Iconic Locations

Have you ever wondered why so many taverns are called The White Swan or The Red Lion? In a time when most people couldn’t read, establishments needed to stand out from the one across the road. To achieve this, they used large, bold images, one of the first forms of logos. It’s a naming convention born out of practicality, but has embedded itself into culture.

Understanding why a convention exists is what lets us twist it. Say we’re writing a Space Opera, and our protagonists meet in an intergalactic bar on a major trade route. Thousands of species pass through, each with their own language. There’s no common tongue, so instead of a written sign, the bar uses a digital symbol.

Take a real-world convention, dig into the reason behind it, and rebuild it for your setting… or let our name generator do the heavy lifting by adding in some keywords ;)

Some locations are part of the background. A café, town square, house on a hill… Their descriptions are fine, but they don’t do anything. The difference between those, and a setting that is key to your story, is often a specific or strange detail, and the questions that arise because of it.

Think of a town square where one bench is always empty, even on the busiest market day. Now think of why that is. Has someone claimed it? Do people avoid it? Do they even remember why they avoid it?

Each time you ask ‘why’, and answer the question, you add another layer to the location. The bench gives you a local superstition, but that superstition gives you history. And the history gives your characters a narrative position: do they support the tradition, or break it?

The next time a location feels thin, don’t add more description. Add one unexplained detail and then chase the ‘why?’.

Identify Details with Story Potential

When you first start out organizing your world-building, it can be quite daunting (especially if you’re writing an epic fantasy or sci-fi!). The Codex is an amazing tool to get your world in order, but there might be a few features that you’ve missed, so here are our top tips for making the most of your Codex.

1. Custom Categories. You don’t need to keep your Codex organized by Type. Setting Custom Categories allows you to group characters, lore, etc together. You can assign an Entry to a Category via tags or Custom Details.
2. Filters. Filter by tags, type, details, or even if the Codex entry has a thumbnail! Click the tag a second time to do a negative filter (i.e. Codex entries that don’t have a thumbnail)
3. Search. Can’t find a Codex entry? Search for their name (or any word that might be in their description!) to find that entry and any that mention the word.
4. Collapse All. If you have lots of Categories, you can minimize them all by clicking the settings ⚙ , then Display Settings , and Collapse All .

How the Codex Saves your Writing