This is the ninth post in my ABCs of Writing series: Post I
I’m a fantasy writer, but before I was a writer, I was always a reader. I guzzled down fantasy and sci fi novels like a kid who has been introduced to pop for the first time. I can’t begin to tally up the hours I’ve spent filling my brain with stories of other worlds. For me, reading has always been not just an escape from where I’m currently at, but also an escape to somewhere, somewhere amazing, somewhere otherworldly and unique.
I suppose that’s why, as a writer, I enjoy the act of worldbuilding. Nearly every story I’ve written starts not with a character or an event, but with a setting. Sometimes these worlds come to me fully formed, with all of their intricacies. Sometimes, I start with a small idea and build it out into a massive universe. Often my small idea begins with musings about the real world and wondering what life would be like if the world were somehow different. That’s where my WIP fantasy trilogy started: What would life be like if the world turned to stone?
Nearly every story I’ve written starts not with a character or an event, but with a setting.
I use many different methods to embark on my worldbuilding journey once I have that spark of an idea. Check out this post for some specific software and other tools I use. However, for this post, I want to focus on a literary tool rather than a literal one. I want to talk about the role of language itself in worldbuilding, specifically idioms.
Before I go further, I want to give credit where credit is due. I listened to an awesome Writing Excuses podcast four years ago in which the hosts chatted about how to worldbuild an a precise and immersive way. That podcast gave me so much inspiration for my writing and for the advice in this post. I tried to go back and find the name of that specific episode but couldn’t find it. Instead, I’ll just link out to their collection of worldbuilding episodes. It’s a goldmine of helpful ideas!
So, language and idioms. I’ve thought a lot about idioms ever since I started writing my trilogy a decade ago, although I always found them to be a curious thing. I took French in high school, and we talked about some French idioms don’t readily translate into English. One idiom that I particularly remember is “se faire poser un lapin” or “to be given a rabbit.” This idiom doesn’t mean that someone has been gifted a fluffy friend but that they have been stood up. Similarly, phrases in (American) English like, “plead the fifth” or “something’s going down,” don’t translate well into other languages.
As these examples show, idioms are closely tied to culture. American’s understand “plead the fifth” because of their familiarity with the constitution, but people from other countries might not be as familiar with that expression and its basis in the American constitution system.
Idioms are the perfect way to reveal your world’s culture in an authentic way. They’re a built-in worldbuilding mechanism.
As a writer, bells should be going off for you. Idioms are the perfect way to reveal your world’s culture in an authentic way. They’re a built-in worldbuilding mechanism. Creating idioms based in your fictional world can highlight circumstances or things that are commonplace for your world. You can even take an idiom familiar to you and tweak it to fit your world. For example, instead of, “It’s not rocket science,” your characters could say, “It’s not alchemy.” A basic example, but you get what I mean.
My experience with idioms is not only related to the way they can be helpful, but how they also require precision. As I mentioned earlier, my fantasy trilogy takes place in a world that was turned to stone. While revising the second book, I noticed that one of my characters said, “The grass is always greener.” In my world, most of the characters have never seen grass and many don’t even know what it is. I considered cutting the dialogue or changing the idiom. Instead, I decided to keep it but add a qualifying sentence: ” ‘The grass is always greener,’ he said. He didn’t understand the saying, but his father had said it when he complained or wished he was somewhere else.’ This isn’t a stunning example, but I did enjoy the chance to use an idiom that helped me reveal more about my world: that the memories of the time before the world turned to stone have still managed to stick around.
Idiom-hunting can be rather tricky. I usually only catch these them during revision rather than drafting. They’re just too baked into my vocabulary. But when I do find them, it’s always fun to correct them, and I think it makes my worldbuilding far richer. I don’t have a tried and true method for catching these idioms, other than revising carefully and skeptically, especially when I’m reviewing my characters’ dialogue.
I discovered that when I start looking for idioms, other words that are inauthentic in my world rise to the surface, synonyms, metaphors, and even verbs. For example, I decided to use handspan, pace, and league as units of measurement in my world. During revisions, I noticed that I used the verb, inched. I realized that in a world where people measure things with handspans, inches and inching don’t really make sense. Inching was out; creeping was in.
I discovered that when I start looking for idioms, other words that are inauthentic in my world rise to the surface, synonyms, metaphors, and even verbs.
Precision idiom use isn’t just useful for stories in made-up worlds. Even if you’re writing a story set in today’s world, you can use idioms thoughtfully to enhance your worldbuilding. (Yes, you should still worldbuild even if you aren’t creating the world from scratch; your readers still need to understand the specifics of the world your characters are walking around in.) Idioms aren’t just created by countries or large people groups. They often are born in family or friend groups. In my family, we like to say that “It’s shiny outside” on beautiful sunny days. My brother, now twenty-seven, was four years old when he first made up that expression, and it’s stuck ever since.
So, here’s my advice, if you want to take it: Study your story and see if you can spot idioms and improve them to enhance your world-building. It’s a tricky but rewarding exercise. That’s all I’ve got for now. Until next time, enjoy your writing and wordsmithing!
THE QUILL & THE INKPOT 