On The S.I.D.E.

How To Create A Fantasy World (featuring Alternia)

So, seeing as I've been doing a lot of brainstorming for my newest original, Mari and the Witch (which I've spotlighted in this book already, along with two other older originals), I thought I'd walk you through my worldbuilding process, give you some insight on how the world of Alternia was created, and maybe give you some tips on how to build a fantasy world of your own. Side note: there will be spoilers for the details. You've been warned.

I wanna make a fantasy world, but I don't know who actually lives in it yet.

For me, the jumpstarter for any fantasy setting is figuring out the inhabitants first. Is this a world that just has humans who have magical powers? Is this a world with no humans? If there are species other than humans living in this world, who are they, exactly? What are their names? What are their powers? What do they do?

I usually like to draw from real-world legends and lore, as evident with The Rogue Goddess. I also decided that to avoid it getting way too confusing if you thought about it, there would just be five core species living in Alternia, and they'd be creatures who are fairly recognizable. Because of this, Alternia wound up having influence from Norse mythology, Irish legend, and Dante's The Divine Comedy, with a little bit of Greek mythology in there. And since one of the things I really love is taking mythical creatures who've been watered down into cutesy little things, take some heavy elements of their insanely dark origins, and weave those interpretations together until I come up with something new, I had a lot of fun with everyone.

Elves

Elves were the first species that I knew I wanted to include in this world, specifically because I always thought they were pretty damn awesome. The only real things that are set in stone about elves is that a) they have pointy ears, b) their lifespans are usually pretty long, and b) they're well-connected with nature, so there's a lot of room to expand. I decided that the natural magic of elves (i.e. the magic that they can perform without needing to use incantations) always has to deal with nature—there are elves who can control the water, elves who can control plants, elves who can communicate with animals, all that jazz. The prominent elf character in the story, Violet, can control electricity and lightning, which is an incredible power and I love it.

Elves are usually incredibly creative, which leads to their art and their tech being the best in Alternia. However, a good deal of elves are also extremely curious, which is probably the most evident in Violet herself. So basically, give an elf a project to do, but keep an eye on them to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.

Faeries

It was always a given that I would include faeries in this world—if only for yet another excuse to showcase my interpretation of Oberon, Titania, and Puck, and mostly Oberon if I'm being honest—but when it came to how exactly I would portray these fascinating and intriguing creatures, I ended up having to think a little. See, I've never been a fan of the usual interpretation of the fey, with the whole "Seelie Court's morally grey, Unseelie Court's evil" thing feeling less like a fact and more like just typecasting. But at the same time, it's honestly an insult to just do their kiddie versions... so I came up with something a little different.

In Alternia, the Seelie Court represents order, while the Unseelie Court represents chaos. The two courts warred for millennia before Queen Titania of the Seelie and King Oberon of the Unseelie married each other and linked them, and their union proved that what faeries as a whole represented was balance. And while it's true that they can't lie, and they are severely allergic to iron, a good deal of the negative press they have in our world stems from the period where they were at war with the humans... back when the worlds weren't separate, of course. Also, they are the only species with a truly indefinite lifespan.