Hope the following ideas for writing exercises help with your own world building for your stories. The idea behind these is to get you to draft out thoughts as to how your world would actually work.  You won't need to put most of this in your story but do see this as your blueprint.  It is crucial you know these things.  You'll write with more confidence and it will come across that way in your writing. 

It'll also help convince you that this world could exist.  You are the first believer in it after all. Having worked things out in advance as to how things can work will also help against the dreaded "slump in the middle".  You will already know what you need to know about your created world.  You can focus on the drama of your story with that knowledge behind you.

1.  System of Government.  Draw a flowchart as to who runs what, what their powers are and how these feed in to each other (local government for example is always answerable to national government at some level).

2.  The Need to Survive.  Write out ten things your "people" need so they can survive.  Draw a spider diagram of how they can obtain these things.

3.  Cultures.  Is your world going to be a mono-culture?  If not, what other cultures are there? Draft ideas as to what these could be, how the multi cultures interact with each other (if they do at all), and whether there is any sense of superiority (justified or not) by one or more of these.  If it is a mono-culture, were they always that way or have they driven others out?

Hope you have fun with these.  Be as detailed or as scanty with details as you wish but the idea is this will give you something to refer to as you write your tale.

Where do I start with this one?  Well, here goes:-

1.  Stories take you into another world.  Sometimes that world is this one but we see it in a light we've not considered before.

2.  Stories show you a wide range of characters, some of whom you'll love.  Others you'll love to hate of course but all of them draw  you in and make you feel something!

3.  Stories, when they convey messages/morals, do this subtly.  The writers rightly don't want to lose their audiences by preaching.  Subtlety generally works better in any case.  It is better that the reader works out what the message/moral is and have their own lightbulb moment. The message hits home all the better for the reader working it out for themselves.

4.  Stories entertain.  In what is a mad world, the escapism element shouldn't be despised.

5.  Stories can show you different aspects of history and culture from around the world.  (I find it fascinating how so many of our beloved fairytales go back such as long time and there are many cultures which have very similar versions to the ones we know).

Now for the final section covering U to Z.  Hmm...

U = Uniformity.  Not to hasten to add of characters, readers should be able to tell them apart easily.  What I mean here is if you have decided Character A is going to have a yellow bulging neck because that is how his species is made, then that should be shown uniformly throughout the story. Character A can't suddenly NOT have a yellow bulging neck by the end of the story.  Whatever is vital to your character in terms of physical existence should be uniformly shown (and for the other characters who will be affected by the same things).

V = Variety.  It had to be this really as it follows on from U above in every sense!  Where variety does come in is via the traits your characters have.  Not everyone is going to be meek and mild (just as well really, there'd be no story!).  Not everyone is going to be hot tempered and causing fights all the time.  The secret to a good story, of whatever length, is getting the balance right.

W = Writing that Flows. Every good story has this.  Readers turn the pages, gripped by your characters, their world, and the situations you've put them in and your prose flows.  The pace should be appropriate. The style of words used should be appropriate to the story and your intended audience.  Nothing should jar the reader experience.  And yes it is tough to achieve.  It's never done on one edit!

X = Xeno.  I've been looking forward to using this word again after having discovered it means strange!  A really good story has to grip the reader.  Something about your characters and situation should stir up their "HAVE to know what happens next" gene.  Strangeness can do that in terms of strange characters, strange worlds etc. Sci-fi and fantasy depends on this.  But even in an everyday setting, there should be something that draws your reader in.  I've found this is generally down to an intriguing character that I've got to know more about.  So what intrigues?  There must be something "xeno" about them.  For example, a fairy godmother who refuses to use magic.  Now that's strange!  Got to know more... you get the idea.

Y = You.  I might be cheating a little here but I'll plough on anyway.  What I mean here is you, as the writer, need to decide what tense you're writing your story in - fine, that's done, good.  Okay next task is to make sure it is your characters' voices that your reader hears, not yours at all.  From a reader's viewpoint, you here is to symbolize being totally engrossed with that story.  The story should entice you in and keep you there until it is finished.  So you and your reaction to a story is hugely important.  A writer should be looking to make impact on the "you" they think will read their story.

And last but not least...

Z = Zest.  A story essential, regardless of genre, is that it should be an enjoyable read.  There should be a zest to it that gives the sense the writer loved writing it.  (It does show).  I've also found characters that have some zest to them are more lively and therefore better to read about than those without that quality.

Phew!  Got there!  Whatever you read and write, enjoy it.  It's the single most important thing about the story.  If you're the writer and you're not enjoying the process of writing it, why would anyone else enjoy reading it?  If you're the reader and the story's not gripping you, put it aside for a while.  Look at it again after a break. Does it still not grip you?  Then read something else. Sometimes it can be a case of timing.  I recall trying to read books when I was younger, not getting on with them, coming back to them later (sometimes via film adaptations) and loving them then.

A slightly shorter number of letters to cover this week so I can finish with some of the awkward ones next week i.e. U to Z with a stopover at V, X and Y on the way. It'll be a good challenge.  Meanwhile...

P = Promise.  Does the story live up to the promise of its tagline/blurb?  If it does, great.  Okay this is subjective.  No two readers will ever agree on every book they've read.  Personal likes and dislikes have to come into it somewhere but the general principle here is "does the writer deliver"?  For me, a good story is where that promise is easily fulfilled, even if you don't like how the writer does it!

Q = Queries.  A good story should wrap these up by its end.  Leaving a reader wondering how the characters get on after the story ends is fine (and is a great sign) but the problems set up in the story should've been resolved.  There should be no unresolved queries here.

R = Reading Flow. A good story for me is one where I'll be anxious to get to the next page for the "what happens next" moment.  The flow of the story should be a good one.  You want nothing to drag the story down. The story should read easily too, though don't mistake simplistic reading/writing for simple reading/writing.  It is generally true if someone has made something look easy, such as making their prose look easy to reproduce, you can guarantee that same someone has worked hard for years to develop that skill. Getting the reading flow right requires precision with words and an awful lot of editing.  When it is done well, no reader will ever notice!

S = Set-up. The story set-up has to be intriguing enough to entice me into reading it. Anything with a fairytale/fantasy world basis will pique my curiosity enough to have a good look at the book.  It's then when the blurb and opening paragraph kick in.  If they intrigue me, I'll go on to buy the book.  So the set-up has got to be strong enough to intrigue me at all. That set-up must include there being something special about the characters to draw me in.

T = Tension.  There has to be lots of it and it should arise naturally from the characters.  If you have an awkward character, you know they're going to clash with others in the story.  Fine.  What I also need to know is what makes that character awkward.  There is always a reason for it!

Final part next week...