Last week, I wrote about the popularity of Tolkien inspired, medival Europe flavored fantasies. They're a common setting, and can be a handy template for world building.
For my own writing, I'm trying to avoid these stock worlds. I adore speculative fiction, so I want to speculate. To create scenes and scenarios I don't see much in other works. To have underrepresented groups and people take center stage. To draw ideas from cultures outside of Britain and western Europe.
This is easier said than done. I've absorbed so many tales of wizards, princesses, castles, and knights, some of it is bound to drip into my work. This is fine. I may want my stories to stand apart, but I don't demand a complete split.
There are three approaches I try to take in my world building.
One is to use technology levels other than medival Europe. It's harder to fit the standard setting when my world has things like refrigeration or hot running water. Admittedly, I am lazy. At least three of my secondary worlds had Victorian-ish technology. This is because I am a nerd and am already familiar with daily life during the period. Hence I don't have to research as much.
Another direction I use comes from one of my old writing groups. I asked for help with stepping away from Tolkien inspired worlds. Someone suggested I use a government other than monarchy. I've done this with at least one of my worlds. However, I've tweaked the suggestion in my head, and now avoid fuedalism.
A third tack is where on the social scale I place my characters. There may be monarchs somewhere in one or two of my stories. Since my leads and side characters are ordinary people, the one percent never directly figure into things. Nor do I have any chosen ones, powerful wizards, or other rare figures.
To reiterate, I'm not criticizing those who enjoy using standard settings. I like being different with my works.
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