Imagine All The Groups And How They Live

Part of storytelling is knowing more than your reader. My professor emphasized that we need to know so much of the story that what a reader gets is an iceberg above water, and everything below is what the writer needs to know.

So when I really started to expand this world and get curious, I thought about what the different groups (angels, merpeople, vampires, and demons) did on normal days. What were their societies like? What kind of jobs did they have? What did they eat? What kind of illnesses could they get?

When you're a writer, you have to ask questions and you have to spend time answering them. It won't read well if what you write is poorly thought out. Editing can smooth out those bumps, but getting it right the first time means knowing what the rules are in the beginning.

So here is a taste of the world-building that I did.

"Illnesses, Diseases, and Other Maladies on the Island"

Demons

Fungal Cough

Chills

Petrification

Vampires

Biter Fever

Merpeople

Flounder Fin

Tail Twistivitis

Cavern Fever

Angels

Speckled Wing

Flew

Cirrus Brain

Windy Cough

Not all of these made an appearance in the book, but it was handy to know that these were things that characters could 'come down with' and that they would add more to the story. It's like looking at a menu and instead of saying "What am I going to have today", you're thinking (almost wickedly) "What can I give to these characters to make their lives harder and/or more interesting."

I don't like being wicked, but if every story stayed in a happy medium then we wouldn't read stories. Check out Kurt Vonnegut's video if you don't believe me. We live for stories that jump across the board.