Archive for the ‘World-Building’

Updated Trailer and a New Map

September 28, 2012 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building

Updated 9/30/12

Hey Folks.

I know I’ve been absent for several months, but as I work on finishing up the first book, I wanted to stop in and show the newly updated trailer. It’s not much different than the last one (major changes are coming in the future though). However, this version has a little better audio and the actual map of Zylaria, rather than an abandoned city borrowed from Google Earth.

I’m also including an atlas-style map of Zylaria below the new trailer. Enjoy!

Click to Enlarge

The Zenita Calendar – Hours, Days, Months of the Year

February 26, 2012 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building

Click to Enlarge

I’m trying to solidify the hours of the day, the days of the week, and the months of the year for the Zenita World. I’d like to get people’s opinions on what they like and don’t like. So I was hoping you could post comments on here and let me know what you think. A lot of them are meant to be descriptive of that particular time.

If you don’t like something, please offer an alternative, if you can think of one.

Here are the months. Note that there are 10 months, not 12 (30 days to every month):

Winter’s Grip (1st Month)
Last Snow (2nd Month)
First Sow/First Seeds/First Planting (Tell me your favorite) (3rd Month)
Life’s Blessing (4th Month)
Mid Year (5th Month)
Great Sun (6th Month)
Full Harvest (7th Month)
High Gathering (8th Month)
First Freeze (9th Month)
Winter’s Dawn (10th Month)

Here are the hours of the day. Common folk break the day up into 10 divisions, sort of similar to the Liturgy of the Hours in the Middle Ages. There are 30 hours in a day (NOT 24), hence 10 divisions. Note that there are 15 hours to a night and day (on average) as opposed to our 12. Just subtract 3 from any of these times to compare them to Earth and ignore the 3 o’clock times.
Also, do you like the time as two words or one?

High Night/Highnight (3 am)
Last Dark/Lastdark (6 am)
First Light/Firstlight (9 am)
Low Day/Lowday or Low Sun/Lowsun (12 am)
Mid Day/Midday (15 noon)
High Day/Highday or High Sun/Highsun (3 pm)
Last Light/Lastlight (6pm)
First Dark/Firstdark (9 pm)
Low Night/Lownight or Low Moon/Lowmoon (12 pm)
Mid Night/Midnight (15 midnight)

Lastly are the days of the week, which as of now I’m using important historical and religious figures. In my world there are 10 days in a week as opposed to our 7. So here they are 1-10:

Zeniton’s Day
Mara’s Day
Brigg’s Day
Luna’s Day
Grumm’s Day
Isla’s Day
Amadon’s Day
Vadra’s Day
Kai’s Day

Another alternative is to use the 10 luminaries (the Sun, the 3 Moons, and the 6 planets visible to the naked eye).
The names of the 3 Moons are:
– Mephador (green colored moon, also known as the Life Moon or Kindra. It is the symbol of life, earth, or birth);
– Zeladon (red colored moon, also known as the Blood Moon, Sigor, or Kravin. It is the symbol of blood, or death);
– Mephon (blue colored moon, also known as the Spirit Moon or Nesric. It is the symbol of rebirth).

I have not officially named the other 6 visible planets yet, but, like in traditional East Asian Philosophy, where the 5 planets in our sky are named after the 5 elements (Fire being Mars, Water being Mercury, Wood being Jupiter, Metal being Venus, and Earth being Saturn), I thought of doing the same, except using 6 elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Sky/Air, Wood, and Metal.

So what do you think. Stick with what I have, go with the luminaries, or perhaps something else? I’d love to hear any suggestions that you might have.

World-Building in Fiction: A Guide

May 23, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building

World building is not an exact science. There are countless ways to go about doing it, largely because there is some level of world-building in all fiction. World-Building in Fiction: A Guide is meant to help you build a world through several different approaches. You may use one of these methods or any combination of them. (more…)

Map-Making: A Guide

May 09, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building

Created With Photoshop by Christopher D Eldridge & Robert Altbauer

Map of My World – CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE

 

I. Why Create A Map?

Until you put your world on paper or on file, it is no more than a figment of your imagination, no matter how well-realized that figment may be. Creating a map of your world is one of the first steps you should take in world-building. In fact, I believe it is a must. Not only then does your world become tangible, and perhaps something you can show off to others, but it also becomes part of a chain reaction in which your map and story feed off of one another. (more…)

World-Building (Map-Making Part 2)

March 07, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Description & Setting, Technology, World-Building, Writing Craft

The Various Stages of My World – CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES

Now that you’ve decided to create a map for you stories and your world, let me give you some insight in how to go about doing this. While I plan to cover a number of topics on world-building and how it relates to map-making in my series, let me first point you to a vast repertoire of knowledge.

(more…)

World-Building (Map-Making Part 1)

February 28, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: Description & Setting, Technology, World-Building, Writing Craft

The Various Stages of My World – CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES

Until you put your world on paper or on file, it is no more than a figment of your imagination, no matter how well-realized that figment may be. Creating a map of your world is one of the first steps you should take in world-building. In fact, I believe it is a must. Not only then does your world become tangible, and perhaps something you can show off to others, but it also becomes part of a chain reaction in which your map and story feed off of one another.

(more…)

World-Building (Astronomical Processes)

February 21, 2011 By: Christopher D. Eldridge Category: World-Building, Writing Craft

My World From Space

Today I’m going to start a series of posts on world-building. They will by no means be exhaustive, and while some of the material may be advanced and never actually be seen on the page, that is to say in the story itself, the purpose is to develop the most fully realized world possible. After all, the vast majority of world-building is never spoken of in a novel, but exists in the mind of the creator.

(more…)

  • To Main Website

  • Contact

  • Visitors

  • My Story as a Visual Representation

  • My World