How to design a Universe

Chapter 3

Building a Universe

Now that you've learned how to create your characters you need to think about what kind of world they belong in. Character is the soul of a story and setting is what gives it flavor. Let's take a look at the effect a setting has on a story. Take this simple sentence for example.

They fought.

There's action. Someone is fighting, yet it's not a very exciting sentence. It doesn't spark your imagination very much. There are many things we can do to make it better. Let's try adding some detail.

They fought in their galactic battleship waging war on the planetary empire
or
They fought in the dark castle trying to defeat the prince of vampires
or
The Knights fought on horseback against the barbarians.

The difference is that a setting was added to the description. Notice how the setting made it sound so much more interesting. A setting is a time and a place.

Time

Time can refer to time of day, but it often means Time period. A story can be set anywhere in the past. It helps to know a lot about history. Knowledge of history gives you lots of material to work with.

	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~		~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prehistoric Times		Ancient Times		Modern Times

Consider the time period you want your story to take place in and that will have a huge influence on your story.

The Prehistoric Times

The prehistoric times are very mysterious, so you can use your imagination. It's believed at that time people mostly lived off of hunting and gathering but it's possible there were forgot technologies. You can also consider old myths and legends. There's a lot of old stories of lost civilizations like Atlantis and Troy. Also in that time period you can include creatures that have become extinct like dinosaurs and mammoths.

The Prehistoric period holds many secrets. Consider the legend of Atlantis. People still aren't sure if it was just a story or a real place

Ancient Times

In the ancient times people started farming and building cities. The domestication of animals was also a big factor that led into the ancient world. Again there are a lot of legends and lost information. Consider the great library of Alexandria that was destroyed long ago. Who knows what information was lost. There's plenty of room for you to use your imagination.

Technology

The time period determines the technology available in your story. It's good to be familiar with when things were invented. A world where people use steam power looks very different from a world where people use electricity.

Place Think about why people love to travel. It's because the world can look so very different from one country to another. Being familiar with the difference in how things look can really help you develop great settings.

Types of Societies

When creating your setting consider what kinds of societies you're dealing with in the story. There are certain patterns throughout the world and throughout history regarding how people organize themselves into groups. Are your characters living in a kingdom, a tribe, an empire or a democratic nation. It will make a big difference in your story.

Imaginary Worlds

Your story doesn't have to take place in a real time period and a real place. You can be imaginative and try creating a unique world.

Science Fiction The future can be a great time period because no one knows what it will be like, so it all comes from your imagination. You can also consider setting stories in outer space or on an alien planet. There are so many creative possibilities.

Time Travel Another common element in science fiction is time travel. This opens up a story to take place in many different settings. Doctor who is a TV series that follows a character who has a machine that lets him travel through time and space. That allows the story to take place in almost any setting imaginable. The open possibilities have allowed the show to produce thirty years worth of episodes.

Steampunk Another new trend in science fiction is to give the future an old period look or set it in a fantasy version of the past with technology that didn't exist at the time. This is often called "steampunk" which refers to steam power. Often these stories will depict fantastic technology that is done with steam power instead of electronics.

Forgotten Past As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of mysteries in the past, so there's room to create a magical world and say it was just forgotten history. A good example are the Lord of the Rings stories. These are the stories that sometimes include unicorns, dragons, wizards and fairies.

Alternate Realities There are so many more possibilities. A story could take place in an alternate dimension, down the rabbit hole, through the wardrobe or in a dream world. Those worlds can be anything you want. Some recent stories have involved such ideas as having characters entering television or a video game. Sometimes characters enter a world that's very similar, but slightly different. These are often called, "a parallel universe".

Activity

Try creating your own country by answering these questions

1. What kind of natural environment? (jungle, desert, frozen land, etc)
2. What kinds of animals live there?
3. What are the people groups? (describe any tribes, clubs, socieities)
4. What kinds of technology do they have?
5. If they have machines, how do they power the machines? (steampower, electricity, crystals, by hand, water and wind power, etc)
6. How do people get from one place to another? (cars, airplanes, horses, dinosaurs, space ships, flying cities, etc.)
7. How do people communicate? (internet, telephones, owls, pshychic power, telegraph wire)
8. What kinds of governments exist? (tribal leaders, theocracy, dictators, gangs)
9. What kinds of religions?
10. Is there magic? If, yes, then please describe it.