A Writer's Guide to World-Building

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Welcome back to Quill and Ink! The Bookshelf and Between the pages are focusing on World Building this term, giving you a chance to get up close and personal with what went into creating your favourite fictional places. Here and on Ink Splatters, we’re passing the pen to you. It’s time to create your own world.

We have 5 interlinked writing prompts and another 5 art prompts for you to complete that should give you at least some of the building blocks you need for the foundations of your world. You can complete as many or as few as you like, though doing the writing prompts in order might help you refine your ideas more effectively.

These prompts, just like our library of prompts, are worth 20 beans each. They also count towards the 7 prompts you need to complete to earn our Quill and Ink Award at year’s end. While our celebration of world-building technically ends at the end of January when we pick another theme, you can complete these prompts whenever you feel like it. If you want them to count towards your chances of earning the award for a particular year though, we’ll need them by the end of June of that year.

The Prompts:
Part 1: The Seed (finding your basic idea)
Part 2: Let's Get Cultural
Part 3: Historic and Mythic
Part 4: On the Subject of Names
Part 5: Paths and Prospects (How can characters succeed in your world)