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Worldbuilding 4x4x4 Festival
Welcome to the Worldbuilding 4x4x4 Festival! This September and October, we're going to work on clarifying worldbuilding at four different levels: the world itself, the (or a) culture in which your story takes place, the dynamics of a group within your story (possibly the protagonists or antagonists), and an individual character (possibly your main character or primary antagonist).
So: four cards produce four stories, with four prompts each. 4x4x4.
As an example, let's say I roll a 2x2 Worldbuilding card that looks like this:
I might spin this into a story about how, during one point in my planet's history, explorers [fills: Age of exploration] from one nation discovered a wonderful plant being cultivated in another land. Trade [fills: Foreign relations] blossoms up around this plant, which becomes a luxury item like tea or spice or opium [fills: Luxuries]. But sea travel or the land caravans or whatever mode of exploration used there isn't fast enough to reliably convey this plant back to the nation that wants it, so new technologies such as steam shipping or rudimentary refrigeration [fills: Important inventions] have to be developed.
With that background, I might choose to write a short story about one of the maintenance workers who's paid to slog alongside the caravan, making sure that these cooling chests remain in operation; maybe she finds intrigue or adventure along the way. Or I could draw a picture of the crew of a new steam vessel, sailing fast over the ocean, much faster than any sailing ship has ever gone.
As another example, let's say I roll this Group Dynamics card:
There are lots of likely Bingos, here. Let's say I choose the second row to work on; it seems fun. One way I could spin this would be to write a story where a long-boiling rivalry [fills: Rivalries] comes to a head in a big confrontation, and the group deals with it badly: by splitting up onto sides and casting aspersions on each other [fills: Conflict Resolution Style]. Eventually, the side with the majority of members start to ostracize the other side, using a lot of no true Scotsman rhetoric to distance the other side from the group [fills: In-Grouping and Out-Grouping]. Angered, the original party to the rivalry retaliates in some way which damages the group as a whole [fills: Threats from Inside].
Having worked that out, I might write a story, draw a comic, mock up a magazine exposé cover if the group is a big well-known one like a superhero team or a band... possibilities are endless!
The goal here isn't just to get you to drill down into your world, from a bird's-eye view to an up-close and personal exploration of character. It's to get you playing with the ways in which different details interact to form rich, complex situations. Worlds become vivid and surprising when plot events and characters don't exist in isolation: even if you know precisely what mechanics you need to make your story and plot function, shading in background detail and complicating environmental factors make the entire thing feel more alive.
Whether you're working in an established universe or generating a new one from the ground up – and whether you're using this to build up to NaNoWriMo or coming along for the ride for yourself – I hope you enjoy this Worldbuilding 4x4x4 Festival!
The Rules:
- Generate four cards at the Bingo Generator. (If you have any problems, or prefer to have a mod generate the cards for you, let me know!)
Each card will be either 4x4 or 2x2. One will use the "Worldbuilding" list under Ysabetwordsmith's Miscellaneous Prompts; one will use the"Culturebuilding Considerations" list under Community-Contributed Lists, one will use the "Group Dynamics Considerations" list under Community-Contributed Lists; and one will use the "Characterbuilding Considerations" list under Community-Contributed Lists.
Feel free to strike out any prompts you don't want, or which don't fit your world. (For example, it's fine to nix "Fossil record" from the Worldbuilding list if your entire story takes place on a spaceship, or something. Unless your spaceship has been drifting long enough that it has its own fossil record, which – just sayin' – could be really cool.) - Write one story (or produce one work) for each card. The work must incorporate all four prompts – either in a Bingo (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) on a 4x4 card, or a postage stamp/blackout on a 2x2.
So: four cards produce four stories, with four prompts each. 4x4x4.
The Examples:
As an example, let's say I roll a 2x2 Worldbuilding card that looks like this:
| Foreign relations | Age of exploration |
| Important inventions | Luxuries |
I might spin this into a story about how, during one point in my planet's history, explorers [fills: Age of exploration] from one nation discovered a wonderful plant being cultivated in another land. Trade [fills: Foreign relations] blossoms up around this plant, which becomes a luxury item like tea or spice or opium [fills: Luxuries]. But sea travel or the land caravans or whatever mode of exploration used there isn't fast enough to reliably convey this plant back to the nation that wants it, so new technologies such as steam shipping or rudimentary refrigeration [fills: Important inventions] have to be developed.
With that background, I might choose to write a short story about one of the maintenance workers who's paid to slog alongside the caravan, making sure that these cooling chests remain in operation; maybe she finds intrigue or adventure along the way. Or I could draw a picture of the crew of a new steam vessel, sailing fast over the ocean, much faster than any sailing ship has ever gone.
As another example, let's say I roll this Group Dynamics card:
| Sense of Group Identity | Leaders | Threats from Outside | Followers |
| Threats from Inside | In-Grouping and Out-Grouping | Conflict Resolution Style | Rivalries |
| In-Jokes | Loyalty | Reputation | Challenges |
| Generations | Common Failure Modes | Diversity / Homogeneity | Failures |
The Goal:
There are lots of likely Bingos, here. Let's say I choose the second row to work on; it seems fun. One way I could spin this would be to write a story where a long-boiling rivalry [fills: Rivalries] comes to a head in a big confrontation, and the group deals with it badly: by splitting up onto sides and casting aspersions on each other [fills: Conflict Resolution Style]. Eventually, the side with the majority of members start to ostracize the other side, using a lot of no true Scotsman rhetoric to distance the other side from the group [fills: In-Grouping and Out-Grouping]. Angered, the original party to the rivalry retaliates in some way which damages the group as a whole [fills: Threats from Inside].
Having worked that out, I might write a story, draw a comic, mock up a magazine exposé cover if the group is a big well-known one like a superhero team or a band... possibilities are endless!
The goal here isn't just to get you to drill down into your world, from a bird's-eye view to an up-close and personal exploration of character. It's to get you playing with the ways in which different details interact to form rich, complex situations. Worlds become vivid and surprising when plot events and characters don't exist in isolation: even if you know precisely what mechanics you need to make your story and plot function, shading in background detail and complicating environmental factors make the entire thing feel more alive.
Whether you're working in an established universe or generating a new one from the ground up – and whether you're using this to build up to NaNoWriMo or coming along for the ride for yourself – I hope you enjoy this Worldbuilding 4x4x4 Festival!
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(Anonymous) 2016-09-01 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)Okay...
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Can I use each story of four prompts on its own? Do they all have to be in the same vein?
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Well...
Re: Well...
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Yay!
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Well...
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