Use the Material template to write about the resources or ingredients needed to create something! Think minerals, basic food ingredients, and chemical elements.
Contents
What should I use this template for?
A Material is a basic substance, either natural (granite) or artificial (metal alloys), that can often be used to create something else. There is, however, some overlap with the Item template. For example, a potato is an item, but it can also be described as a material (as part of a recipe). To decide if something is a Material or an Item, think about its role in the world: how do people think about it? If people don't think about it as an individual item, it's a Material. For instance, the element "gold" is a Material, but a gold ingot would be an Item.
Here are some example of Materials!
Natural materials
Natural materials are substances that can be found in nature and have not been artificially processed. Many naturally occurring substances such as chalk, sand, wood, and iron can be used to construct structures, vehicles, or weapons and armor. Is there a unique natural material that is used for construction or craftmanship in your world? Mythril, a metal from The Lord of the Rings, or crem, a type of sediment from the Stormlight Archive, are examples of this.
Biological materials
Biological materials can either be produced by a biological system, derived from nature, or synthesized using a variety of chemical approaches. They are often used for medical purposes and include human or animal body tissues (like cells and blood), plants, insects, and genetically-modified organisms. A material like that could cause mutations in your world, manifest unique powers, or cause a zombie apocalypse!
Template walkthrough
Remember that all template prompts are optional! In fact some prompts might not be relevant to you. As always, there's a free-writing section at the top (which we call vignette) and the prompts are under the "+ Prompts" button in the bottom toolbar. The prompts are organized into four sections:
- Properties: Use this tab to write about the basic characteristics about the material, including the color, the odor, and the origin.
- Usage: What is the history of the material and what is it used for?
- Distribution: Here you can elaborate more about the storage conditions and the trade of the material.
- Relations This tab is full of dropdowns in which you can link the material to other articles you've written, such as the Geographical location where it can be found and the Item that's primarily used for.
Step-by-step guide to writing a material
Here are some steps you can follow to write a material article:
- What is the material used for?
What are its main (and even unique) uses? The properties and capabilities of a material can result in advancements in fields like medicine, biotechnology or engineering. If you created this Material with a specific Item in mind, think about which other uses it could have... and whether or not these other uses have been discovered already! - Integrate it with the world
Naturally occurring materials are part of your setting's natural ecosystem, so if it's a unique material you're coming up with, think about where it comes from and how it fits within the natural processes of the planet. If it's an artificially-made resource, how was it discovered? And what properties does it have that natural materials don't have? - Who wants it?
If you're taking the time to write about this material, it's probably valuable or important in some way. So who wants it, why, and what are they willing to do to get it? And who is preventing them from getting it? Yes, this will create conflict... but that's exactly what you want to have an engaging setting and story!
Community examples for inspiration
Need some inspiration? Here are some material articles written by our amazing community!
- Osmerite, by C. B. Ash
- Oortite, by Annie Stein
- Ichor, by Stormbril
- Cleaver Seeds, by Lexi Con (WordiGirl)
- Galdyr / Galdrvyr, by Fall
