Guest Post: World Builders Worksheets #101 by Patti Barrington (Part 2 of 2)

Today’s guest post is the second of the two-part series by author Patti Barrington.  For the first part, click here.  Enjoy! And again, please do leave comments and/or feedback for Patti on all of this great information… Thanks!
***

World Building Worksheets #101 (continued)

For Part Two of my world building worksheets, I thought I’d include some of the best worksheets that are also my favorites. In real journalistic style, I’m going to put the best ones first. One of my favorites is a classic world building worksheet that is astounding in the details it covers. It is the World Building form from Patricia Wrede—each link within this link opens up a whole world of information you create yourself—but as Patricia will tell you—if a section doesn’t work for you, don’t use it! Not only that but this link is the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America site which you should probably investigate anyway.

• http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/ (****Highly recommended)

Another big favorite of mine that really helped me out in learning how to actually flesh out my characters’ worksheet information is the link below. For ages I shied away from using character charts thinking they were too much trouble and that I knew my characters inside and out already; but there was another reason: I couldn’t figure out how to turn those Q&A forms I filled out into an actual story format. The entire process confused me until I found this amazing worksheet by Lynn Viehl that also includes the translation from worksheet to paragraph format on character and plot! At the end of the worksheet, she gives the basic information on her character Jory Rask from Blade Dancer in actual prose format! So make sure you read all the way to the end. It worked wonders for me in terms of understanding how to effectively use worksheets to develop plot and character. The link is long but should take you directly to The Novel Notebook, the title of Viehl’s worksheet.

• https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzylBQC3SyqoM2JjMDkwZDEtNDI2NS00ZDMxLTg5MzctMThjODBkYmZkNTRh&hl=en&pli=1 (****Highly recommended)

In my humble opinion, the two above are the platinum standard of world building worksheets but there are a few more that I also love for their sheer simplicity and useable detail.

And of course NO fantasy/sci-fi world building worksheet post would be complete without the map making worksheets/examples! Once I started doing it I fell in love with my world (earthlike & late Medieval era) and its physical landscape. Check it out here:

• http://www.fantasymaps.com/101/ (***Recommended)

And below this is a link FULL OF LINKS on fantasy mapping, creating, guidelines for the genre’! It’s almost got it all!

• http://www.oneofus.co.uk/index.php/how_to/how_to_create_fantasy_worlds/

As I’ve said in earlier posts, numerous sites have popped up and there are an exhaustive number of them. What I’ve tried to do is post the ones I’ve found most useful in the hope that you will as well. If you have found any that you think might assist other authors please feel free to post them here in comments!

One last note: the link below is a gentle introduction to genre’ writing and has many facet links that may be of help if you’re starting out: http://www.fictionfactor.com/

So that concludes world building worksheets and character sheets Parts One & Two. It’s not an extensive list by any means but I hope it will assist you in your creative writing endeavors! One word of caution: ~~DO NOT get bogged down with obsession of details in your world. It’s easy to get lost and never finish your novel because you’re always filling in details—these links are assists—not bibles~~ As always your comments, suggestions and opinions are welcomed!

***

After a decade long detour through the entertainment industry, P.I. Barrington has returned to her roots as a novelist writing in several genre’ including futuristic crime thrillers, paranormal crime thrillers, science fiction and fantasy, and the occasional humor shorts. Among her past careers is radio air talent and journalist. Barrington lives in Los Angeles California (where else?) in a rural area where she watches semi-wild horses grazing behind her house! She has just released her dark, science fiction adventure, Isadora DayStar, available from Smashwords. P.I. Barrington can be contacted via emails: pibarrington@dslextreme.com or pibarrington@yahoo.com and has a blog and website: Blog: http://pibarrington.worpress.com and official website: http://thewordmistresses.com

Publishing credits:

• Isadora DayStar: dark sci fi adventure via Smashwords
• Future Imperfect crime thriller trilogy: (Crucifying Angel, Miraculous Deception, Final Deceit) Desert Breeze Publishing
• Inamorata Crossing novella, Borealis 1 Space Anthology, Desert Breeze Publishing
• Button Hollow Chronicles, cozy mystery co-authored with Loni Emmert
• The Cougar’s Tale, short psychological horror, published in Suspense Magazine and The Fringe Magazine.