 For Authors: February 14, 2018 Issue [#8761] |
  For Authors
This week: World Building Edited by: Jeff  
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"Do not over-intellectualize the production process.
Try to keep it simple: tell the darned story."
-- Tom Clancy
Trivia of the Week: The four most successful fictional worlds (in terms of books sold and movie box office earned divided by the number of titles available) are:
Harry Potter: 7 books (500+ million copies sold), 8 movies ($2.39 billion at the box office)
50 Shades: 3 books (150+ million copies sold), 4 movies ($1.09 billion at the box office, and counting)
Twilight: 4 books (120+ million copies sold), 5 movies ($1.36 billion at the box office)
Hunger Games: 3 books (65+ million copies sold), 4 movies ($1.45 billion at the box office)
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WORLD BUILDING
World building is usually a term used by science fiction and fantasy authors who are responsible for coming up with imaginary worlds that the audience has never seen before. The far, far away systems of the Star Wars universe, the epic fantasy campaign settings of the Dungeons & Dragons Role-Playing Game, and the expansive world of Game of Thrones all take an immense amount of design and planning in order for audiences to appreciate the setting of those stories.
The idea of world building isn't exclusive to those fantastic genres, though. When you're writing a mystery/thriller, or a romance, or a western, you still have to spend time and energy establishing the setting and rules of your story. For a mystery/thriller with a crime-solving protagonist, what are the rules that protagonist has to follow? Do they have to operate within the confines of the law? Do they have access to an unlimited number of resources, or do they have a finite number of tools at their disposal? If you're writing a western set in a border town, where is it located compared to other settlements; are they the only one for miles or is there another one just over the ridge? The remoteness of a frontier settlement can determine everything from availability of amenities to the amount of time it takes for help to come in a crisis. In a romance, you have to establish the world the characters operate in. Is it a story that dabbles in the lifestyles of the rich and famous, always jetting off to some exotic locale, or is it a story about a down-on-their-luck duo whose love endures despite their socioeconomic struggles?
World building can include everything from the geographic setting itself to cultural norms, government, religion, modes of transportation, etc. You can be as limited or as unlimited as you want to be in detailing the world of your story. Authors like J.R.R. Tolkien famously disappear into an entire fantasy world of their own making including inventing languages, legends, geographic maps, etc., while other authors may choose to only provide the very basic information about their fictional worlds, preferring to let the reader fill in the blanks.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to building your world. Be as detailed as you need or want to be, but don't feel like you have to have every single little thing figured out right from the get-go. One of the problems with world building is that writers can often get lost in the minutiae of creating the world and never actually get to the story or characters. Especially if you're inventing something brand new (whether that's a whole world, an organization, a town, etc.), there can be a tendency to flit from detail to detail, never actually starting on the actual writing because you're too involved in figuring out how all the small puzzle pieces fit together.
World building can be an incredibly satisfying and rewarding experience when you create something that audiences fall in love with and start to expand upon for themselves. Fictional franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, James Bond, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Discworld, Left Behind, The Dark Tower, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. can be appealing not just for the imagination that goes into them, but the potential monster success that comes when one really catches on with audiences. But just remember that without story and character, even the most vibrant worlds can fall flat. You need a compelling narrative and characters that audiences care about in order to really make your worlds come alive. 
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
I also encourage you to check out the following items:
EXCERPT: I am a victim of debit card fraud. That's right, my debit card...stolen, and it never left my wallet. According to my bank, the thief cloned my card, embedded it with a security chip, and got my pin number. I was surprised when I heard this. I thought EMV cards were supposed to make card copying, virtually, impossible. I thought EMV cards changed the information on my card after each transaction, to prevent card skimming.
EXCERPT: Back in the late 70s and early 80s, it was my joy to discover a local Mansfield, Ohio, Christian music group named BACK IN THE SADDLE and to get to know and love, as a brother in Christ, its three members, Sarah and Dan Foster, and Dan's girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Anne Troth.
EXCERPT: Long ago there were 2 beings. One was named Muktasha the Goddess of Life with her touch all the islands of the Halu Archipelago were filled with living breathing things, trees, grass, animals, she brought them all into this world. But everywhere the Goddess went followed a second being. Kayren Daemon of Death.
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Feedback from my last newsletter about the K.I.S.S. Principle ("For Authors Newsletter (January 17, 2018)" ):
Patrece ~  writes: "Thank you, Jeff! I really enjoyed your newsletter this month. It is a really good reminder to all of us that we don't have to get too carried away when designing our stories. "
Thank you so much for writing in!
Lilith 🎄 Christmas Cheer  writes: "Interesting newsletter and I am definitely going to go back and read those picks!"
Glad you enjoyed it!
Elfin Dragon-finally published writes: "I find it fascinating that it was the US Navy which popularized the phrase of KISS. Perhaps because I grew up as a Navy Brat and never knew it but heard the phrase all the time. In my house, in my school and with my peers. But the I was born in '69. So by then it was most likely a household phrase. "
I was surprised to discover the U.S. Navy's role in popularizing the phrase too!
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  writes: "There's a saying - "There's only a handful of original stories out there. Everything else is just a revision." After all, here's the basic formula of a friendship story - they meet, they hate each other, something happens, they be friends, then they fight, they break up, then they make up, they be friends again. I mean, look at Zootopia - that's Judy and Nick's relationship in a nutshell. Same with the Pamela Simpson book I'm looking at, Partners in Time - the two main characters argue at first before becoming friends, then get into a fight over something, before making up and becoming friends again."
Over the years there have been a bunch of different resources touting the three basic plots, or the eleven basic story premises, or the thirty-six dramatic situations. When you distill stories down to their basic broad strokes, there aren't that many unique ones out there.
That's why execution is so important; to find new ways to tell familiar stories.
Quick-Quill  writes: "This is so true. I have a new crime plot that is simple from start to finish. It takes a few paragraphs to tell the whole story. Now the hard part is taking that crime and its simplicity and crafting a book length story. There has to be sub plots, back story and side story and and... 100K words worth. Help me!"
I think mysteries are one of the most fun genres to build for exactly this reason. You start with what actually happened and then have to build a structure around it that keeps the reader guessing until you're ready to show them the truth. You're on the right track; subplots, intriguing characters, etc. are great ways to establish those red herrings.
Raghav R  writes: "Regarding K.I.S.S I am a believer in the principles set forth in K.I.S.S. I always try to keep my work simple and straightforward. It certainly makes for easier reading and appreciation. Obtuse and too abstract writing tend to put the readers off. So the very purpose of the writing fails. It is a nice reminder for writers to keep their writing simple. Raghav R"
Thanks for writing in!
BradJShaw âš“ writes: "Very Good article! I ALWAYS start out using the KISS acronym, but DEEEEEP into the story, the characters start making life difficult for me...LOL...I guess its because ( & I'm not bragging here, but...) I get TOO involved in the characters lives, instead of continuing on with my mystery....CALGON....TAKE ME AWAY!"
Getting really invested in your characters isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you know when to pull it back and reign it in so you're not giving your audience too much information that they don't need. 
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