No matter how you begin, pay attention as you write to the consequences of whatever newness you’ve introduced to the world of your story: How will life on Earth, or elsewhere, change because of this novel invention? What are the ripple effects this change might produce in other areas of life, including work, family, and romance? How might our desires, morals, and beliefs be remade? What about our own world does this new idea reveal or clarify?
As writer Karin Tidbeck once said: “World-building to me is taking the consequences of an idea. All my stories and worlds spring from the basic principle of being [completely committed] to the premise, following the consequences wherever they may lead without taking any easy or comfortable ways out.” By doing so we not only write better fictions—we also use the metaphors we’ve invented to make possible the imagining of new and perhaps better ways of living.
Venture Further: Identify an emotional burden your main character is carrying—an anger, a grief, a regret. Now imagine for them an altered world in which a new technology or alien intervention allows them another chance at navigating the moment that caused them this pain. What can be changed—and what cannot—for this character? {read}