The Iceberg: Worldbuilding, Pt. 1

Lesson #3 | From Fantasies to Futures: Lessons from Speculative Fiction

Art by Mariam Chagelishvili

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Here’s the moment you’ve probably been waiting for! Now that your reading has acquainted you with speculative genres, you can now start building your own speculative story.

As writers, you’re probably already familiar with the concepts of character and plot. These general principles can be applied directly to speculative stories. After all, wizards and astronauts are still characters (just maybe they do cooler stuff than normal people).

So we are going to focus on what defines speculative fiction as opposed to other forms of fiction: worldbuilding. Note, worldbuilding is not the execution or style of words you choose when describing the setting to the audience. Worldbuilding is the practice of inventing a new setting and all the aspects and rules within it.

For example, Star Trek assumes human beings have invented space flight and made contact with other sentient, alien races. Lord of the Rings is heavily inspired by Medieval Europe, but it has imaginary species and superpowered, godlike individuals. The Exorcist takes place in a relatively normal United States… except demons are real, and they possess small children.

Good worldbuilding is often described using an iceberg metaphor: ten percent of an iceberg is visible above the water. A reader likely will only see ten percent of your worldbuilding in the story text (unless you are writing a history book for a fictional world). While the worldbuilding infuses and supports the entire story, the reading experience should focus on character and plot (the part that’s “above the surface”). The other ninety percent exists to support that story, affecting how your characters grew up, how they think and feel, the decisions they make, and the actions they do (the part that’s “underwater”).

Considering the sheer size of an iceberg, this is a big enough topic that we’ll devote two lessons to discussing aspects that can make your setting unique. This first lesson starts with the physical and natural parts of a setting (like stuff you remember from science class).

Today’s is a paid one. Our paid subscribers give us the means to pay our instructors and artists (and sometimes ourselves with what is left over). If you have the means, you can upgrade here

Geology, Weather

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One way to start is to start how the earth did: with the planet itself. The landscape and how the atmosphere interacts with it creates climate zones. From rich, wet jungles to toxic, dry wastelands, all characters are products of or have to adapt to their environment. It'll determine what houses they make, what clothes they wear, what they eat, how they move around, what time of day they can be outside. What is the climate like in your imaginary world? Let's look at two stories where the climate has an effect on characters’ actions:

• “River, Clap Your Hands” (2015) by Sheree Renée Thomas is a fantasy story about a woman, a river, and the magic that occurs between them.

  • The words in this story are very deliberately chosen to create metaphor. How does the language draw connections between the protagonist, the family, and the river?

  • The river’s magic has a dual nature, both nurturing and destructive floods. How does this affect or reflect the protagonist’s magic?

• “E. I.” (2022) by Kola Heyward-Rotimi is a climate science fiction story where the earth itself has been given voting power through intelligent technology systems.

  • In this story, technology is used to give the climate measurable political power. How do you feel about this usage? Did you find it scientifically believable?

  • The protagonist is on a quest to unearth the past. How do you feel about this goal?

Plants, Animals

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Eventually, life developed on Earth's climate soup, filling the world with plants and animals. Well, in speculative fiction there's no rule stating your plants and animals have to act like or even be regular plants and animals. Maybe your story contains new botanical medicines or talking animals. Oh, and fungi count, too. People write really weird stories about fungi. What sorts of plants and animals live in your world, and how do they interact? Let's look at two possible interpretations:

• “Bears Discover Fire” (1990) by Terry Bisson is a fantasy story that's exactly what the title says: bears begin to use fire like primitive humans.

  • The bears in this story can do a lot of new things. What events does the author use to convey their fantastical abilities?

  • The story uses the bears’ discovery to offer the human protagonist a new perspective. What connections did you draw between the humans and the bears?

• “Trees Can Have My Soul; in Return, Let Me Have My Grief” (2024) by Rukman Ragas is a science fiction story where a woman returns to her home planet to participate in her grandmother’s funeral.

  • The trees have unexplained abilities. What actions can they do to affect the people in the story?

  • The trees in this story are deeply tied to the protagonist's emotional state. Did they play a role in how you felt about the work?

Sapient Biology

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So first came plants, then animals, then… us, humans, people. But a great thing about speculative fiction is that your people don't have to be human. Many stories explore the lives and cultures of alien and supernatural species, some even imagining how they would interact with humans. What beings live in your story? Perhaps your aliens need more than two genders to procreate, or your werewolf is actually a were-chihuahua. Let's look at two examples that let us relate to some non-humans:

• “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time” (2021) by K. M. Szpara is an urban fantasy story about a newly-turned, transgender vampire dealing with changes in his body.

  • There is a strong sense of physicality in this story. How does the writing engage with the body to explain the characters’ fictional biology?

  • This story draws parallels between vampiric changes, gender changes, and relationship changes. How do you feel about these connections?

• “Bloodchild” (1984) by Octavia Butler is a body horror, science fiction story that explores a bargain between humans and an alien species to endure both species' reproductive survival.

  • The author creates a complicated relationship between the two species through their shared history. What actions have happened that brought the two together? To distance them?

  • The protagonist and his family have mixed feelings about their situation. How did you feel about it, and did your feelings evolve as you continued reading?

Space, Time, and Reality

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Of course, a speculative fiction story doesn't have to be on a planet at all. Many stories have changes in astronomy, taking place in different star systems or in celestial spaces with godlike beings. Maybe time itself works in a nonlinear fashion, or the story questions the very nature of reality. I mean, who knows what lies inside a black hole? Those are all possibilities you can play with, but it's a little hard for me to explain, so it's time for (you guessed it!) some reading examples: 

• “These Constellations Will Be Yours” (2017) by Elaine Cuyegkeng is a science fiction story that plays with the idea of space through sentient ships.

  • As a ship, the narrator perceives time and space differently than a human. How does the story convey the thoughts and actions of a nonhuman being?

  • The protagonist is capable of perceiving multiple futures. Does this affect how you perceive reality in the story?

• “Rabbit Test” (2023) by Samantha Mills is a science fiction story that weaves together feminist movements across timelines.

  • This story is told across multiple space-times. What techniques does the author use to maintain pacing and comprehension across the overarching story? 

  • The multiple timelines ask the reader to maintain a broad view over the course of the story. How do you feel about this technique as opposed to a single narrator?

Alright, that was a pretty substantial amount of reading for half a week, but I hope it has inspired you to start writing your own speculative story! 

If you are a paid subscriber, you can join us later this week where we will discuss social and cultural forms of worldbuilding to help deepen your characters and plot events. But for anyone and everyone, come back next week where we will have a free lesson on applying literary techniques to speculative fiction. 

Either way, let’s start writing! And don't forget to try out the exercises! 

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Reading List

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Examples Mentioned in Today’s Lesson:

• “River, Clap Your Hands” (2015) by Sheree Renée Thomas (content warning: stillbirth)

• “E. I.” (2022) by Kola Heyward-Rotimi

• “Bears Discover Fire” (1990) by Terry Bisson

• “Trees Can Have My Soul; in Return, Let Me Have My Grief” (2024) by Rukman Ragas 

• “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time” (2021) by K. M. Szpara (content warning: assault, sex)

• “Bloodchild” (1984) by Octavia Butler (content warning: slavery, reproductive body horror)

• “These Constellations Will Be Yours” (2017) by Elaine Cuyegkeng (content warning: slavery, body horror, violence)

• “Rabbit Test” (2023) by Samantha Mills (content warning: sexual assault, abuse, miscarriage, suicide)

Additional Reading:

• The Fifth Season (2015) by N. K. Jemisin (content warning: child abuse and death, sexual assault, slavery, violence, murder)

• What Moves the Dead (2022) by T. Kingfisher (content warning: gore)

• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (2020) by Grady Hendrix (content warning: child sexual abuse, rape, violence, suicide)

• This is How You Lose the Time War (2019) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (content warning: violence)

  

Exercises

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4. Time to start crafting a world! Pick 1-2 (or more) of your favorite worldbuilding aspects listed above, and start brainstorming. 

5. For each worldbuilding aspect you picked, write down 2-5 possible ways that your world could differ from the real world (1-2 sentences per way). Leave a comment with the ideas you’ve generated.

6. Extra Credit: Read through the comments that other people have left, and leave some positive feedback on their brainstorm ideas that you’ve found interesting or exciting.