This is the third instalment of the Creating Worlds series. In the Introduction, we looked at how careful construction of your world your in adds verisimilitude, color and depth to your story. In the second part, we looked at how scale can affect the level of questions you need to ask, from the specific to the general as you zoom out. Now we’ll think about some questions you can ask about the physical world the story takes place in.

Remember to ask ‘why?’ when you come up with the answer to a question. Doing so helps flesh out the world even more, and can lead to insights that you might have otherwise glossed over.

The Planet
The world your story inhabits has certain physical attributes which it’s good to keep in your mind while you’re writing your story. When we think about the world on every scale, it’s good to start at the largest level and then zoom in onto details as things start to take shape. Let’s think of the planet itself, and see what variables we have control over.

Where is the planet?
How large is it? 
Earth-sized? Larger? Smaller?
Is gravity noticeably different?
What constellations are visible? Do they have names? 
How many moons, if any, does the planet have?
Is it on a regular orbit?
Irregular?
How large is the sun in the sky?
What color is it?
What color is the sky, both overhead and by the horizon?
Do the inhabitants have an understanding of astrology enough to predict eclipses and other astronomic phenomena?
How long are the days?
Are they longer? Shorter? Extremely long? Extremely short?
What about the years?
How long are the seasons? 
What seasons are there? Wet and dry? The Earth’s standard four? 
Something else?
Are the seasons regular or erratic?
What’s known of the weather’s history?
Are the weather patterns similar to an Earth-like planet?
Milder? More extreme?
How much of the planet is covered in water?
What color is the soil on the planet?
The vegetation?

Continents
If the action of your story takes place on only the one continent, then you don’t need to have considered the surrounding world in great detail. It’s a good idea to quickly sketch out the rest of the world in your thoughts and notes, though. Other lands are a great source of exotic animals, plants, people, treasures and quests, so it doesn’t hurt to have ideas on the periphery of your story. Remember also that our world wasn’t comprehensively mapped until relatively recently. Patchy and conflicting accounts of far-off lands have been commonplace through all of human history.

What continent is the bulk of your story going to take place on?
What does it look like?
What might it have looked like fifty million years before that? 
Where did the continent come from? 
Did a continental shelf separate from another and float away? 
Did two shelves push up against each other? 
Is the continent rising, sinking, tilting?
Is the continent old or new, geologically speaking?
Is it scarred with mountain ranges?
Split open by rivers?
Is it mountainous? Hilly? Flat? Swampy?
Where is it on your planet?
Near the equator? 
Near a pole?
What sort of winds blow across it?
Is it special or unique in some way?
What sort of weather does it get? 
Around the coasts?
Inland?

Mountains and Mountain Ranges
Mountains feature in many stories for good reasons. They are inherently dramatic, looming over the landscapes below them. They present a natural obstacle to characters. They are often dangerous, barren and inhospitable. They hold strategic value for military operations, providing natural barriers to invasion. Mountains are commonly mined, with tunnels and paths threading through them. They form a source of great mineral wealth to whoever lives on or inside them. Those who live on mountains are by nature usually tough, hardy folk, suited to the harsh, unforgiving environment.

Are there mountains, or whole mountain ranges, in your story?
Do they form natural borders?
How high are the mountains?
Are they barren?
Forested?
Covered in scrub?
Are the mountains peaked in snow?
Are they covered in it?
Are the mountains scarred? 
Has there been a rockfall?
Is the mountain volcanic?
What is the weather like?
Is it cold, dark, wet?
Snowy?
Foggy?
Dry, harsh, sun-beaten?
Are they climbable in a day? A week?
Have they ever been climbed?
Are there ways through the mountains?
Ways around?
Are the passes well-known, or hidden?
Who controls the routes of travel?
Do people live in or on them?
What about animals, exotic or mundane?
Are there dangers not found on ‘normal’ mountains?

Deserts
Deserts, whether large or small, form unique environments for your story. Defined by their barrenness, travel through a desert makes harsh demands on the toughness of the travelers. The unprepared suffer and die quickly.

How large are the deserts?
How long does it take to travel across it?
Do people travel across it mounted? On what?
On foot?
Are there caravans crossing it?
What borders the desert?
Does it meet a coast somewhere?
Is it bordered by mountains?
Why would people journey across it?
Is it a trade route? 
Do armies pass over it? 
Is it a natural political border?
Have people lived in it, or on its’ periphery?
Do they do so now? Have they all died? Gone?
Are there hints of old civilizations?
Do old cities still flourish?
How often do travelers cross?
Are there oases scattered through the desert?
Or is it entirely empty?
Are there arable sections?
Are there rivers filtering through the desert?
Is it endless sand?
Are there rocks and cliffs dotting the landscape?
Is the desert mapped?
How fast do the dunes shift?
What color is the sand?
What sort of animals survive in the desert?
What sort of plants?
Are there scrubs, cacti, palm and date trees?
Are there rare and valuable things in the desert?
What natural hazards are there?
Are there sandstorms?
Shifting, treacherous sands?
What’s the desert like at night? 
How cold does it get?
How hot does it get during the day?

Forests
Forests can be found all over most worlds, and have as much character and uniqueness as can be imagined. Even if we limit ourselves to the mundane forests of Earth, there are still staggering complexities in the forest systems that we have here. Whether dark and mysterious, light-filled and bountiful, tropical or temperate, forests can cast deep shadows into your stories. It’s no wonder most of us feel some affinity towards forests – for generations, forests have provided food, safety and shelter. Take the time to craft the forests in your stories well, and readers will want to walk through them with your characters.

What sort of forests are they?
Tropical?
Temperate?
Jungle?
How high is the canopy?
Can the sky be seen from the ground?
What color is the light filtering down?
What about the undergrowth?
Is it thick underfoot?
How hard is it to walk through the forest?
Are there paths?
What blocks the way? 
Vines? Ferns? Creepers? Spider-webs?
What is the ground of the forest like?
Are the roots of the trees exposed, tangled, grasping, seeking?
How close are the trees?
Are they dense?
Sparse?
What’s the air like?
Is it warm?
Sticky?
Crisp?
Cold?
What scents come on it?
What noises are heard during the day?
At sunrise and sunset?
At night?
Are there animal tracks?
Do breezes stir the forest?
What is it like in the middle of a storm?
In winter?
In summer?
Is the forest scarred? 
When did fire last sweep the forest?
What’s its’ history? 
Have there been battles there?
Remnants of old settlements?
Ruins?
What lives in the forests?
Who works in the forest?
Does the forest have a heart?
How old is the oldest tree?
What’s the forest like at the edges?
What face does it present the world?
What myths are there about the forest?
What’s its’ name?
Who named it that?
What are it’s dangers?
What’s its allure?
Can it be traveled through?
Safely?
Who can guide travelers through it?

Rivers
Rivers are life. They mark borders, have strategic value, encourage trade, provide water for living and agriculture. They can be wild or tamed, wholesome or dark and menacing. They can feed into swamps and mangroves or take a journeyer out to the ocean. They attract people to them, and towns and cities spring up around rivers.

Has the water any special qualities?
Is it clear?
Sluggish?
Corrosive?
Enervating?
Polluted?
What could you find floating in it?
What gets emptied into it?
Could you drink from it?
What’s the bottom of the river like?
Sandy?
Rocky?
Murky?
Sludgy?
Is it fast-running, or slow?
Does it change with the seasons?
What borders the river?
Are the banks steep, or shallow?
What grows on them?
Where does the river start?
Where does it end?
Does it branch split, or is it one body?
Who controls travel on the river?
Who makes their living on it?
Who draws water from it?
Is it depleted?

Coasts
It’s not by accident that most civilizations have their origins by coasts. Access to the oceans provides a bountiful source of food and opportunities for trade. Moving goods by sea is easier and swifter than across land, and trade across continents can be both perilous and profitable. Coasts are the first line of defense against sea-borne invasion and are the gateway for travel throughout the world. Many universally-acknowledged cool thingsare specific to the ocean – adventures with pirates, sea-monsters, ships, naval engagements, buried treasure can all start in a coastal town. Coasts are portals between land and ocean, and putting thought into your coasts lets readers step through comfortably into your world.

What coast are you thinking of?
How long does it stretch?
Is it well-plotted?
Is it steeply curving to the sea?
Is it lined with mountains?
Cliffs?
Rocky beaches?
Sandy beaches?
Mangroves?
Swamps?
Are there islands off the coast?
Where do rivers meet the ocean?
Who lives on the coast?
What do they do?
How long have they been there?
What boats can be found along the coast?
Where do they anchor?
What are the dangers on the coast?
What do storms wash up onto the beaches?
How strong are the tides?
Are there sheltered bays?
How high are the swells?
Are the currents regular or treacherous?
Are there reefs?
Coral?
Shifting sandbars?
What’s the coast like in the middle of winter?
In summer?

Oceans
The seas of your world can act as gateways to other lands, or contain the bulk of your story on their expanses. The physical attributes of an ocean may not vary much from what can be found on Earth. Water will behave like water in most places, unless you decide otherwise. But even presuming the ocean itself acts predictably, and you get wet when you fall in, there is great scope for variety. Dive in!

How large are the oceans?
What rivers feed them?
Have they been mapped?
Do they define the edges of the world?
Is the water salty or pure?
What continents do they separate?
How long does it take to sail across them?
Can ships travel straight across, or must they take certain routes?
What winds blow across it?
How strong are they?
Are they predictable, or wild?
Where are the storms fiercest?
Are the channels and swells near the coasts well mapped?
Is that knowledge jealously guarded, or commonly known?
Is travel safe?
Are there pirates?
Is the ocean filled with ships and armadas?
Or is it abandoned to nature?
Who lays claim to owning the seas?
Is their claim undisputed?
What might be found floating in the ocean?
What fish can be caught?
What lurks in its depths?
Does anything interesting live in the ocean?
Live on it?
How far down have people explored?
Where would a ship become becalmed?
Have any famous battles been fought on the ocean?

Summary
I hope that you’ve found some inspiration in this part of the series. If you can think of a question I’ve missed, something vital I should add, or have any feedback at all, I’d love to hear from you. Head over to the contact page and get in touch!

Creating Worlds series:
Part 1: Overview and Uniqueness
Part 2: A Sense of Scale