# Worldbuilder's Block?



## Tolgron (Feb 14, 2011)

I've noticed that some things I've wanted to write have been on hiatus for a long while now, sitting quite undisturbed in My Documents while time passes by. In fact it's gotten to the point where I can't really remember the last time I've just sat down and wrote something continuously without stopping, often going from about 1 o'clock in the afternoon to 6 o'clock in the evening.

I think the reason may be that, when I do find myself writing, it isn't so much narrative as setting. I'm more inclined to write up geographic details, faction descriptions, the different religions and history behind each culture and whatnot, rather than trying to work out what will be happening in chapter 7, what will happen to such a character in such a scene, or whether a certain dialogue is too long-winded. I enjoy it tremendously, but at the same time I'm not actually _writing_ anything.

So I wanted to ask; am I overdoing the worldbuilding? How much is too much? What's the best way to break out of the habit and actually get to writing a story, not an article for Fictional Geographic?


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## M. LeRenard (Feb 14, 2011)

Hmmmm...  Well, in my opinion, the most important part of the story is the story itself.  I guess if you want to tell stories but can't get past the worldbuilding part of it, you're spending too much time worldbuilding.
Try writing a story without thinking about the world it takes place in.  A very short one to start with, so you don't have enough room for anything other than basic character development.  Think about something else, like maybe a theme for the story, or a moral, and focus your writing on that.  Maybe.  I don't know.  I've never had this problem.


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## sunandshadow (Feb 14, 2011)

Personally I find plot to often be the most difficult, annoying, and boring part of writing.  If you are naturally inclined to worldbuilding, you will find it easy, and whatever is easy is usually more fun than what is difficult.  But it's certainly true that the actual story is what can get published, read, and maybe even earn you money.  Depends what your goal is.  If you are a hobbyist, have fun worldbuilding if that's what you enjoy.  If you want to get published, you have to actually write stories.


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## Zotec (Feb 16, 2011)

Oh thank goodness, I'm not the only one. I don't know if I'll ever write an actual story based off of some of the little universes I make up, because I'm hopelessly adding bits of cities and histories all the time and just can't get down and have characters actually interact with it.


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## Murphy Z (Mar 8, 2011)

Well first, I admit my stories don't lend to too much world building. Usually, they're pretty local and cover a brief period of time. So if you're going to do a sweeping trilogy in which cultures clash and all that, then you should be doing that sort of thing.

I tried to do the "top down" method of story building, you know, where you have all these kingdoms and give them names and who's ruling it and what he's up to and what the economy is, etc. And of course I drew maps with lots of mountains and rivers and ports and cities. And after I did all that, the creative energy was sucked right out of me. I didn't want to write any of the story and I was left with just a setting and characters, but little or no story. It's fun to do, but not very productive.

The novels I'm working on (well, meaning to), I do the "bottom up" approach where I start with an idea, character, etc. and expand when necessary. This usually happens in earlier drafts and the need to expand on the world arises, so I'll jot something down real quick. Later, I'll think of something and fill it in later. Sure, I'll think of some details of the world that doesn't have anything to do with the story (yet?), but I try not to wander too far.    

So, I'd try and set time to concentrate on just the story itself. You can set another time to work on other aspects of the world  if you want, it may come in handy later.

Just one thing, I've picked up a fair number of books, mostly high fantasy stories, that are chock full of maps and lineages and stuff I glance at, then put the book down. When I find those things in a  book, I find it um, self indulgent and a waste of paper. Do I really care that the protagonist's great grandfather, [put in masculine sounding made up name here] married [put in feminine sounding made up name here]? Please leave those things out when you get published.


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## Kadrian (Mar 9, 2011)

Describing your fantasy world in great detail is fun because it's easy to write about things you already have worked out in your mind in detail.  It's also very pleasurable to tell people about this wonderful world you have imagined.  However, you're not going to find many readers who are interested in learning all of the details of your fantasy world because they have their own fantasy worlds to dream about.  Although it is absolutely necessary for you to have some sort of world in which to create, the real work of a writer is to *get on with the story*.  To succeed as a writer you need to develop an interesting plot and create characters that will move the story forward while limiting your wonderful fantasy world to no more than a vague backdrop.  

Steven R. Boyett is somewhat famous in the furry world for his book, "The Architect of Sleep".  He intended the book to be the first volume of a trilogy, but as time passed and volume two failed to appear, people wrote to him to ask what happened.  He wrote up his version of what transpired, a copy of which can be found at this location:

http://kayshapero.livejournal.com/107115.html  TLDR version: He finished book two and the publisher hated it.  Note that this was written in 1988, more than twenty years ago.

It has since been removed, but Boyett once had a page on his web site where he talked about re-reading his manuscript many years after having given up on it.  While reading it he realized that what the publishers were trying to tell him was true.  The book was boring because he had developed too much world and not enough story.  Even as he was reading his own work he thinking to his past self to drop the background BS and *get on with the story*.

So yeah, if you're doing a lot of world building, don't plan on putting it out for your readers.  They'll ask themselves why they're reading somebody else's daydream and move on to something else.


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## M. LeRenard (Mar 9, 2011)

I think I remember reading a similar story in the book Terry Brooks wrote about writing, concerning one of the sequels in the _Sword of Shannara_ series.  World building is certainly not something you want to do much of *during* the actual piece, that's for sure.  It's like a bad cover letter, or being obviously paranoid about copyright issues: one of many kisses of death for your novel.


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## Poetigress (Mar 9, 2011)

Kadrian said:


> TLDR version: He finished book two and the publisher hated it.  Note that this was written in 1988, more than twenty years ago.


 
I've also read comments from him online (can't find them now, unfortunately, but I'm pretty sure they were dated long after that post) where Boyett has railed against furry with some choice expletive-involved name-calling and claimed that he would never finish any of the other books because of furries. Don't know if he just got ticked off at getting nagged by readers in the fandom about when the next book would come out, or what, but it seemed like a pretty lame excuse to me (and is why I bought a copy of _Ariel_ at a used bookstore, incidentally).


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## Kadrian (Mar 9, 2011)

I don't remember when I saw his page about re-writing the book, but I'm sure it was within the last couple of years. I have no idea how long it was up either, but perhaps it was the response to said page from excited furries that ticked him off. From other things I've read he sounds a bit temperamental, such as his comment about killing your kid to keep the Nazis from getting it in reference to his publishers wanting him to re-write his (non)masterpiece. He also mentioned that he might never get around to doing the re-write since the issue with the publishers left him feeling bitter about the book and he was enjoying considerable success as a DJ. I was able to find a few notable quotes from Boyett, though:
Where's the rest of THE ARCHITECT OF SLEEP?
In a box in my closet. For the longest time I've had every intention of finishing it, but thanks to the existence of (and the kind of mail I get from) furries, I've changed my mind.

I'm more likely to make the world happy by engineering a furry-specific virus with a 99.99% mortality rate. Furries are the very reason the sumbitch ain't getting finished in any medium now known or hitherto developed. I hate them, Sam I Am.

Nope, they're mismatched-plaid-wearing, hygienically challenged, dandruff-carpeted gulp-laughers who show up on your front porch unannounced or send you demanding emails.​EDIT:  Found it:

http://groups.google.com/group/podc...d/c9135eed2ef67b28?lnk=st&q=#c9135eed2ef67b28


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## M. LeRenard (Mar 9, 2011)

Damn furries and their corrupting touch.
Seriously, though.  This guy sounds like a complete asshat.  But at least now I know what I'm in for if my book ever gets published.


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## Kadrian (Mar 9, 2011)

I'm thinking of deleting what I have written of mine.  Anyway, I'll have it published under a pseudonym and not let anyone know who I am or where I live.  Furries showing up at his door?  That really is disturbing.  Especially if they were wearing diapers.


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