Today's little rambling, not very well planned lecturing lesson thingie will be on making a world seem real to both writer and reader. WARNING: This jumps about fairly incoherently, and covers a lot of subjects that will be flushed out later. Hey, what can I do? This is a tough subject.

Making a world real is a vital part of writing. A real world gives your characters the perfect place to stand on while they do the things that they need to do. A real world gives you that sense of immediacy that makes a book fun to read.

It is also what makes it seem as though you are truly somewhere else, somewhere where anything can happen.

The first step, when writing, is to make use of descriptions. Get the mental image that you want in your head. Capture it. Then wield it and put it to paper. Submersing yourself in your world in this way not only helps your world seem more real to readers, it makes it seem more real to you.

This is especially important if you are in a noisy environment, or a place that is less suited to writing. The more focused you are on the details of the world you are creating, the more focused you will be on your writing. With this focus, you will be more likely to ignore the things going on around you and write. (This is what Yoda hits after, ya'll. Mind over body, Mind over environment.)

Now, we need to back up a little bit. How do you get that immediacy with your work? How can you create that world, that scene, in your head so it is more real to you? What can you do when a character demands to do something, but doesn't tell you where he wants to do it at clearly?

You work on World Building. This is something that is a curse or a gift for many. Some people can build worlds to their hearts content and know every little detail. (And never write their novel as they are too busy working on worlds.)

Then, there are others who never start world building (And write their novels but lack immediacy, or the rare individual who makes it all 'happen' despite the lack of planning. To those who pull out masterpieces first try, you suck! Ok, not really, but I fall in the have to plan category, so please forgive my odd humor.)

This is for those who either never do world building, or get caught somewhere in between. For those who already know their trade routes, their flora and fauna, I only have one question. What are you doing here reading this? Go write your novel already, and stop building your bloomin' garage. The rest of the house is waitin' to be put together.

And I bet everyone who ever reads this just went "HUH? What does world building have to do with garages?"

This is quite simple. Writing a novel is like building a house. You need structure -- your 2 x 4s, house plans, etc. In a story, you need characters, plots, and subplots. Treat a novel as a house: you need everything in order to build a house that won't fall down in a stiff breeze. Your world building is your garage. It isn't your story, it isn't even necessary to build the house, but it sure is a great place to park your car and add a lot to the building. (The house building, that is.)

Your plot, your characters, your story -- this is not dependent on what you do with your garage. Your garage only helps to make the house look that much nicer. (After all, would you rather have a split level in shambles, or a mansion with four port garage? I'll take the four port, thanks.)

Now that is covered, there are a few questins that you need to ask while world building. Answer these, and you will be ready to write.

What type of Planet? (Earth like, other?)
Climate of Locations in Novel?
Kingdoms?
Magic?
New Animals?
New Plants?
Ecology?
Religion?
Trade?

This is your foundation for your garage. This will help you determine character behavior, and what they might find. This will help you know what sort of trinkets you will find in rooms. Afterall, a world without gold will not have any gold, now will it? What sort of metal would they use instead?

Will your characters live in plains and use horses as the primary mounts? Do they live up in the mountains? Is there a bit of everything? What do they see when they walk out of their back door?

Once you have a believable world, you can focus back onto the details. What is more interesting to you as a reader:

Alexxis steps into a forest. A rabid monkey frothed before him.

Alexxis crouched, staring deep into the forests around him. The air smelled of living things and decaying leaves, the breeze warm against his skin. The quiet, only broken by the ravaging rabid monkey raving several horse-lengths ahead...

Personally, I think it is also more entertaining to write. If need be, draw yourself a map so you can 'see' what is around you, from a bird's eye view. This sometimes helps.

Use your imagination. IMAGINE the scene. See your character. See what he sees. Know what he knows. Make full use of his knowledge, and his sense. This will add that garage that is the final touch to your house.

Remember: The foundation of your house is your characters and plot. Your upholstery is the descriptions. Your garage is the world and the world immediately around him. The upholstery and the garage are in the same class. Not required for your house to stand, but it makes it a lot more comfortable in the long run.

Think about it for a while.