# Writing an Encyclopedia for a Fantasy world



## Runa (Aug 21, 2010)

Well, I just realized that I could post here, but I'm in the process of writing a 5-volume encyclopedia for a world I'm creating so I can write a series of novels taking place in that world. 

As it stands, I have the following volumes covered: 

Biology (species of plant and animal)
History (precisely what it says, a full, detailed history of 1200 years, currently pointform)
Geography (locations, cities, geological formations) 
Characters (a list and breakdown of all the dozens upon dozens of characters) 
Sociology (Religions, beliefs, behaviours, arts and music) 

I'm wondering if there's anything that's missing, or if there's any considerations you guys would consider offering. 

Also, this can be used as a discussion for general world-building.


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## Waffles (Aug 21, 2010)

That's a very complete list. I can't think of ANYTHING else to add.
Also add how time works, actually, it's always annoying when I'm reading and they have some complicated, unexplained month system that makes me have to re-read things that had happened.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 21, 2010)

Sounds like an amusing project. 
Just a quick reminder, because it's a trap I see a lot of speculative fiction authors fall into: while your encyclopedia may be a handy reference, the grand majority of it more than likely doesn't need to be in the actual story.  Don't let the work you put into it make you forget that the story still needs to flow, and if that means leaving out vast chunks of information that you developed but that aren't strictly necessary to understanding the plot and the characters, so be it.  Grin, bear it, and keep it out.
Anyway, the only other thing you might have left out is astronomy.  Are there any moons, constellations, interesting objects, length of the day, length of the year, axial tilt (effect on the seasons), etc.  Not strictly necessary, but you seem to have about everything else.


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## Runa (Aug 21, 2010)

i currently have: 

Axial Tilt
Planetary core density 
Gravity in relation
total population by race
total surface area
total landmass
population density
The months (16 months) 
the times (how many seconds in an hour, how many hours per day, days per month...etc) 
Average life expectancy...etc.  

So no worries about that kind of setup.  

I know not all this information needs to be crammed in a book, I actually am doing it for my own reference more than anything else.  Nothing worse than writing a novel and having some sort of inconsistency.  that's just the pits. I'm just wondering if there's anything out there I failed to take into consideration.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 22, 2010)

That's good.  Just wanted to make sure.
I don't know.  Sounds like you've planned for everything.  If you forgot something important, I'm sure you'll run into it while writing and go mark it down.


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## Fenrari (Aug 22, 2010)

OP, your project sounds interesting. And actually the concept of building the world like you have is quite brilliant and I've never thought of it 

The volumes you've so far composed or are in the process of composing are quite encompassing and I believe they would cover all of the important aspects that are necessary for the completion of a story.


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## Runa (Aug 22, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback folks!  I'm admittedly just really, really obsessive about stuff, I make lists and descriptions becuase I get bored a lot...so I thought I might as well put my OCD to good use.  

the world is comign together, but it's really hard to make it all work while keeping various things such as a working economy and social interaction in mind.  I just hope I have the writing skill to match the world I'm creating.  I'd hate to do all this work just to have it fall by the wayside. Granted, I've also been prepping it for various other media such as webcomics, games, movies, and Television.  I'm also considering opening an RP in this world.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 22, 2010)

Runa said:


> Thanks for the feedback folks!  I'm admittedly just really, really obsessive about stuff, I make lists and descriptions becuase I get bored a lot...so I thought I might as well put my OCD to good use.
> 
> the world is comign together, but it's really hard to make it all work while keeping various things such as a working economy and social interaction in mind.  I just hope I have the writing skill to match the world I'm creating.  I'd hate to do all this work just to have it fall by the wayside. Granted, I've also been prepping it for various other media such as webcomics, games, movies, and Television.  I'm also considering opening an RP in this world.


 This project really interests me, since I had similar thoughts pop into my mind before, although I never put them on paper.

Which brings me three questions:
1. Are you working on this by logical layers?
2. Can I draw stuff for you?
3. And if 1 and 2 are answered positively, would you mind getting in contact with me and perhaps sharing some of the stuff you have done? O:


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## Runa (Aug 22, 2010)

FrancisBlack said:


> This project really interests me, since I had similar thoughts pop into my mind before, although I never put them on paper.
> 
> Which brings me three questions:
> 1. Are you working on this by logical layers?
> ...



I admit I'm not sure what you mean by "logical layers", and I DO already have an artist somewhat interested in the projject of helping me to create dozens of species of plant and animal, but I don't think she'll ever have time, so I am open to the help of others. 

WE'll see about showing the information...honestly I don\t want to give it away, I DO plan on making a series of books based on this world...


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## Stargazer Bleu (Aug 23, 2010)

A lot of people who write I think actually, make all this info or at least a good amount of it.

For the most part the general public never see or hear of it.
Unless a guide to the world is made of a series.
Like along the lines of The Dragon Lovers Guide to the World of Pern.


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## Runa (Aug 23, 2010)

Well that's no fun.


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## Atrak (Aug 24, 2010)

Stargazer Bleu said:


> A lot of people who write I think actually, make all this info or at least a good amount of it.
> 
> For the most part the general public never see or hear of it.
> Unless a guide to the world is made of a series.
> Like along the lines of The Dragon Lovers Guide to the World of Pern.



Ah, Pern. I loved that series when I was younger. But yeah, as Ren said, you'll likely feel the need to give large chunks of information from your reference books that will just clog up the storyline, so be sure to keep the flow nice and even.

Personally, it reminds me of Dungeons & Dragons, where you use the many reference books to create a world/story for your characters. I usually have trouble doing that because I feel the need to use _everything_. Hopefully I have learned to not do that, but I haven't felt the inspiration to write for quite a while now. Mostly this is because I feel that pretty much every story I think of is just a story of me. Perhaps in another world, perhaps in another time, perhaps even with another name and look, but still _me_. I feel that those types of stories are best left in my daydreams. I am considering a book, however, that is a non-fiction, which is something I wouldn't normally even consider writing. It's still in the concept phase, however.

But yeah, even the series that have reference books, like the aforementioned Dragonriders, as well as Harry Potter and other such stories, the reference books usually come after or in the middle of the books. I'm not sure if the author wrote them before and just waited to publish them, or if they didn't write the reference books until they had already formed a good idea of their world in their story, but I would advise you to do the same, if you ever publish or release them.

Anyway, live long, and prosper.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 24, 2010)

Runa said:


> I admit I'm not sure what you mean by "logical layers", and I DO already have an artist somewhat interested in the projject of helping me to create dozens of species of plant and animal, but I don't think she'll ever have time, so I am open to the help of others.
> 
> WE'll see about showing the information...honestly I don\t want to give it away, I DO plan on making a series of books based on this world...


 Send me her shit, look at mine, decide which is best.

Keep in mind I do everything for free and I experiment a lot and it usually turns out shit and I only work when I'm bored which can be quite a lot but not regularly. (Also I like your shit, which can be kinda motivating.)
I also prefer traditional over digital, but will do digital more often (less setup) and have trouble digitalizing trad.


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## buni (Aug 24, 2010)

Atrak said:


> Ah, Pern. I loved that series when I was younger. But yeah, as Ren said, you'll likely feel the need to give large chunks of information from your reference books that will just clog up the storyline, so be sure to keep the flow nice and even.



I can't emphasize this enough. It's great to have the information, but remember that the vast majority of it will never come into play for the story itself. All of it may have an impact, but very often the audience doesn't need to know _why_ things are the way they are, as long as the characters in the story understand what's going on.


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## Runa (Aug 25, 2010)

FrancisBlack said:


> Send me her shit, look at mine, decide which is best.
> 
> Keep in mind I do everything for free and I experiment a lot and it usually turns out shit and I only work when I'm bored which can be quite a lot but not regularly. (Also I like your shit, which can be kinda motivating.)
> I also prefer traditional over digital, but will do digital more often (less setup) and have trouble digitalizing trad.



Well, you have good stuff, but check out Satsukii  

Also, PM me or add me on AIM, my AIM name is runa216


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## Rayden (Aug 25, 2010)

Nice topic, got a friend trying to do the same thing.

Off the top of my head I would add politics to that list. 

Since it is fantasy is it going to be a high magic or a low magic setting?


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 26, 2010)

Runa said:


> Well, you have good stuff, but check out Satsukii
> 
> Also, PM me or add me on AIM, my AIM name is runa216


 Well yeah she wins.
But I haven't seen a decent background that wasn't photomanip in her gallery |3
I don't really draw anthros, fyi. Well not seriously, at least.


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## Runa (Aug 26, 2010)

Rayden said:


> Nice topic, got a friend trying to do the same thing.
> 
> Off the top of my head I would add politics to that list.
> 
> Since it is fantasy is it going to be a high magic or a low magic setting?



what is the difference between high magic and low magic?  There is magic, it is in many cases a simple replacement for technology, but it's there and it is important for various races.  PErhaps I should really whip some of this data out, since there's a lot involved.  

As for politics, I am going to include that in the volume about History, since we all know interspecies and international relationships are very much factors in history. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to have the felines and canines at one another's throats...sort of like a little tongue-in-cheek humor.  Not sure if it'll come across as cliche or funny.


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## Runa (Aug 26, 2010)

FrancisBlack said:


> Well yeah she wins.
> But I haven't seen a decent background that wasn't photomanip in her gallery |3
> I don't really draw anthros, fyi. Well not seriously, at least.



it's a shame you don't draw anthros, then, since 4/6 of the races are anthros.  You really should PM me


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 26, 2010)

Runa said:


> it's a shame you don't draw anthros, then, since 4/6 of the races are anthros.  You really should PM me


 
I added you on AIM :V

As I said, I'm trying to perfect my landscapes elements/texturing as well as general composition-balance. I dunno if I'm a bad artist for concentrating on that before giving anatomy a shot, but whatever.
Your encyclopedia isn't gonna contain pictures of cat people exclusively though, hm?


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## Rayden (Aug 27, 2010)

Runa said:


> what is the difference between high magic and low magic?



In a high magic setting, you usually see lots of magic items, spellcasters are common and even ordinary people might know a spell or two. Low magic is just the opposite, kinda like in the Conan novels.


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## Runa (Aug 27, 2010)

Rayden said:


> In a high magic setting, you usually see lots of magic items, spellcasters are common and even ordinary people might know a spell or two. Low magic is just the opposite, kinda like in the Conan novels.



Well, it's actually an interesting mix of both.  Magic is just a basic everyday thing, but it's REALLY hard do well.  Most can do very simple 'spells' like heating or cooling things, maybe making a shock to trick people or ignite a fire, but nothing special.  That said, there are no magic items or mysterious wizards or anything.  It's like your pectoral muscles, everyone is capable of flexing them individually, but not too many learn how to do it, and even fewer learn to do it well.


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## Murphy Z (Sep 4, 2010)

If you want broad encyclopedic topics, visit the Wikipedia page "Library of Congress Classification" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress_Classification). 

You can substitute the histories and races of your world and there's no major classification for magic.


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