I’ve been writing for just over a year and I seem to get one question more often than any other:

How do you create your paranormal worlds?

Honestly, I often start with a little plot bunny of an idea and see where it will take me once I add some spice from my knowledge of modern paganism, mythology, and a dash of just being wacky. Sometimes the additions are from a single resource but sometimes they are from all over.

I do have a few cardinal rules for myself when I build a world:

The reader must be able to relate to the world.
I find it difficult to read stories where the world is so alien that it has nothing in common with my real world frames of reference. Would the life of a space-going amoeba call to me? Probably not. In order to not have the reader too off balance, it’s good to make sure the paranormal world is near enough to seem famailiar but different enough to be exciting and interesting.

The world must be consistent within itself.
The world has to make sense. I get really frustrated with worlds where rules contradict themselves and seem like they could never make a cohesive, unified world. If the people worship trees, should they cut down trees to use as fuel?

The world should be different
The world I build should not be like every other paranormal world out there or it loses its luster. The more similar it is, the more readers will expect it to behave the same way as similar worlds, as well. I really enjoy taking the more established paranormal mythos (vampires, werewolves, etc) and giving them a half twist to see what comes out.

The characters must be part of their world, not mine.
The ways the characters behave or act, the phrases they use, etc must be integral to the world they inhabit. This paranormal world must be their natural environment and not a departure that would cause them to make note of something that should be normal. So someone living in a world where vampires are the norm and aren’t hiding wouldn’t freak at just seeing one. A pagan character would probably not use “Hotter than Hell” if their belief system didn’t include a Hell that is believed to be hot.

This can be especially tricky because we all have a tendency to fall into commonly used phrases or slang and that’s something that will throw readers right out of a story.

When I’m developing “rules” for a world, I write them down. Sometimes in painful and annoying detail, even. Then I ask my ever-so-helpful husband to read through them for me and look for things that don’t make sense. Sometimes I make changes based on his feedback, but not always, I admit.

I use this written record to then write the story but new situations or ideas often emerge as I do so and I add those to the world notes and make sure they don’t clash with anything already there before I submit the story.