{"id":15591,"date":"2025-05-06T08:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/?p=15591"},"modified":"2025-05-05T18:16:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T08:16:36","slug":"immerse-yourself-in-the-little-differences-worldbuilding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/immerse-yourself-in-the-little-differences-worldbuilding\/","title":{"rendered":"Immerse Yourself in the Little Differences! #worldbuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wow, what a wonderful review of my upcoming release When Dark Waters Burn<\/em><\/a> in this month’s The Tawny Frogmouth<\/em><\/a> magazine! The full review is over here<\/a> (on p44), but here’s how it begins:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When Dark Waters Burn<\/em>… cements Shapter\u2019s reputation as a master of immersive worlds.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funnily enough, I love creating immersive worlds! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually start by (i) posing a \u2018what if\u2019 question about our world today, then (ii) imagining what kind of place would make that question central to everybody\u2019s<\/em> lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014> For example, (i) what if<\/em> scientists discovered that when we die the electrical energy in our brains converts into another form of energy? (ii) A place that might make that central to everybody\u2019s<\/em> lives would be a country living exclusively by a scientific life-after-death theology, such as in my book Towards White<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u2014> Or (i) what if<\/em> property was so expensive that people struggled to find a place to live? (ii) A place that might make that central to everybody\u2019s<\/em> lives would be a world covered in carnivorous tree swamps, making habitable land incredibly scarce. Such as in my Palude books, starting with When Dark Roots Hunt<\/a><\/em>, and now with When Dark Waters Burn<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Out on 1 June:<\/p>\n\n\n

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This process of asking and imagining usually then leads me to envisage the types of people who might thrive in such a place and who might struggle, which introduces me to my main characters \u2013 what their personal journeys might be, what their goals and dreams might be, even how they might fall in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the worldbuilding really starts! How are my characters\u2019 daily lives even possible in this new world \u2013 how does their access to the basic physiological necessities differ from our contemporary world, what about their ability to work, wash, sleep and eat? Who has power over whom and why? What kinds of technology and medicine would be present? How would people travel around and pay for things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently had to ask similar questions of myself. I used to travel a lot, before having children who thrived on the routines of weekday school and weekend sport. Now that they\u2019re older, I can venture overseas again and have been reminded that worldbuilding isn\u2019t just a skill for the writer, it\u2019s also a skill for the traveller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, I wrongly assumed that everywhere these days would readily accept payment by card. Well, yes, during my recent visits to the UK, France, Greece and Singapore, I could use bank cards as easily as in Australia, even when travelling on the metro or by bus. No additional card fees either.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Time to shop in Paris!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Heading into the Singapore metro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But then in Italy, I was suddenly faced with a motorway toll booth that only accepted cash!<\/p>\n\n\n

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No ATMs around here, Italy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And while bank cards were fine on the Dubai metro…<\/p>\n\n\n

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Leaving the Dubai metro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

…in the city’s souks many shops were cash only, or shared a card machine with a shop around the corner, which charged a fee to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Shop anywhere, but actually pay at a shop all the way down the other end!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In Cambodia and Thailand, while cards were welcome in some hotels and restaurants, it was not welcomed by markets, guides, taxis, tuktuks, activities and street stalls, which all wanted cash. I was back to using the ATMs and Currency Exchange shops I thought I\u2019d left behind in the early 2000s!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cambodian markets \u2013 cash only!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Of course it is these little differences that make the \u2018worldbuilding\u2019 of each country unique. Not just the complex interplay of language, culture, history, geography, societal norms and political systems \u2013 but the way we have to adapt to the practical intricacies of visiting somewhere different.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Learn how to navigate the Paris metro and get anywhere in or around the city with ease!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s the same for my characters, because not only do I create unique worlds for them to inhabit \u2013 worldbuilding all the intricate little details that might be different for them \u2013 but my characters often have to travel to somewhere new within their worlds as part of their personal journeys, and it\u2019s their ability to immerse themselves in and adapt to their new environment that charts their growing resilience and inner strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That and all the action, drama and romance my characters have to navigate! Which you could also<\/em> say is true of anyone adapting to the little differences between one place and another in the real world. After all, it\u2019s only once you have<\/em> worked out how to use and pay for the metro that you can catch a train to the next landmark, then navigate the action, drama and romance of what you find there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with my books<\/a>, an exciting adventure always awaits!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, what a wonderful review of my upcoming release When Dark Waters Burn in this month’s The Tawny Frogmouth magazine! The full review is over here (on p44), but here’s how it begins: “When Dark Waters Burn… cements Shapter\u2019s reputation as a master of immersive worlds.” Funnily enough, I love\u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"How worldbuilding isn\u2019t just a skill for the writer, it\u2019s also a skill for the traveller...","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[2662,2659,2656,2645,2664,2660,2658,2657,2646,2661,2663],"class_list":["post-15591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-news","category-writer-advice","tag-cambodia","tag-dubai","tag-france","tag-italy","tag-markets","tag-metro","tag-motorway-toll","tag-paris","tag-singapore","tag-souk","tag-thailand"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Cambodia-markets-Zena-Shapter.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15591"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15767,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15591\/revisions\/15767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}