I’m a bit of a Michael Kirkbride fan, and a bit of a Tolkien fan (same as everyone). MK’s work on the Elder Scrolls series sets the bar for how original, offbeat, and deep I want my work to be. I want to be able to say I wrote a world from the ground up and filled it with dynamism, surprise, mystery, and drama. Unlike Tolkien, I’ll never be one for conlangs. I wouldn’t know where to start, but more importantly I wouldn’t know why to start. Tolkien came to storytelling via conlangs, and that’s just not me, so I tend to imitate MK instead.
You’re writing a world. Did you set out with a scope in mind? What sparked the desire? Are you, like me, writing lore instead of constructing an actual narrative because it’s just more fun (at least for now)? Who/what do you admire for worldbuilding?
Long, long ago, a Star Wars fan by the name of Curtis Saxton sat down and tried to make sense of the myriad, confusing, and sometimes contradictory technology of the Galaxy Far, Far away. He put names and dimensions to warships, analyzed weapon power and shield behavior, and managed to wring a surprisingly elegant set of work out of something nobody had really put thought into before.
Separately, modeler Ansel Hsiao went to work designing his own inspired vehicles and starships, but likewise with an eye to not just “looking cool” but thinking about their role, capabilities, and usage, all in the effort of making a coherent force.
These two provide a lot of my inspiration in terms of how they welded disparate bits of technology together into making a greater sci-fi whole. Since I’m not building for an overt product such as a book, I can simply enjoy the process of creation.