I hear it all the time. World building. Details. But not just any details. Ones that are important to the story and reveal the world and play an important role in the story.
In any world, not just fantasy or dystopian, we want to make it believable.
Elana Johnson in her novel, POSSESSION, added some cool gadgets to Vi’s world that reflected the futuristic society and played an important role in the story.
Ecomms, robots, implanted tags that track people, hovercopters, tech-cuffs that leave your wrists red and inflamed, cell phones that do everything even taser people from across the room, cubes that make meals appear, healing lotion, sticker rings, walls that can listen and talk…the list goes on.
I loved these gadgets in POSSESSION. And they made Vi’s world extremely believable.
What details can you add to your character’s world, even if it’s contemporary fiction, that reflect your character and tie in with her external and internal conflict?
Tall order, I know.
What books have you read with great world building? Examples?