In the third of our five part series on where to begin developing a story idea, we start with a setting. A strange, otherworldly place invades your consciousness (or an utterly normal one, though that’s harder to kickstart a story from). There’s a desert planet that is the most important place in the universe. Why is it so vital? What kind of story takes place on this world? Who lives there? From these questions, you can start worldbuilding, building out elements that will lead to the kinds of stories you can tell in this place.
So there’s a desert planet, huh? Sounds like the beginning of Star Wars.*
No, no…that’s just it. In Star Wars, Tatooine is an insignificant outer rim planet. The planet is so insignificant that it doesn’t even get a name until the end of Empire. Luke even says, “If there’s a bright center to the universe, you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from.”
There you go, Adam’s Brain, talking about Star Wars when you’re supposed to be worldbuilding Dune…
Right, right…okay, so there’s a desert planet that’s NOT Tatooine.
Why is this desert planet important?
Something comes from there, a resource that can be found nowhere else in the galaxy.
What is the resource?
Some sort of natural element, precious and rare.
If it’s a naturally occurring element, why would it only be present on this planet?
Good question. Maybe it’s not naturally occurring. Maybe it’s the byproduct of some sort of biological process of the life on this planet.
So there’s life on this desert world?
Not much, but every desert on earth supports life of some kind. “Life finds a way.”
No Jurassic Park references! You’re working with Dune right now.
Sorry. Some sort of creature makes the precious resource. A giant sand worm!
Giant sand worms sound cool! But why is the resource precious? Is it just pretty or does it have some application?
I’ve got it! The resource is what allows interstellar space travel. Without it, each planet that supports life would be isolated and the galactic civilization would grind to a halt.
Ah, now we have some stakes! Excellent. So this resource – it should have a name, by the way.
Let’s call is “spice” for now.
Okay, spice. So the spice is some sort of fuel for interstellar travel.
No, no. It’s not fuel. That’s boring. The spice is a mind-altering substance that allows people to have visions and open their minds enough to navigate pathways among the stars.
That’s pretty cool. So spice is a mind-altering drug made by giant sand worms on the desert planet. Why is the desert nature of the planet important? Why does it have to be a desert?
A few reasons. First, the worms burrow through the sand. Second, the harsh environment makes collecting the spice difficult and dangerous. Third, there are indigenous people on the planet who have adapted to the desert through their culture and technology. They have a dream to return the planet to a lush, green world with lots of water.
Wait. Return? So the planet wasn’t always a desert?
No, something happened long ago to make it a desert. There is an ancestral memory or legend about how the planet used to be. And it could be that way again. But fulfilling this vision would interrupt the flow of spice.
Ah, more stakes! But why do the indigenous people care if the spice flows off-world for interstellar travel?
They don’t. The world is colonized by agents of the empire, and their only job is to make the spice flow.
Damn. Colonialism. So this story has roots in the wrongs of our own world.
Not only that, but it happens in the distant future of the real world. There will be cultural and religious symbolism that traces back to our world, but will have morphed over the millennia into new things. There will be groups who wield this symbolism for their own power and when…
Hold on a sec! You started with a desert world and now you’re talking about a whole empire of planets that somehow were populated by humans from earth, even though you also just said that interstellar travel is only possible using the spice from one of the newly discovered planets!
Hey now, this is a brainstorm. Don’t try to poke holes in it at this stage! I’m just building out the setting, looking for a story.
You’re right. My apologies. If you’re looking for the story, ask yourself what has changed at this minute to incite the beginning.
Gotcha. For some political reason, the emperor has decreed a change in which great house is in control of Arrakis (that’s the planet’s name, I’ve just decided). The old house and the new house are rivals, and there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.
So this story will be told from the colonizers’ perspective?
I suppose so. The main character will be the son of the duke of the new house. He’s special.
Oh no…is this just going to be another Chosen One story?
No! Well, yes, but a subversion of it. “Paul” will spend the story worrying what will happen if he actually takes up the mantle for which he has been bred. The spice will show him visions of the war and bloodshed that will happen if he does. And the question that the story turns on is whether he will step into the role.
And how do the indigenous people of Arrakis fit into this story?
After disaster befalls Paul’s family, he escapes and is welcomed into the indigenous society (the Fremen), where he learns their ways and becomes something of a messiah figure.
So this is a White Savior story? Ugh…
Yes and no. It is, but it’s more complicated than that because Paul knows that his mother’s people planted prophecies long ago on many worlds that would help them find safety if disaster struck. There will be a lot of manipulation going on, and Paul will have to decide if he wants to lean into the prophecy or subvert it.
And if he does become the Fremen’s messiah?
Then they will take back Arrakis and the spice will no longer flow.
The story of Dune springs from its setting. The conflict, both internal and external, is revealed by the harsh setting and its centrality in the galaxy. Because Paul has never been to Arrakis, the reader gets to learn about the setting alongside the main character. If Chani or Stilgar (the main two Fremen) were the main characters, the book would have a totally different relationship to its setting because they are already enmeshed in the place.
As you develop a story based on a setting, see what types of story hooks that setting presents. Where are the points of pressure geographically, politically, culturally, etc? What characters exist at the center of those pressure points?
If you’d like to try one of my books that began with a setting, try The Islands of Shattered Glass. The story grew out of a one-shot D&D game, in which I developed a new part of my world in order to find a story within it. Once I knew the central conflicts of the setting, the characters presented themselves.
* Yes, I know Dune was written before Star Wars. Just go with me.
Adam Thomas, Author 