World-building for Tone

One of my favorite activities concerning writing is world-building. As a fantasy writer, it's generally one of the largest parts of my process, aside from, you know...actually writing. This assumes it's a brand new world, and it's a quick-and-dirty process, instead of a time-consuming, let's build something from scratch process.

I'm a big fan of world-building for tone, meaning that I have a particular tone in mind for my work, and I like my world-building to reflect that. In this post, I'm going to run through a sample tonal world-building venture as I would generally do it, but slightly abbreviated. There will be no maps, because those take more time than I have.

So! Let's start with a certain tone. I feel like building something pretty cynical, so let's do that.

First, the tech level. I'm feeling a little medievaled-out, so let's go World War I, but a little heavier on the aesthetics and with a little more oomph. Exaggeration isn't a bad thing, so let's kick everything up a notch.

The basics of my process when I create a world in a very short amount of time:

1. Base Country/Culture: While I don't normally recommend it, for this type of project we'll choose a base country. I'm choosing Russia, partially because randomized Wikipedia led me to Slavs, and partially because it makes it easy to be cynical. I'll use a random name generator for the country's name, which gives me Ponosivka. Sounds suitably Russian to my ears, let's continue.

2. Era/Technology Level: I'm a little tired of medieval era stuff, so let's set this world during an equivalent technological period as our own World War I. Let's say their date is Year 1900, for simplicity's sake. Bolt-action rifles, cannons are getting bigger, and mechanized warfare is a glimmer on the horizon. Because we're exaggerating a little bit, let's make everything bigger. Big artillery batteries assault positions, there is some sort of mechanical assault vehicle that runs on whichever fuel you choose, and due to bullets piercing metal armor, everyone wears greatcoats to keep out the cold.

3. Religion: In a normal setting I wouldn't have everyone in the country follow the same religion, but it's easy enough to claim it's the state belief. Let's stay away from theist religions, simply because it's the norm. How about ancestor worship? Let's go with that.

4. Government: What fits cynical, war-time, ancestor worship Russia? Let's go with an absolute theocratic diarchy, which is like a monarchy but with two people. We'll have the Czar and the High Genealogist, the leader of secular matters and the leader of spiritual matters.

5. Culture: It's cold. It's cynical. It's religious, specifically concerning ancestors. Coming from these, the clothing would probably be heavy wool or similar, something to keep the cold out. The peoples would probably be overworked but able to enjoy relaxing after their toil by drowning their sorrows. They would put great weight on death-dates (deathdays?) because that is when you join your ancestors in whatever afterlife.

Generally those are the basics of what I create when I need something quick. From there I can work out the more intricate details, like military, and the finer points of government. The problem with this method is that it normally creates a one-dimensional imitation of a real-life culture, which might alienate some people. It can give you a good base, though, and you can build off that.