The other day on Twitter I read a post about World Building. The question posed was how much is too much? Sometimes it feels that the heart of the story is overwhelmed by historical treatises and minutiae that doesn’t push the narrative forward. Sometimes you want the adventure and not a lengthy discussion of the various shades of green that make up the forest (Yes, I’m referencing the lengthy forest descriptions Tolkien inserted into the Lord of the Rings. One of my favorite stories, however there were pages I simply had to skip because it was just TOO much world building). The most fascinating world building are the hints that make the reader go, ‘ooo, I’d like to learn more’ or that make them feel there is depth and backstory, not necessarily and political and financial history of the world in which they live. Sure, that’s great you did a ton of research to your world and you have everything from legal system to folklore and pre-history of your world detailed, but readers don’t need to know the whole justice system and the history of how they were enacted unless it pushes the narrative forward. I’ve taken Social Sciences and sat through lectures on the structure of the US’s government and it WASN’T fascinating. It was learning. Yes, knowledge is great, but you’re not writing non-fiction, you’re writing fantasy, you’re offering escape.
I do a ton of world building for the ShadowGate series. Why? Because it’s fun and more importantly it is crucial for the WRITER The more in depth our knowledge of the world we are creating the more realism we can translate to the page for the reader. I spend hours working out the details but it’s for MY benefit more than it is for the readers. The reader will never know all the details, they will never know the exact Guardian Angel to Charge ratio that I spent four hours figuring out. They will however understand that a Guardian has the ability to be in multiple locations at once. That is a fun fact that will fascinate them, but they don’t need to know the whole process of how I came to that conclusion. The reader will only ever know the very edges of the research, history and backstory that I do. And that’s ok, why? Because sometimes too much revealed to the reader destroys the flow of the story.
I know we’re proud of the detailed histories, pre-histories, psychological profiles, etc. that we create. But don’t try to fit all of that into the story in lieu of a STORY. If you’re proud of your world and the detailed notes you’ve made on it, publish those later for the fans of your world who want a deeper look.
Do the research, but dole it out sparingly. Don’t let the world overshadow the story.
Ok, rant over until next time!
L
The ShadowGate: Enter and be saved….
