WIP Wednesday Indulges in Worldbuilding
3 Feb
Well it’s that time again. But first I want to say thanks to people who voted for Boudha, my little contribution to Grants Pass, in the P&E polls. After the final tally it ended up in 5th Place, which is, er, staggering honestly. I’m even more excited that it’s right next to Pete Kempshall’s Rites of Passage, though. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to admit to this, but that’s what I voted for. I just saw that Grants Pass is on the preliminary Stoker ballot too, which is mind-boggling in its coolness, and I think a testament to the work (and love) Jenn and Manda put into the whole thing. Two talented women, let me tell you.
A hand-drawn coat of arms for a family that doesn't exist except in my head.
So right, WiP. More progress made on Plaguebringer, as I’m now at around 37k. This novel is going to be two novels, which I knew from the off really, but does make it less likely I’ll finish by the end of the month as I hoped. Then again, I’ve been known to puke up 80k in a month, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. (It will suck, but you know. It’ll be out. I’ve compared it before to being 16 and getting really staggeringly drunk for the first time– just puke and you’ll feel better.)
The difference between this and my other projects is the intense amount of worldbuilding I’ve done for the last year and a half. Luckily I have my friend John to help me, who is an expert at this kind of thing, so it doesn’t just look like some morbid and half-baked D&D campaign. Someone who asks the right questions is a treasure, man. In that sense this is a straight fantasy novel, but there are no elves and no magic in the strictest sense– just weird clockwork madness and drugs.
But I did get to make maps. I hand drew the big version, then scanned it in and colored it. I blew it up to do the little country maps, hand-drawing in the little borders there, then scanning again and coloring in Photoshop. So I get things like this:
Big Map of a world that doesn't exist except in my head.
Leading to things like this:
Detail of a country that doesn't exist-- oh you get my point.
Pretty sure the map obsession owes a lot to my brother, who is the most inventive DM ever. Again, with the Nerd Family. I’ll spare you the in-depth description of the pages and pages of notes I have for each little area. It’s more than enough to know they’re there, I’m sure.
So it’s a project that requires more than just writing, and the freakish little images here are just a part of that. A little overambitious, yeah. But hey, if I’m going to re-read Tolkien 18931 times, I might as well take something from him, right?
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Now playing: Gruff Rhys – The Court Of King Arthur
via FoxyTunes
Wow. I can’t even handle maps of non-fantasy worlds!
Congrats on Grants Pass, Katey. Fingers crossed it makes the final ballot.
How the heck did you do those maps? I’ve only ever drawn two maps and both were hideous.
A hearty congrats all around. Grant’s Pass is good fiction, through and through, and it deserves some sort of nod. You know how I feel about your entry.
And you totally kick my ass at world-building. I’m a real world-building wuss, choosing to steal most of mine from “reality.” Sheesh.
Nat, real maps are so much harder– if I fuck these up, I can just pretend it’s what I wanted!
Cate, thank you. I mostly did them by hand– just the color and lettering was done in Photoshop. I do everything by hand because, honestly, I suck at Illustrator. :/
Aaron, thanks, I’m still so pleased you enjoyed it. Using and bending reality as you do is so much harder in so many ways. Granted, you don’t get to make maps that often, but still.
“I’ve been known to puke up 80k in a month…”
I am both aghast and amazed. And then aghast again. And then pretty frickin’ amazed.
No job and no kids means if I don’t turn out a few k a day, I feel like a big ole failure. I wish it was amazing, but it’s really just sad. I wish quantity counted for something, because the quality thing is a lot harder to manage!
Congrats on Grants Pass. And those maps are very cool, way better than my hand-drawn maps of my fictional towns.
I liked the “puking up 80k words” and comparing it to getting drunk at 16 for the first tim. *sigh* Takes me back to 16 and drinking those 9 beers in about 2 hours. The black liqourice didn’t look so good coming back up…
And those are the coolest maps I’ve seen in a long time. I loved that sort of thing back in geography class.
Danielle, thanks! And you know, for some reason towns are much harder than whole countries. And continents are even easier than that. Perhaps I just feel less obligated to do details, though…
Alan, yeah, liquorice is one of those things that’s only good on the way in. (Oh wait, that’s pretty much everything. Ugh.) But yes, maps make me so happy! I can’t explain it, they’re just– er. Nerdy?
Laguna Port looks nice. I may vacation there.
Seriously, dude. The maps kick ass. But my favorite is the coat of arms.
It’s actually a very popular vacation spot for Navaquin nobility– you’ll be welcomed with open arms
I’m really glad you like it, the arms are my favorite to draw. A lot easier than the maps, since it’s just copying heraldic elements and putting them in the right place, but it just looks cooler. (Not cool enough. But cooler!)