World building for paranormal romance novels means engaging your reader, capturing their interest and taking them along from the opening line, through one scene to the next, until they reach that wonderful ending. You want a reader turning pages, forgetting about time. You want them immersed in the world you created.
Think of it like this. A great movie sweeps you into the action with music, vivid cinematography and dialogue (or an appropriate lack thereof) until the credits roll and you realize with a shock you’d forgotten all about the world beyond that silver screen and darkened auditorium.
As a Harry Potter geek and a fan of Rowling’s series, I find pros and cons to the movies. I read the books to my children until they took over the reading on their own; now we discuss and analyze our favorite parts, character developments, conflicts and solutions.
So it’s no surprise we eagerly awaited each movie’s release, including the latest, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1. We all agreed the movie did not disappoint. Not discounting the harsh, edgy ‘realities’ of the story and knowing it was a middle chapter type of film, I couldn’t help but admire the way the film re-produced the world of Rowling’s imagination.
The directors had to make increasingly difficult choices in turning each book into a satisfying movie. While many of the rich details lighting up the pages of each novel don’t make the cut (Peeves, anyone?) the movies still deliver a complete story, with all the fun, thrills, danger, and excitement of the books.
From the chocolate frogs to the Whomping Willow to Hogwarts itself, the cast and crew worked diligently and consistently to recreate every thing from Rowling’s world and show it to the best advantage on the big screen.
World building for a paranormal romance novel requires writing with the same wide-lens dimension. Paranormal romance writers must think and create with the challenges and skills unique to their characters and settings. The same careful attention to small details and sweeping backdrops that showed up in the Deathly Hallows part 1 and the previous six films is necessary to keep a reader turning pages.
Make a list of skills and weaknesses, keep a record of places, or maintain a story calendar…just do whatever works best for you to give your reader the best ride through the world you so carefully built for your characters to enjoy.
Live the adventure!
Thanks to fReado.com you can read excerpts of all the Shadows of Justice novels on the Paranormal Romance by Regan Black page!
