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Hellooo, everybody! Today I am tackling one of your most highly requested topics.
You guys have literally been asking me to cover this since I started my channel! To be fair, it
took me this long to make it, because at one point I thought I had already made this video. Turns out
I didn't, I'm just stupid. Today we're diving into world building! Specifically, how to name
your world. These tips do not just apply to naming your world. They can apply to naming ANY setting
in your book: a village, a kingdom, a town, a realm, a building. If you're creating a fictional
location and you're not sure what to call it, I'm here to help you out! Before we get started,
I want to give a GINORMOUS thank you to World Anvil, who has generously sponsored today's video!
Most of you already know, but in case you don't, World Anvil is basically the number one book bible
for building your world or setting. It is perfect for game creators, RPG players, and of course,
writers! You can build your world privately to keep all the spoilers hidden, which is the option
I personally prefer. Or, you can build your world publicly, so everyone can see all the goodies
you're cooking up! I'm a big fan of World Anvil! You can upload articles, artwork, and history,
and keep it super organized and beautiful and streamlined! They also have a feature called What
You See Is What You Get, which is a text editor program. Basically, it means if you don't know
coding - like me - it's not an issue. You can edit your platform easily, regardless. They also have
a calendar module, so you can count the timeline of your unique world. And they have global world
announcements, which is a super handy marketing feature that allows you to announce book signings,
new releases, whatever! World Anvil is already super affordable, but right now you can get 20%
off a six or twelve month membership using code JENNAMORECI. Use the code, get yourself a handy
dandy discount, and get started on building your fabulous world! But first, I'm helping you name
your fictional worlds and settings, because let's be real, it's a bitch... I'm breaking down the 10
steps to titling any fictional location, starting with the first three steps you need to consider
before you even begin cooking up titles. Number One (1): World and era. The first thing you need
to consider is the world and era in which your story takes place. Era is a loose term here,
especially if you're writing fantasy, because fantasy worlds take place in a fictional
universe that don't necessarily correlate with any real-life eras. Think of ‘era’ in this context as
an era in our world that is most relevant to the era in your world. For example, if your world has
similarities to ancient Egypt, then you would be looking at the ancient Egyptian era. Additionally,
if you're writing a world that's similar to ancient Egypt, it's probably not gonna be
called Johnsonville or Bakersfield. Be mindful of the world and era you're working within
because it needs to mesh with the names you're creating. Number Two (2): Level of expansion.
The level of development of your world is going to have an effect on the setting. For example,
say you're creating a world that is one with nature. They live off the land. The names of
the communities and towns are much more likely to have a very grounded feeling. On the flipside,
if you're looking at an industrialized society that has experienced a lot of immigration and
commerce, then the various setting names are going to be a lot more diverse. Maybe some of the towns
are named after former leaders. Maybe some of the building’s names are based on their history. Maybe
there are going to be lots of different names that reflect various cultures. Where I live,
we've got cities called San Bruno and cities called Mountain View. It's totally varied.
Number Three (3): Cultural significance. Many cultures take pride in their history, and you'll
see that reflected in the names of the places that you create. America comes from Amerigo Vespucci,
the first explorer to refer to the continent as the new world. Maybe you're writing about a fairy
world and the fairies value the earth and nature. Thus, their settings are named after flowers,
plants, or trees. Understanding what matters to your fictional society will play a huge role in
creating that fictional society. After you've taken these three things into consideration,
you'll have a starting point for naming locations. But you're not done yet! “Okay, my world is
industrialized and they value their history, so I should probably name the settings after various
historical leaders. Problem is, I don't know the names of ANY of their historical leaders.” Don't
worry, I gotchu! Here are some ways that you can get ideas that you can later use toward naming
your settings. Keep in mind we're in the idea phase right now, and these ideas will likely be
rewritten or expanded upon in later steps. Number One (1): Symbology. What are important symbols to
your story or to your characters that are directly relevant to this setting? Say, for example,
your book heavily relies on wolf symbology. What are some different words that relate to wolves?
Canine. Lupine. Cub. Pack. Gather all the words you can think of that fit the symbol and gather
them for possible use later. Number Two (2): Names. Sometimes people have a direct affect on
our work. Maybe we're inspired by famous authors or we get inspired by people we know in real life,
both positively and negatively. Write these names down for possible use later. It's important to
note that for legal reasons, it's not smart to use a real person's name in your book, ESPECIALLY if
the use of that name can be perceived as negative in any way. But you might want to take a name and
fiddle with it in a way that does make it usable for your work. For example, if your world was
heavily influenced by the work of John Steinbeck, you could take his name and fiddle around with it
in a way that doesn't scream, “Hey! I'm obsessed with John Steinbeck! Please sue me! Right now!”
And Number Three (3): Inspiration. This is the most obvious and all encapsulating topic for
naming settings. What inspired you to write this story? More specifically, what inspired you to
write this world? If your world was inspired by Vikings, think about words and terminology that
fit within that era. If your world is inhabited by well-known fantasy creatures like dragons and
unicorns, think about that shit, too. One of my inspirations when creating the world of The
Savior’s Series was Greek mythology, so I created a massive list of mythological names and terms to
use throughout the world building process. Once you've gone through these steps and you have a
pretty good idea of different terms you want to explore, it's time to move on to the last three
points. This is the fun part! Sure, you might be inspired by dragons, but calling your world
Dragon World is stupid. It's time to take these ideas and put your own spin on them. There's a
million different ways that you can do it, but I'm hitting you with the three methods I see
most often. Number One (1): Spelling. This one’s probably the most popular option when creating
any type of name within a fictional world, whether it's the name of people in that world or the name
of a setting in that world. Writers will often take a word and either tweak it or spell it
differently. For example, we already talked about a hypothetical world that revolves around wolf
symbology. If we wanted to go with that angle and name the world something wolfy, we could take the
word Lupine and change it to Lupina or Lupea. Keep in mind the spelling is going to be affected by
the language of that culture, and depending on the culture’s history, they may have experienced many
different languages. If it's a world with a long history that has experienced a ton of immigration,
you're probably going to see towns and villages that are spelled completely differently with
lots of different language quirks. This is all shit you get the pleasure of figuring
out during your world building process. Number Two (2): Rearrange. Similar to the last option,
sometimes you can take an idea and rearrange the letters within the word. For example, San
Francisco can become Sassa Franco. I guess... Kind of a weird name, but you get my point! In one of
our previous examples, we were looking at a world that was influenced by John Steinbeck. Again,
it's not the safest idea to use real people's names in our fiction. Plus, a town called John
Steinbeck Town is pretty fucking stupid. But a town called Beckenstein sounds legit, especially
if it fits the world you created. And Number Three (3): Mish mash. Sometimes you've got a bunch of
fun and meaningful ideas and it can be hard to choose just one. Here's an idea: don't choose!
Just take those ideas and mash ‘em together. We've already discussed a fictional fairy world
that revolves around plant life, so let's assume we have a giant list of flowers and trees. We can
take two trees we like - for example, madrone and sequoia - and combine them. Maquoia. We
can take a black locust and a papaya and turn it into Lopaya. The options are endless! Plus, it's
fun! Keep making these weird Frankenstein hybrids until you find something that works for you! Now,
when all is said and done, you might go through these steps and still not find the perfect name
for your setting. If that's the case, I have ONE more suggestion for you: make shit up! “But Jenna,
how do I make shit up?” By making shit up! We made up shit all the time as kids! That's how
imagination works! There's a realm called Ethyua in The Savior’s Series. You know how I came up
with it? I made it up! Writers constantly hear “make it up” and become flabbergasted,
as if the concept is absolutely foreign to them. But you are an inventor! You created
an entire world just from some research and your imagination. If you can write a book,
you can absolutely make up the name of a kingdom. I promise! So that's all I got for you today!
A HUGE thank you to World Anvil for sponsoring today's video! Don't forget you can get 20% off
your six month or twelve month membership using code JENNAMORECI! Save yourself some money while
growing and expanding your glorious world! I know you want to! Get on it! Don't forget to subscribe
to my channel! I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you want to be alerted as SOON as I upload,
ring that bell! The Savior's Champion is available in ebook, paperback, hardback, signed hardback, as
well as audiobook! If you are new to audiobooks, you can listen to TSC on Audible for free! I have
all the information listed below. And be sure to follow me on social media! I'm on Instagram,
Tumblr, Facebook - and of course, you can Tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye! (Rumbling Male Voice) This is
Brontes. Why, the fuck, haven't you subscribed to Jenna's channel? Do you really want to face me? If
you don't do it, you know what will happen. I'll rip out your tongue, torture you, then leave your
rotten corpse out for the birds to feast on it. Now press the goddamn button. And the bell, too...