The Imaginary World of… (Book) Review

“What kind of world would you like to inhabit?”

Author Keri Smith brings a book that is less a book than it is a starter, a jumping off place of sorts that lets your imagination fly. In The Imaginary World of…, readers are lead to create the world of their dreams, from the basics like a name and the weather, to more in-depth topics like goals for the world and the types of organizations that reside there. It’s an interesting idea, and one that really encourages you to let your imagination fly, wherever it may lead you.

At first glance, The Imaginary World of… looks like any other book. It’s a sturdy softcover volume, about the size of your favorite magazine. There are plenty of pages inside for you to let your ideas flow, but this is more of a guided journey than a completely open journal. The idea is that you will create an entire world, one piece at a time. Though there is plenty of space inside to write everything down, the book also encourages you to create real life models as well if you feel led to do so. There are even some helpful hints for working with cardboard included in the book (cardboard being the main theme, with many of the images in the book being cardboard creations).

So how does it work? You are given a category, often with some instructions, and then you simply write, draw, or make a collage of what comes to mind. For instance, one of the topics is “Create your own currency”, which instructs you to come up with your own idea of the money used in your world, and even how the economy works. There’s a cute little image of a cardboard dollar shown for reference, but where you go from there is up to you. Each of the many different topics works in much the same way, with the reader being given a topic to get the ideas flowing, but leaving all the rest up to you. In addition to the many cardboard images in the book, there are also lots of quotes from famous creative types, which serve well to inspire the imagination.

So why would you need to create your own world anyway? Well, the obvious reason would be because it’s fun, but there are also many other reasons why this is a great idea. Have you ever contemplated writing a book? Something like this is the perfect starting point to start fleshing out your characters and the world they live in – and it’s super easy to reference it once you get started. Artists might also find this to be a great inspiration for what they’d like to work on next, as it really is good at getting ideas to flow. Video game developers can flesh out their ideas and start creating the world in their game. The possibilities are really endless, once you start to think about it. It’s especially nice for those who just don’t know how to get started, as it is a step by step guide to being creative.