I have a OneNote, and as of today, 2/24/2021, I have been working on it for almost three years. Of course, my world-building predates this by a handful more years and my imagination predates me, I think. Anyways, I share this to say I have been crafting a universe for a long time, considering the many factors of existence, and trying to avoid the madness that comes from the thought, “why do the people in my universe call them swords?” (Answer: Because that is what a reading audience knows, no reason to make up a totally unknown word and alienate them with it.)
I thought it might be cool to lay down the roots of how I got started in world-building and share a bit of the genesis behind my universe just in case anyone is ever interested.
My imagination, the one that I speculate predates me, has always been drawn to epic stories and fantasy. I have a habit of taking a narrative, turning it around in my head, and pointing out what I like and what I don’t like. This habit then became an internal after-thought process when I would watch a new movie, read a book, play a game, or even listen to a song. I would absorb the story, break down what I enjoyed, determine what I thought was rushed, make note of what parts were well developed, and then think about the things I wanted more of in the story. With this internal breakdown, I could see where I thought the story could go. Of course, I usually give the story the benefit of the doubt, so I enjoyed most stories, even the ones considered bad by others (Except the live-action ATLA, the whole changing pronunciation of the names threw me off, and that is one of the more palatable decisions made for that movie).
One day, I sat down to watch a movie. While I am inspired by many great works, this one happened to come to me at just the right time. It was the 2015 Witch Hunter starring Vin Diesel. I loved the magic system in this movie and how witches were a differently evolved offshoot species from humans. It was interesting, but in the end, where I had only had a taste of the magic, I wanted more.
That is when I started building my magic system. I wanted to expand on the idea of the classes of magic that were represented in that 2015 movie and make it my own. But, as I began to shape the energies of a cosmos that I had not yet defined, I ran into questions. These were questions of how and why that underscored the nature and ideas of magic. I began to explore the fabric of our own reality, diving into videos about the chemical nature of things, physics, and theories on how it all came to be. I made my “creator,” and began creating the answers to the how’s and why’s that my magic system had raised. This was a lot of fun, and as I began to create a framework, a sandbox to build in if you will, I started turning my sights towards storytelling.
Shortly thereafter, I began to pull from other inspirations. I was heavily influenced by the magic systems in Patrick Rothfuss’s work, the philosophy and style of ATLA, the works of JRR Tolkien, the hidden world of JK Rowling, and so much more. I discovered tips from Neil Gaiman, q&a sessions with Stephen King, and classes taught by Brandon Sanderson. I enjoyed the well-thought-out lessons and reflections on YouTube channels like Hello Future Me, Tale Foundry, and so many more. I also tried to expand my influence and step outside of the predominantly western ideas that shape much of mainstream fantasy. Add to that a fair bit of Wikipedia page surfing, googling, and plain making stuff up.
With all of that, I started to create more than just a magic system. I made infinity, even I don’t really understand it, but that’s fine. I made worlds and cultures and wove them together through the energies of the universe that started it all. I took what I loved about various Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Dramas, Thrillers, Romance, and others. I built things, destroyed things, created things, and deleted some stuff that did not make sense. The more I wrote, the better I came to understand my universe and would go back and forth making changes that were needed.
Now, a few years later, here I am, still diving into the same OneNote. The only difference is, I have shaped a lot of the main tenants of my universe now and have begun to weave them into my books and short stories. It is fun to see something appear in a story, just a glimmer of it, when I know it’s thousands of feet of true depth.
I was once asked why I spend so much time creating the universe and worlds where I plan to write all of my stories. I told them, the reader will likely never know all of this, however, in order to write a good story with a consistent nature, these are things I feel that I have to know and understand. I think of it as our own reality, most people do not know the science behind gravity or light, but it is a part of their story all the same.
Anyways, if I ever finish a book and amass any following, perhaps this will be a nice thing for them to read to get to know me a little bit more. Thank you for stopping by and reading this, I hope you have a wonderful day!
Nathaniel Writes 