(no subject)

[kittydesade]

私の妹は　かみが黒い　人です。
私の妹は　せが　たかくない　人です。

私の弟は　せが　たかい　人です。
私の弟は　かみが　ながくない　人です。

私の父は　ワシントンに すんでいる　人です。
私の父は　小さくない　人です。

私の母は　めがねを　かけている　人です。
私の母は　ぼうしを　かぶっていない　人です。



That may or may not be enough grinding. Or I need more sleep and less chocolate. One of the two.

So... something. I had thinky thoughts here and then they went away, which probably means more sleep and less chocolate. One thing I was thinking, though, is that I'm going to start posting World-building exercises here for, um, shits and giggles? If anyone really wants to try them, by all means. They're one-a-week, and I'll try and post them every Monday.


1. Determine your scope
How big of a story do you want to tell? Is it epic? Is it small? Are you crossing vast swaths of the land or are you confining three characters to a room and letting them endure each other for eternity? It's very, very easy to get lost in the process of building your personal playground if you don't give yourself boundaries at the start of it. Once you've determined the scope of the story you want to tell, you can establish boundaries: this far, and no farther. I'm taking it to the edges of the city. I'm taking it to the front door of the house. I'm gallivanting across the world.

Determining your scope also helps you figure out the purpose of the story. Are you telling something deeply personal or are you taking your reader on a grand adventure? It helps you fill out some problems your character(s) might face along the way. A person confined to their house faces many different challenges than a person who's traipsing all over the wide world and back again. These exercises work with the idea that worldbuilding is a tool that helps us tell a better story. This is a functional, goal-oriented approach.

Write a paragraph of up to seven sentences stating the scope of your story. Note both the general scope and exceptions where you might go outside it or spend some time focusing on one or two particular aspects. Put this paragraph in the forward-most section of your binder or notebook; this goes under summary information.

e.g. Story One: I'm telling a story about a band of 3 to 5 people. They travel at least through several cities and across at least one country; the story doesn't go beyond the borders of the country, either the United States or England or something standing in for them so it'll be easy to research. However, the story is mostly about the band of 3 to 5 people, so the story rarely follows any one of them outside the company of the rest. The descriptions should be mostly within the context of what these people think, see, and feel. Even the antagonist's world view might be similarly limited.

Story Two I'm telling a story that takes place in a single city, but I want to give the impression of vastness. So, I must develop my story and my city so that it can support an epic sort of a tale. Lots of culture, lots of details, a map for sure and maybe a timeline. And probably a character sheet. I need to know the details of the city and all its districts in order to make it suitably detailed and involving, maybe sort of like Blade Runner.