When All Else Fails

Writer's block is hell. Every writer enters that hell at some point or another during their life. At times I come across a block in world building. Nothing I write down is a good idea. I always return back to the beginning and work my way down the options. Again, it isn't what I want so I research more. The cycle continues, I give up and work on a new idea. One time I decided to use the white board I wrote on during my early days as a writer and suddenly the block was no longer there.

The freedom of writing on the board helps to break through. The board is a bigger space for my ideas. In some ways, it expands my mind to fit the space available for me to write on. No matter how much I erase and start over again, the wall is broken down sooner rather than later. I draw out diagrams and when I'm satisfied I copy it down on paper. Creating names and places are easy on the board. I even brought easel pads to write on because they have lines to keep my notes neat.

I resist the urge to write on the walls in my room because getting rid of my rambling may not be so easy. Plus I may be kicked out of the house if I ever did that. My dream is to have my wall covered with a white board so I can write on it as I world build. It would be a beautiful sight, and I can leave information on the wall until I'm ready to write it down and erase it.

My question to you, is there a method you use to break through a block of any kind?

World Building Questions

Steampunk Worldbuilding Questions
The steampunk book I'm writing is set in 1800’s America. I need to narrow down just how my version of this America is smooshed together to make it my own creation, but still believable. These are some of the questions I’m asking myself to really understand where this story is going and where it’s coming from:

1. What is the overall mood of the book: It is dystopian, utopian, politically charged or little pieces of each? We are at the tail end of a federal election right now in Canada, so I can’t help but think about politics no matter how hard I try not to. Do we, as a country, stick with the guy who is all about photo-ops, is a control freak and whose government was just found to be in contempt of Parliament; or do we switch to someone who is unknown but talks a good game? Do voters even make a difference? I would like to pursue a book in which the government is decided by one winning ticket in which the winner can decide who should be in charge of the country, sort of like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and his golden ticket. Hmm, that does sound like a good story.

2. The extent of alternate history. Is my world going to closely match the real world or will there be a lot of changes? Maybe there is only one change, but that change affected everything from then until now. The President of the day could have been assassinated and the vice had to take over, scrapping all the progress he made abolishing slavery. What would the United States be like if slavery still legally existed? Does the world even look the same? Maybe Canada overtook all of the Great Lakes in a war and the USA has poisoned most of their fresh water with industrialization. The USA is now dependant on their large, more dominant cousin to the North for fresh water. (Hey it could have happened)

3. What is the status of women and minorities? In a lot of historical books women are portrayed as the lesser sex, because at that time, women were not given the same liberties, they did not have the same opportunities in patriarchal societies. Minorities throughout history have had it bad. I am half Ojibway Indian so my ancestors were persecuted. In fiction, does this same oppression exist or is it more idealistic? In some ways I think making everything politically correct and ideal is an injustice to what minorities suffered. I am on the fence whether I want minorities to be in a position of equal status in my books or represent the injustices as they existed at that point in time so we don’t candy coat over what actually happened.

4. What are the social norms? I have found a fantastic book called Manners and morals of Victorian America. It’s fascinating! I love the social proprieties, not necessarily to follow them, but to be able to break those rules. If you are writing about Victorian America, the book is worth a look.




5. Technology. I every steampunk book, the extent of technology use must be determined. It might be magic, advanced technology for its time or some other unknown. Whatever the level of technology present in the book, the boundaries should be clearly defined. What is possible, what is impossible? I love the idea of strange inventions that actually work. The Victorians were famous for inventing crazy contraptions.

What questions do you ask yourself when world building?

Where Am I?

One of the worlds I'm building is based on what I like, the culture and economy built around the fiber trade. Think Silk Road. Caravans, bolts and bolts of fabric, glass making into beads, wedding dress as dowry, the culture of dressing for funerals, courtship based on purses... I've got to stop!

I've just finished an exercise focusing on the emotional quality of place, and realized that the landscape of the world is based on places that I know and love, places that (I think) I'd love to live in.

It started with being fascinated by the ecology of the prairie and how it's getting chewed into farmland. Then I added the challenge of the desert wondering how people could make deserts the culture of abundance, marveling at the architecture and the ecology. Oh, and tents are fabric, too. Right? Mountains mean lakes and lodges and spas and valleys to find missing cultures in.

When I write characters into the landscape, I write myself into it also. Right now, I'm feeling the sun on a sea of grass, the smell of the grass in the heat, the buzzing of insects, the movement of the grass as the wind blows over it, the movement of clouds over the dome of sky. It's the equivalent of a mini vacation some days, or a deep meditation.

While I please my senses, my intellect gets a workout also. It goes on an adventure as exploring the ecology and making up new uses for it. There is the prairie of course, which in my world is respected, of course. I've got a Navy in charge of the aquifer, the underground water supply. They travel through the aquifer in small boats and manage the water supply. It's my world and I can do that if I want!

Fantasy worldbuilding can all about reality, about taking the familiar and using it to explore ideas, using it to be smarter, to be investigative. It can also be a way to give our hearts their say, a way of getting what we have always wanted in the way we have wanted it. So, does it matter if it gets torn down or burned up? Yes. And that's also part of deep feeling, being emotionally connected to the world. Writing about loss from a truthful place brings readers into the truth, also.

My world is torn apart by a massive earthquake and the destruction of major parts of the aquifer. Seven years have gone into building the world that I knew would fall apart in a few hours. After I write the final versions of all seven stories, I 'll be considering the state of my love affair, the kind of love my world will need in order to recover. I'm sure that the world rebuilt from the rubble will have places in it that open my heart even more.

What landscapes open your heart? Where would you love to live? What kind of environment? Architecture? Ecology? Castle or cottage? What is the worst thing that could happen to your world?

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Who still likes vampires?

Who still likes vampires?  Okay, I see a few people with their hands half raised; a few timid faces and dropped glances.  I know.  I’ve been there and yes, I’ve heard it all before, but I’m here to say, my name is R.J. Garside and yes, I still like vampires. 



I write paranormal romance, specifically I am currently writing a series on a clan of vampires, I feel and hear the pressures of an already saturated vampire market.  I frequently encounter the question: “what’s different about yours?”



Now the world of vampires differ from the world of any other paranormal creatures because they are considered the perennial favorite.  They have been done over and over again.  Readers that are still buying vampire books are in search of something new.  A world featuring vampires requires a twist, a quality or characteristic that sets your vamps apart from all the others on the market, something fresh and exciting.  Yet, if you stray too far from the original blueprint you run the risk of not being believable or the reader questioning every new characteristic that sets them apart.  



When I first started developing “Dark Healing”, I had no idea what type of knowledge I would need for my vampire world.  I had devoured dozens of vampire romance books and just assumed writing the traditional sexy bloodsucker.  Then came those questions... 



Frustrated and discouraged, I turned to the internet for research on something - anything that would make my vampires “mine”.  After countless hours I came up empty handed.  Everything had been done.  My husband (who has never read a vampire book in his life) incessantly projected the concept of a “toothless” vampire, but I couldn’t imagine my super sexy stud without fangs.



Just when I thought that I was one of those people sick of vampires, I met Quinn.  As I uncovered his characteristics and qualities, I learned all I needed to know about my vampire world.  He revealed his strengths and confessed his weaknesses.  Apparently all I had to do was ask.       


My vampires don’t sparkle, but hopefully one day they will shine.