The Nerd on Writing

I'm still inundated with writing my final projects for my last grad class this week, so I figured I'd take a moment (aka procrastinate) to talk about my favorite part of writing, instead of a normal week's Extra! Extra! It'll be a short-ish post, but here goes:

When it comes to writing, my favorite thing is world building. More than just creating something from nothing, I'm able to put the myriad of ideas swirling about inside my head into a great big crock pot, cook 'em to perfection, and then out comes a new world.

Right now, I'm writing one Sci-Fi story set on a space station orbiting the earth, a post-apocalyptic story about the education system, and have bits and pieces written down about a story set a bit into the future from where we are today, where someone invents super powers.

The best part is, I plan on them all taking place in the same world, eventually.

For me, world building is simple. I can answer the little questions that pop up and have no problem adapting bigger issues here and there. I struggle with conflict, however, which catches me up in the end -- Man vs. Environment only gets me so far.

My favorite novels are all around interestingly developed worlds, and they don't have to be excessive fantasy -- Orson Scott Card has several series that take place a bit in the future and still manage to feature a really interesting world slightly different from our own. Then again, I do enjoy my excessive fantasy -- Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion creates an entire world, its politics, and its own active pantheon.

I haven't yet gotten over the hurdles in my way to finish a story -- it's much easier to begin something than to slog through to the end, but I'm working on it (and, with my These Project coming up next semester, I'm pretty sure I'll be forced to finish something). I'll post here when I'm farther in with my works and maybe I'll talk a bit about the pieces themselves.

In the meantime, any aspiring writers out there? That's your favorite thing about writing? What do you think your best writing skills are? Or, you know, general tips for other writers?

Stop by tomorrow (or, more likely, Thursday) for this week's Hunting Game(s), I'll be posting my backlog/wishlist (just in time for the holidays, no less!)!