Write On, Wednesday: World Building for Women’s Fiction
By Leslie Lindsay I have been working on the second draft of my first novel for awhile now. It’s one of those two- steps-forward-one-step-back type of thing. If you’re a writer, then you probably know exactly what I mean. An important piece to the second draft is adding my “magic” (as my writing partner likes to refer to it). Call it your “voice” or character development or perhaps worldbuilding, or whatever you need to, but just make sure you get it in there. Wait a minute, back the novel train up! “Worldbuilding,” you exclaim “is for fantasy and sci-fi, not for women’s fiction.” Oh, but I beg to differ. Every book–whether it’s historical fiction, a spy novel, or women’s fiction–deserves to have special attention paid to it’s ‘world.’ Worldbuilding is simply constructing an imaginary world often in conjuction with a fictional context. Here’s how worldbuilding can enhance your work: It defines a sense of place Worldbuilding is the landscape of imagination It adds depth and meaning, perhaps symbolism and way to infuse theme Can be a great way to brainstorm within your …