1. Readallaboutit

    Readallaboutit New Member

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    Fantasy worlds

    Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by Readallaboutit, Jun 11, 2016.

    I've been reading/watching fantasy for years my Wip has been a Wip for along time and after finally deciding to really go at it my main trouble is I'm almost spending more time creating the world around than getting on with the story. I have my main plots where I want the books to go and I have a lot of chapters down but when I come up with something I can spend to much time making it real like family trees, magic and how it works, the different city's, towns, lands, and history's, races and people.

    So my question is when does creating your world become to much how much is important and can the story develop before the whole history?
     
  2. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Well that depends on what kind of story you wish to write. LOTR is a story that relies heavily on the world to keep it going, with all it's more intricate elements of course.
    I think there should be a balance between world building and character involvement/development. It might be a good idea to divulge bits here and there throughout instead
    of simply focusing on one particular element at a time. For instance show where things are at the current moment and give a little about the next place, and so on in that fashion.
    It will not be one giant word map of every last place in the world, and will allow the reader to discover each new area along with the characters along with the finer details.
    This will benefit your story greatly by being less about word maps, and more about the characters and the adventures they are going to have within the world.
    Concluding thoughts: It should be an epic tale of what goes on, and not a geography/info dump lesson into all the intricacies of the overall story. Give the pertinent plot, and world
    details at the given time. You are writing a series so your world is massive with an immense amount of ground to cover, so don't try to cram all of it into one particular book.
    Spread it around a bit, as you have plans to go beyond just a singular book.

    Good luck, and I hope this has been helpful.
     
  3. Readallaboutit

    Readallaboutit New Member

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    I see what you mean, it's not that I'm having trouble applying my world to the story or when to use it but when I come up with a new character or place or historic event I can spend way to much time coming up with everything for it the history of a certain time the background of a certain person and their history and get to involved with that side than the story it's self it's almost like I'm trying to make it as believable as possible so there's no loop holes.
     
  4. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    I have a detailed origin on the god that created the universe, her 30 billion year life. Her angel like children. How the universe was created. How magic works. Why magic works. 300 years of detailed Earth events. Family trees. Even why two water mages can't do the same magic.

    My plot lines extend past my main story to hundred years later. The death of my characters(some young, some old.) And well, tons more.

    It is a personal preference. It all depends on you. Heck, a lot of my ideas. I don't even plan to yse. I just enjoyed making them. I also love the idea that I have this backboard that keeps me consistent. Internal consistency is a big thing of mine.

    Some peple can't preplan this much, it ruins there creative energy. Me? I gain creative energy from the above.

    So it is all about how you function. Whether it is a loss of energy, or just slowed down progress. (if you spend so much time thinking, you never write. That can be a problem, even if you enjoy thinking. After all, you eventually have to do something with some of your ideas.)

    Other than that. No wrong answer. That is why writing is an art. Thre is no recipe or formula to make it work. Every writer is a bit different aand as such there method should be a bit iferent to incorporate who they are.

    Does that make sense?
     
  5. agasfer

    agasfer Member

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    @GuardianWynn
    It makes sense, although I would be careful with applying generalizations to others, such as your remark on spontaneity. ("if you spend so much time thinking, you never write.") There are writers as there are musicians: Mozart composed spontaneously, Beethoven toiled over every note. Kant spent 10 years thinking about his major book, Critique of Pure Reason, before he started to write it. And so forth. As you yourself wrote,"Every writer is a bit different"
    As far as your book, you give too few details for me to be able to make any appropriate comment about it.
     
  6. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Well. I mean. It is a forum. I don't think my advice was harmful even if a bit strong. My response was more to generate an answer to his question and not so much answer it.

    Oh well, yeah I wasn't talking about my story. I was talking about how I went well beyond what I need to in world building.

    Since you seemed curious though. I will give ya a bit.

    It is about a girl named Valorie. She witnesses a murder and gets entangled in an organization that now wants to kill her. Through her adventure of survival she may just save the world and learn the secrets to her origins in the process.
     
  7. agasfer

    agasfer Member

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    @GuardianWynn

    Your basic plot line sounds like fun. Good luck with it!

    Sorry, I didn't mean that your advice was harmful. I just know some writers who aren't spontaneous, but do end up writing nonetheless. However, you are right, spontaneity can be important. As someone on this forum quoted: "Write without fear; edit without mercy."
     
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  8. Readallaboutit

    Readallaboutit New Member

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    Thank you guardian some good points in there.

    I do enjoy building my world, a little too much I guess I'm quite particular so mabye that's why. I don't like leaving anything unturned but it can become a quite daunting process coming up with magic origins and history of wars and kingdoms but it is a good reference point at the same time sometimes I've just wondered if I've wasted time though a lot of it people will never see it's just for me while I'm creating the story so I understand what's happening.

    Many nights I've spent creating languages and kingdoms though and not getting more of the story completed I have gotten a little frustrated at this sometimes thinking how much of this is necessary for a reader to have?
     
  9. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Well. Thing is. None. When you really think about it. Readers don't need any information prior to content. Some readers prefer that. Like, reminds me of Magna, if I know magna well. This is research I did as a fifteen year old. So, may not be great.

    Manga if you don't know is Japanese comics. And well, the way people usually submit them is a general idea. If the idea is accepted they go on to work on the story, chapter by chapter. Released once a month in a magazine. So, they don't get to edit past work. The clock is on. They also dont tend to develop stories until it is accepted. Bacause it is a job. So, yeah, they fly by the seat of there pants and sometimes, it really shows. But that doesn't mke the story suck.

    So, in the end. If you enjoy the world building you didn't waste your time. I mean, some people watch TV to relax. If writing a new language for your little world is your relaxing. Sounds awesome to me. Think about it. people pay for TV. lol You don''t pay for the ability to think about your world.

    Also, I myself never did any lannguage things. I did develop an idea that made spoken language irrevant though! A concept that lets aliens speak to each other on arrival! :D It isn't the little translation box either. lol Sorry, I hate the translation box. Proud of this idea. Since you are a world builder I am just gonna assume you are curious. I call it the soul echo. The idea being that magical people produce a energy echo of speech and other magical creatures can hear it.
     
  10. TWErvin2

    TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

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    World building can be fun and interesting, and yes, it is necessary to set the foundation for your story, so that it's consistent over time and makes sense to the reader.

    That said, 90% of the 'world' that is created probably won't grace the pages of the novel. That's okay...if its a series, maybe later some of that history or culture or interesting twist on magic will come up and be relevant to the plot/storyline.

    However, when world building ends up interfering with actually completing a novel, then it becomes a problem. How much does the reader need to know for the story to move forward? How much information must be laid down by the author in notes and information on a particular character, family, city, culture, region, etc., so that the storyline can move forward with confidence.

    You don't need to fill out every family tree and have every neighborhood within a city drawn up and established. Set down the foundation, the skeletal form that can be fleshed out as needed. With the structure and information initially in place, consistency will occur over time within the world for the readers to 'explore' and enjoy. But if the story/novel(s) are never actually completed, then the world building venture will have been pointless (at least as the novels are concerned--certainly a time consuming learning exercise, and world building can be enjoyable and a challenge, etc.)

    Or that's how I see it and have put into practice.
     
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  11. Greenwood

    Greenwood Active Member

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    The more worldbuilding you do now, the less likely you are to get stuck while writing when you want to write about your world. Just remember that if you have the whole world thought out, it is highly likely that only 20% of that info is relevant to the plot. Myself, I now consider world-building thinking as part of the writing process, as it deepens my understanding of what I am writing about, and sometimes creates interesting ideas and things to weave into my story. Just be mindful of avoiding infodumps in the actual writing. Think it through as far as you can, but only include the aquired information if it's relevant to the plot and makes sense.
     
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