The Worldbuilder Diaries: How does the main character fit into their world?

Building all of the aspects of a fictional world is one matter, but when it comes to specific characters and how they fit into that world? That’s another beast entirely.

I put a lot of time and thought into this aspect of my writing. While it may not be worldbuilding per se, knowing how the main character (and those they encounter) fits into the world is incredibly important. Their role may be defined by the laws, magic, gods, and/or geographic location they’re in, and fitting all of those pieces together is essential to developing believable characters. Characters need more than their personalities alone to remain interesting for the duration of a story.

I go through a similar process every time I create a new main character, whether they’re part of an existing world or a new one. I ask myself a series of questions before I begin drafting and constantly while I’m actively writing:

• What drives this character to act as they do?
• If I alter their situation, how does it change their outlook?
• What changes do they want to enact in their world (if any)?
• Are they happy/frustrated/sad? And what is the source of their emotions? (This element might not be a direct result of the world itself, depending on the story and characters involved.)

The answers to these questions can and usually do evolve as the story progresses.

Let’s use Kye from Wraith and the Revolution as an example.

At the beginning of the book, he’s trapped on a fairly bleak version of a future Earth, and he can’t get off-world. The gene therapy he needs to be approved for space travel is prohibitively expensive, thanks to the AI-driven government and basic supply and demand economics. He’s stuck in a dangerous salvaging job, unless he finds a way to change his situation.

Most of the wider galaxy isn’t fully aware of condemned planets like Kye’s version of Earth, due to how the government is structured and run. It’s a defining piece of his character, and one that bleeds through the story, even at the end of the book.

By the time I wrote the final version of Wraith, I had a notebook full of worldbuilding items. I knew how the galaxy’s economics and government operated, but when it came to writing Kye, I had to design his story to fit within those established parameters. And those factors also play a significant role in his feelings/personality; he’s understandably bitter at the start of the book, and oscillates between hopeful and resigned to his fate as events unfold.

Even some of the decisions he makes later in the book are ultimately driven by the factors I outlined above. Kye is a product of his environment and the world I built for his story.