By Boston Public Library – The tree that owns itself, Athens, Georgia, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35882175
Acquired from Wikipedia entry “Tree That Owns Itself”
In September, I attended a panel on worldbuilding (I know, shocking, right?) by Matthew Bowman (https://novelninja.net/) . He brought forth the concept of “small world” building – not the grand sweeping political dramas of each country, nor the esoteric breakdown of how the magic system works and interacts with known science like gravity, nor the entire geological plate tectonic history of the planet so the mountains are in the right place, but – the small knowledges of the world: the songs, the creations myths of where the boulder came from in the middle of town, local heroes and villains. All the little things that make a world real. The things that come to you while you are writing, not while you are doing the initial worldbuilding.
Little pieces of knowledge like why women’s clothes button one way and men’s clothes button another (Men’s Shirts Busson on the Right. Why do Women’s Button on the Left? – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mens-shirts-button-on-the-right-why-do-womens-button-on-the-left-180957361/ ) ; why fifty-year-olds wince at “Don’t worry, be happy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU&list=RDd-diB65scQU&start_radio=1 ) and thirty-year-olds start imitating a gallop when “rock ‘um gangam style” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGc_NfiTxng&list=RDcGc_NfiTxng&start_radio=1 ) is said and why the next generation will break into song hearing their boomer boss says “Are we golden?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yebNIHKAC4A&list=RDyebNIHKAC4A&start_radio=1 )
WRITING EXERCISE: Make a “small” creation story. How does the tree own itself? (Tree That Owns Itself – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_That_Owns_Itself ) Why does your culture never verbally offered outside (they may indicate it by lifting the water job), but always offer it once inside with the door close? How did “Gingerbreadman Running Road” get its name? What is the lullaby that everyone knows (the more disturbing the better, when the song is broken down)? Why does the town have a Great Molasses Flood Festival every year? (Great Molasses Flood – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood )
My Attempt – I often use sayings from our own world turned on their side, taking our small creation stories and making them a story.. Recently was “pull up by your bootstrap” – for the flash “Bootstrap” (June 1, 2025) – and “Turn Around Don’t Drown” (November 17, 2024). For a small creation myth, though, I have written “Big Rock” (October 5, 2025) – about how one town got its name