katberry-writes

[katberry-writes]

WORLD BUILDING CHECKLIST

If you are writing a book/story that takes place in another world, I have provided for you the complete world building checklist to ensure that you know your world inside out.

Economy A. Currency B. Poverty rate/line

Government A. Crime & Legal System B. Foreign Relations C. Politics D. War

The Land A. Physical & Historical Features B. Climate C. Geography D. Natural Resources E. Population

Society & Culture A. Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation B. Architecture C. Calendar D. Daily Life. E. Diet F. Ethics & Values G. fashion & Dress H. History I. Dining Customs J. Education K. Language L. Gestures M. Manners N. Meeting & Greeting O. Religion & Philosophy P. Social organization

Magic A. Magicians B. Magic and science C. Magic & Technology D. Rules of Magic

Technology C. Technology D. Medicine D. Transportation & Communication you're welcome <3

Fell free to reblog and fill it out if you want. I am curious to see the worlds in my fellow writers heads.

Follow me @leisureflame for more posts like this!

[katberry-writes]

The Villain Checklist!

Creating a villain is a delicate art, much like crafting a masterpiece. To ensure your antagonist leaps off the page with depth, consider these essential elements for your villain checklist:

Motivation: Every great villain is driven by a potent motivation, one that fuels their actions and sets them on their dark path. Explore their backstory and unearth the core reason behind their villainy. Are they seeking power, revenge, redemption, or something more sinister?

Complexity: Gone are the days of one-dimensional villains twirling mustaches and cackling maniacally. Infuse your antagonist with layers of complexity and nuance. Perhaps they possess redeeming qualities or wrestle with inner conflicts that humanize their actions.

Flaws and Vulnerabilities: Despite their nefarious intentions, villains should be flawed beings with vulnerabilities. These weaknesses not only add depth to their character but also create opportunities for conflict and growth throughout your story.

Backstory: Delve into your villain's past to uncover formative experiences that shaped their present disposition. Trauma, betrayal, or societal pressures can all contribute to their descent into villainy, providing rich narrative fodder for exploration.

Goals and Ambitions: Just as heroes strive for noble objectives, villains pursue their own twisted goals with fervor and determination. Define what your antagonist hopes to achieve and the lengths they're willing to go to attain it, even if it means sacrificing everything in their path.

Antagonistic Traits: From cunning intellect to ruthless brutality, equip your villain with traits that make them a formidable adversary for your protagonist. Consider how their strengths and weaknesses complement each other, creating dynamic conflicts that propel your story forward.

Relationships and Alliances: Villains don't operate in isolation; they forge alliances, manipulate allies, and cultivate relationships to further their agendas. Develop the connections your antagonist shares with other characters, be they loyal minions or reluctant collaborators, to add depth to their character dynamics.

Moral Justification (from their perspective): While their actions may be abhorrent to society, villains often believe they're justified in their pursuits. Explore your antagonist's moral code and the twisted logic that rationalizes their behavior, offering readers insight into their twisted worldview.

Arc of Transformation: Just as protagonists undergo arcs of growth and change, villains should experience their own journey of transformation. Whether it's redemption, downfall, or something altogether unexpected, chart the evolution of your antagonist throughout the narrative.

Memorable Traits: Give your villain distinctive traits or quirks that leave a lasting impression on readers. Whether it's a chilling catchphrase, a distinctive appearance, or a haunting backstory, give your antagonist elements that linger in the minds of your audience long after they've closed the book.

[katberry-writes]

In writing, epithets ("the taller man"/"the blonde"/etc) are inherently dehumanizing, in that they remove a character's name and identity, and instead focus on this other quality.

Which can be an extremely effective device within narration!

They can work very well for characters whose names the narrator doesn't know yet (especially to differentiate between two or more). How specific the epithet is can signal to the reader how important the character is going to be later on, and whether they should dedicate bandwidth to remembering them for later ("the bearded man" is much less likely to show up again than "the man with the angel tattoo")

They can indicate when characters stop being as an individual and instead embody their Role, like a detective choosing to think of their lover simply as The Thief when arresting them, or a royal character being referred to as The Queen when she's acting on behalf of the state

They can reveal the narrator's biases by repeatedly drawing attention to a particular quality that singles them out in the narrator's mind

But these only work if the epithet used is how the narrator primarily identifies that character. Which is why it's so jarring to see a lot of common epithets in intimate moments-- because it conveys that the main character is primarily thinking of their lover/best friend/etc in terms of their height or age or hair color.

[katberry-writes]

How to show emotions

Part V

How to show grief

a vacant look

slack facial expressions

shaky hands

trembling lips

swallowing

struggling to breathe

tears rolling down their cheeks

How to show fondness

smiling with their mouth and their eyes

softening their features

cannot keep their eyes off of the object of their fondness

sometimes pouting the lips a bit

reaching out, wanting to touch them

How to show envy

narrowing their eyes

rolling their eyes

raising their eyebrows

grinding their teeth

tightening jaw

chin poking out

pouting their lips

forced smiling

crossing arms

shifting their gaze

clenching their fists

tensing their muscles

then becoming restless/fidgeting

swallowing hard

stiffening

holding their breath

blinking rapidly

exhaling sharply

How to show regret

scrubbing a hand over the face

sighing heavily

downturned mouth

slightly bending over

shoulders hanging low

hands falling to the sides

a pained expression

heavy eyes

staring down at their feet

Part I + Part II + Part III + Part IV

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[katberry-writes]

I love world building and honestly, I'm proud of how I've structured incubus/succubi society.

Depending on the lore you're using, these are demons that enter dreams and absorb a person's life force in order to survive, often having a sexual component to it.

How do you rectify this so that they can live in society?

Starting from the bottom up, if they're demons, they would be aligned with the Hells. In my writing, I like to try to avoid confirming/denying any sort of religion, so the hells or devils themselves take a more chaotic/violent nature. They survive through destruction.

Now, incubi/succubi have a lot of interactions with people, often entering dreams. They'd be exposed to more humanity than the other types of demons. It would make sense that they'd eventually begin to be affected by this.

So I have it that they rebelled, not wanting to continue having to kill to survive, nor take orders from higher devils. As punishment, they were ousted to only living in the mortal realm, and in order to maintain their reality shifting magic, they would need a constant supply of life force, meaning they'd have to kill at a higher rate to survive, or slowly starve to death without a source of magical energy.

Cool, we have the history down. But now what? Death is a strong force, something that envelopes almost all beings, definitely all mortal ones. It's opposite would be Life. Now, incubi and succubi can't create enough life to sustain themselves, after all they're stuck in a more mortal form now, within certain limits their body can contain.

The act of sex, or reproduction gives off a certain amount of energy, but to gain it, catharsis is needed. This means that a certain level of consent and pleasure is necessary. I use this to rectify any icky predicaments.

Another option that some, less sexually inclined, folks choose is therapy. The act of bringing someone to catharsis through working through their problems and helping them can work for some.

Okay we have history and modern existence. Their magic system is next. Like a battery, they have a certain amount of magic. A certain amount is needed to simply survive and hide any remaining demonic traits (often horns and a tail) and simply hold a stable form. Any excess can be used for food, this could be as simple as creating illusions, to transporting from place to place. The more complex, the more magic needed, the more energy that will need to be consumed in the long run.

So you have individuals who are happy to live by mortal standards who mainly focus on maintaining their forms/hiding. There are then others who prefer to bend their form to an idealized appearance for "dinner" or to get from place to place.

Their limit is they can only effect things directly around them or within touch. Often times their magic leaves a residue that will result in a heightened emotional state of mortals who interact. This emotional state is a heightened form of whatever they're feeling.

Now, reproduction is another hurdle. How do we rectify the idea of demonic, often sexual beings and reproduction. First, a person would have to be willing to take part in this sort of demonic joining. This means both parties would have to want this, again consent being a huge part of it.

Then what of the children? Given that they're on a mortal realm and more human than demonic, their children age and grow at similar rates to people. And until they're of age, their body's present human and magic is dormant. Then from the age of 18, they begin to learn their history and such.

Most who rebelled have gained a sense of humanity, meaning they're inclined to try and live as human as possible, including with raising children. However, given that they do not age or die the same way humans/mortals do, reproduction really isn't necessary for their survival. This all means the act of having/raising children isn't too common in their society.

The main incubi/succubi I write and have people interact with consist of the matriarch Lilyana, her husband Thomas, and siblings Kyllan, Charlan, and Damiana.

Thomas had once been a human, but over prolonged interaction with Lilyana, became corrupted and eventually ended up turning into an incubus as well.

There are other folks in their community, including Lily's closest friends Lucine and Navid.

To them, being called demon/demonic is a bit of an insult. After all, they worked hard for their freedom amongst humanity and the right to live as they please.

[katberry-writes]

pros of making your antagonist female: you can say "god forbid women do anything" when someone criticizes her