Hey authors, it's time to post another chapter to "The Art Of Writing" category. This time we're going to discuss world building and the problem so many authors have with loopholes. The process of building your world should be given just as much attention as your story, if not more, because it is where you are establishing everything that comes with those grand adventures you plan to write. There is nothing a fan hates worse than obvious inconsistencies.
While every author, even those new to the industry, knows they have to build a world around their story, many don't realize how often a fictional world can hold multiple loopholes. However, when fans read their work, they will always point them out (and yes, fans will) and the author scrambles to explain the broken link in the story. But there are some very easy tricks you can use to keep from losing your way when you are creating a fictional world.
The first trick I would recommend is if your world is a completely fictional one and not one based on our own, then create a map. "But I don't know how to draw maps," you say. Well, it doesn't need to be a map you plan to use in the story. It can literally be a piece of paper with shapes drawn in different places to represent where those cities, countries etc are in your mind... just to give you a visual aid. Name them and figure out their orientation. Are they part of the hero world or the villainy world? Are they an enlightened country or do they dwell in darkness? What characteristics do their people have? Is the race human? Elven? Or something else?
Part of the creative process in creating the background, even if it is something that will never actually be in your books, is to cement it in your own mind. Visualize where those towns and countries are in your world. By having a drawn map, you always have something you can refer to when you are struggling to figure out the path your characters journey on.
A second trick you can use is simply take a little time to write out a description of each place while you are creating the names of towns, cities, etc. in a separate document you can go back and reference any time you need to. If it is a city, does it have gates or just open roads to enter? If it is a country, do you need papers to enter it? Are there guards at the borders? Get into details that describe the various areas in your fictional world, because even if you don't put any of that information in your stories, having a clearer visual in your own mind will make your writing far more believable and less likely to have those infamous loopholes that frustrate both you and your readers.
Also think about building a timeline for your world. It doesn't have to be seriously detailed, but establishing some kind of history for it definitely helps in giving your world substance. If a world is not fleshed out enough, it appears flat and shallow, and this carries over to the readers far more than any author wants it to. Authors tend to read any one work of theirs repeatedly, so they start to skim over things a reader who is just reading it for the first time will not miss. So even when an author no longer sees the little things that are considered a loophole, readers will catch them every time.
I know what you're thinking. That is what an editor is for, and to a certain extent you are right. However, the majority of any story's creation still lies in the hands of the author, and paying attention to the small details like this is what distinguishes a fantastic and skilled author from the mediocre ones. This is especially important for those who are writing a series, as details from one book to the next can easily get away from you. In short, paying attention to how you build your world and taking the time to flesh out the extra little details can ultimately make the difference between another dead-in-the-water book and the next best-seller.