World Building 101 - Getting Started

Last time on World Building 101 we took a look at a large list of resources. This week we're going to get down and dirty and start slinging some mud to create our line in the dirt.

But where to start?

While the hardest question to consider it is truly the easiest question to answer. Anywhere and everywhere. You can start by designing a single race and their language and culture, then slowly filling in the blanks from there, or you can make some varied plant life and what eats it. You can pick and choose where you work, and let the decisions cascade downward until everything important is built. Make a few broad decisions or a couple of small ones and extrapolate from there.

So the first thing for us is going to be deciding one thing about our world. If you're here you probably already have an imaginary world somewhere in your brain, just waiting to pool to the surface. Whether you know what the climate is like, or how some peoples interact, that is where you should start. In this example we are going to start big and work our way down.

The first things we are going to decide are about the planet. What is it like? Is it Earth-like? Is it a frozen wasteland? Is it hot beyond reason? Is it larger or smaller than Earth? Is it closer to the sun? Further away?

Pick one thing you want your planet to be like, and go with it.
Me? I'm going to say it is Earth-like in size but moderately closer to the sun, leading to a warmer atmosphere and little to no icecaps, so higher water levels.

This warmer planet is going to need an atmosphere, which I will say is close enough to Earth to be indistinguishable for our purposes. This allows me to avoid some questions of chemistry, of which I have little knowledge or desire to learn.

The main element on this planet is going to be silicon, as it is conjectured to be possible for life to originate this way. This also gives more credence to alien life forms occurring, rather than Earth clones. In other words, it helps suspend the disbelief.

These few answered questions have already shaped our world in major ways. Lets look at what we know:

• The world is warm
• It is roughly Earth sized
• It is based on silicon
• It has the necessary atmosphere to support itself
• It is closer to the sun

From this we can extrapolate several things:

• There is life
• There is less need for fur or other heat retaining constructs; lizards and other cold-blooded animals may be more common
• There is gravity about equal to ours, meaning the animal and plant size is limited
• Alien life forms can exist and be very outlandish in appearance
• The year is shorter and has longer harvesting times

This is a good start, and has us thinking about some animals, plant life and culture! 

Next time on World Building 101 we will look at the world around our world, the suns and planets and other space stuff!