do need to stick together.