#how do you go about world building | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seaselkie · 1 year

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🌀❤ 2, 5, 15, 26 ❤🌀

Aaaah okay hi. Oof some good ones but also some tricky ones to answer. Sorry, this will be long 🤪

2. When you’re writing a new story, what is the one thing you need to know before you can start?

Unhelpfully, this depends.

The simplest, shortest answer is I mostly need to start with the human element; generally people. A character or dynamic that I have a vested interest in exploring in some way. Sometimes I want to write for a world or larger concept, but mostly with me it is something human at heart.

The more in depth answer is that what I need to start with is often different. Sometimes the idea for a story will be built on some internal factor - a character confronting a fear, or achieving some goal. Sometimes the starting idea is external - wanting to explore a physical space or put people in a certain situation. And those things are just what inspiration happens to strike, sometimes at random and sometimes prompted by what I see or read in the source material.

For example:

When I wrote Raise the Black (Maze Runner), it was because I mostly wanted to write about 18th Century piracy and specifically sailing and tall ships. The rest of the story I built around that. When I wrote The Space Between Sleep (911) it was more that I wanted to explore paths of recovery after trauma and the many different forms that both trauma and love can take. (This is a popular draw for me, and many of my other fics have threads of this). I also have around 100k of a Teen Wolf fic that has never seen the light of day which exists purely because I had one character-oriented idea and it needed a lot of set up to get there.

5. How do you know when a story is “done”?

The short answer to this is closure.

Whatever the story set out to do, when you have been able to satisfy the sense of closure to the key characters and plot elements and questions that you have opened up, that is perhaps a good indicator. (Closure, is also not in conflict with an open ending. I think you can have an open ending, in many ways, while still feeling like you have resolved what you need to).

The longer answer to this is I think is trickier.

First off, because as my hard-drive will confirm, I am crap at knowing when a story needs to stop. I just keep adding to them and realising theres way more to tell than the small idea I started with. I also think, though, that stories are never really done, or over, but that authors have to pick a point to stop telling them. Part of that is, perhaps, knowing when you have addressed and resolved the things you set out to, and knowing when something else is part of an entirely new story instead of this one.

Examples again - When I wrote The Last Hearth (GoT) it was very much about that one conversation between two sisters. When I had addressed the things I set out to, the scene could come to an end. Shape of Grief (Maze Runner) was about exploring loss and pain and following that down a tragic path. The story I am currently working on, an aralas lotr brainrot, started on a few ideas spread out over time, and there are more dynamics involved than just two people so it encompasses much more in the telling. Ultimately all those I consider complete when they provide the closure for the threads I started pulling on, even if the endings aren't all neatly tied, or especially happy.

15. How do you write a really good metaphor?

(First - I think that whether you did write a good one or not is ultimately up to the individual reader, and this is something I always say of writing generally. You can do all the hard work in the world, but ultimately, a reader's first impressions and interpretation of a story is their lived experience and nothing you say or try to correct about it afterwards can take away from that. It might contextualise it, or provide greater understanding, or might offer them another viewpoint, but their first feeling is something that they have every right to even if it is not what you as a writer intended.)

So short answer again, my personal 'good' metaphor is making it immersive and relatable but also being able to find a common thread to the audience.

To elaborate on that - (imo) a good metaphor is one that pulls from the world and the story around it. It is using language that your viewpoint/narrating characters would personally have a reference for because they understand or have experience with them. For instance, in a medieval world, you might not use words or phrases to do with computers, or even advanced science. Back then you wouldn't say someone "bluescreened" with shock or they felt as though they had been electrocuted because they have no reference for that terminology. Even within the same story or world, different characters have different experiences and they may think or relate to things in different terms. So whoever is telling your chapter or story, use metaphors that relate to them and make sense in their understanding of their world.

In some ways the tricky part could be being able to use metaphors that make sense to the character and their lives, but ones that don't leave the reader with no point of reference, especially in stories where the world, culture, character or whatever else are so departed from the reader's experiences.

So ultimately, what I think makes a metaphor good is embedding it in the world and having it make sense within the context of its story while being able to deliver that to readers.

26. How do you go about world building?

Lmao damn. Short answer: a piece at a time.

The long answer....(and boy did this take some time to think about)

I think it is some core essentials and ultimately people come to them in their own ways. For me its working out from wherever your starting point is - be that an opening scene, a line of dialogue, a character concept etc - and at every stage, asking questions about who, when, how, where, why etc to fill in a history and paint a picture. Sometimes you need to know one person's backstory before anything else, and other times that kind of individuality comes way later because first you need the larger picture of a corrupt government or something. So the starting blocks will be different for every author and for every story, but in its core form, to me at least, its slowly working outward, asking questions and finding answers that all form building blocks for the overall image.

(Like, most of us know Harry Potter started with a boy and his scar. Tolkien started with languages and a map. Percy Jackson came to life because Riordan wanted a hero with ADHD. The Scorpio Races was written because Stiefvater pictured a brutal beach horseback race. The world comes together a bit at a time from that starting idea).

I think then, a Part 2 to this answer, is actually writing it into a story, not just how you come up with it, and for me that is also: a piece at a time. Show, don't tell.

If you drop several paragraphs of backstory on your world in the opening pages - or even a wall of text in the middle - the chances are your readers will skim it and move on. Generally speaking, with a few exceptions, you don't want your story to lose momentum, and that is what happens when you take a time out to explain a lot of things.

So for me, I favour drip feeding information. Share the bits that are relevant when the story is served by knowing them. Sometimes that is letting the reader learn things at the same pace that your characters learn them. Not only is it more likely that the information will stay in their minds because its necessary and useful in the moment, but it can also help to embed them in the story and develop a stronger emotional attachment if they feel like they're living it in the same breaths as your characters.

All of this obviously just... my opinions on things 🤓

Damn Dreams you asked some hard ones. I hadn't stopped to think about some of this before so that was fun. Thank you!

Ask me author questions

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ziracona · 2 years

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I heard Deacon’s “There're other organizations out there. And, in time, I'm sure they're going to spoon-feed you their own patented form of bullshit. Ignore the verbage, and look at what they're doing. What they're asking you to do. What sort of world they'd have you build, and how they're going to pay for it.” one time in 2016 and it’s lived with me for six years.

#Deacon #fallout 4 deacon #fo4 deacon #fallout 4 #deacon fo4 #deacon fallout #fallout deacon #will a quote ever hit as concisely and completely as that one did to me at 4am on a break from work #god just. ‘ignore the verbage and look at what they’re doing. what they’re asking you to do. what sort of world they’d have you build. &#how they’re going to pay for it’ /changed/ me. I think about that line all the time #deacon quote

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cluescorner · 21 days

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Arlecchino's whole deal is unbelievable

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder what's causing my weird powers? I can't really worry about that right now tho, I've gotta become King and then kill my "Mother".

*Kills Clervie and "Mother"*

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder why I was able to defeat a Fatui Harbinger when I'm like 17 or so? I can't really worry about that right now tho, I've gotta be in jail and become a Harbinger.

*Is in jail for a while and becomes a Harbinger*

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder why I am-

Pierro: Hey what's up hello, anyways you're descended from the Crimson Moon Dynasty of Khaenri'ah. I'm sure that this is a lot for you to take in so-

Arlecchino: Ok.

Pierro: ...You're just cool with that?

Arlecchino: IDK maybe? I can't really worry about that at the moment, I'm a father now. This orphanage full of children I love (who also are child soldiers and are not allowed to leave or else I'll execute them except maybe now I'm just gonna wipe their memories IDK I'm morally complex) isn't gonna run itself.

*Runs the orphanage/spy recruitment initiative*

Me, the fucking player: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE KHAENRI'AN? WHY WASN'T THIS BROUGHT UP IN YOUR FUCKING QUEST?? OR ANYTHING ELSE????

Arlecchino, talking to me through my phone: I honestly don't know why you care, I'm too busy to give a shit. Anyways, I'm gonna go fight fate itself I guess. I'm sure that I don't share any thematic parallels with any other Khaenri'an characters (particularly as it relates to acting and family angst) and that I haven't made the idea of 'curses' on Khaenri'ans and what they entail even more complicated than they already were. See ya.

#arlecchino #genshin impact #pierro #WHY IS THE GAME FUCKING GLOSSING OVER THE FACT THAT SHE IS KHAENRI'AN?!#Not only that but she is the first Khaenri'an we've met (that we know of) who's from the Crimson Moon Dynasty #I'm so fucking confused #Did Celestia place a DIFFERENT curse on members of the Crimson Moon Dynasty?? Or is this stuff all of them can do???#HELP #She also seems almost...uninterested in the fact that she's descended from Khaenri'ah. Which honestly I think is interesting.#I don't know if I like it yet but when every other Khaenri'ah character has one of their major traits being that they super fucking #care that they are Khaenri'an (whether that be Kaeya with his paranoia/destiny/duty or Dain with his guilt over his failure/desire to #prevent our sibling from fucking with anything too much or whatever the fuck is going on with Pierro)#having a character who is Khaenri'an but doesn't seem to particularly be invested in that part of themself is different #she cares more about the curse and its effects on her then she ever really cares about the Crimson Moon Dynasty or the cataclysm #IDK I think it's neat from a character writing angle. or at least it has the potential to be if the writers do a good job.#But from a 'I like maybe 3 things in this game and one of them is Khaenri'ah' perspective it SUCKSSSSS #That part of the plot is already suffering from chronic live-service storytelling disease where people just straight up don't tell you #shit that they logically SHOULD BE TELLING YOU because the game needs to save plot points to build hype around #so for one of like 4-ish (depending on how much we count Albedo) Khaenri'an major characters to give us literally 1 and 1/2 voicelines #kinda sucks ngl. but again it's also interesting and realistic for Arlecchino and from that angle I like it #she doesn't care about what fate says her place in the world is. she's gonna carve her own and being Khaenri'an isn't relevant to #the life and identity she has built for herself. she isn't the type to look for answers she doesn't need. she's practical and efficient.#at the very least it's better than when Albedo 'I want to find all the world's truths' Kreideprinz doesn't let the audience in on his stuff

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captainofthetidesbreath · 3 months

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Midst is about a murder the exact same way that Disco Elysium and Pentiment are about a murder.

#They're about murder but also about ideology and authority systems and maybe trying to do what's right when there's little space to.#(And how extremely wrong that can go because of the weight of institutions and ideologies and history itself on everyone and everything)#It's about what you're told and who is telling you. About change and potential second chances.#About communities and societies and how we build them (for better and for worse) and what it is we owe and give and take from one another.#About realizing you can feel the world turning right here and right now. About change and its conditions.#Midst things #Midst #Midst podcast #Disco Elysium #Pentiment

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kicktwine · 9 months

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the problem is I’m such a staunch believer in the slow buildup, the earnest enjoyment of meandering through terrible story decisions and weird nothing subplots to build up into a conclusion that explodes out from all that as fantastic storytelling and intrigue based on all that buildup, such that it makes it necessary to get through all that or you’re missing something essential, that I’m also a terrible person to talk to about what makes a story good. I can tell you plenty of what actually makes something tight and well-written and all that technical speak but how could anyone take my advice when I so so so love excruciatingly long unnecessarily complex fumbling and weird nonsense that spirals into, inexplicably, weird nonsense that makes you cry your lungs sore

#kipspeak #my point being everyone is too mean about post arr. sure f’lhammin did not have to be our problem but everything after that was like #meandering. Thinking. building. unnerving. they were cooking and i RESPECT their dubious food #i love homestuck and long audio dramas and dnd podcasts and indecipherable fancomics and lego ninjas and khux and im starting to love ffxiv #all incredibly long and made with passion and kinda weird and hard to get into #said with THE MOST affection in my heart #I could structure a kids show and I know how to write for tv but in my heart of hearts #I just want to write an impossibly long absurdity epic that is weird and a little bad and also makes you feel shrimp emotions #ALSO I feel 0% bad for not respecting ur theory or opinion if you haven’t played khux/dr/recoded I don’t feel bad about it at all I’m right #understand what’s going on in them and I’ll respect your theories. it’s like comics enjoyers but less chaotic #don’t let me get into comics. superheroes never really catch my interest but if you let me get into comics I’d explode #‘it gets really good’ is a genuine way to interest me #also don’t let me get into anime that do this. I already watched a thousand episodes of detective Conan—#maybe it’s a careful balance of weird and Good Storytelling Seeds. it has to have internal logic for one; and it has to have a structure #It has to be leading somewhere. and I want to see where it leads #we are GOING through the disney worlds. all of them. they are COOKING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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cyberpunkboytoy · 5 months

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My DID-having ass is experiencing so much world-envy for the fictional country of Vaugarde I'm going to throw up

#Didn't realize how much I needed a society built around the concepts if change and reinvention but holy shit I do. I need it so bad.#The legally normal concept of being given multiple names to transition between or change to...#the societally accepted and easy ways to craft a new body...#the traditions built around reinvention and throwing away aspects of your old life that you wish to discard #that also acknowledge that reinvention involves the destruction of something else. & the grief from yourself or others that comes with that #literally have never resonated with anything to this level and I am YEARNING #like. my life would literally be so much easier in that society #the fact Vaugarde also highly values queerness of all kinds only helps #going insane over this world-building tbh konda wanna overthrow my government & rebuild my country in its image tbh #I am Decidedly Not Normal about this fake country #no spoilers if you respond to this btw. Not done with the game #In Stars And Time #hi dev I know you have a tumblr so if you see this: I love you #thank you for creating this world and letting me have a peek into it #they say we can't build a better world if we can't imagine what that world would look like and #now i can. I know what my ideal world looks like.#textpost

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kimwexlersponytail · 2 years

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The only thing that kept me going was knowing you were here.

#bcsedit #better call saul #mcwexler #jimmy x kim #kim wexler #jimmy mcgill #been seeing a lot of people saying that they don't deserve a happy ending after everything and though i get why that's being said #i disagree with the idea that they must be punished by the narrative in the form of an absolutely devastating end where they both die or #are broken down even further because they're Bad People and they Deserve It...their relationship is the heart of the show and #i don't believe that the writers spent over half a decade building this relationship up just to leave everything hanging in the balance #we can argue all day about jimmy and kim being Good or Bad but they love each other. they do. and bcs is a love story #do i believe that they're going to live happily ever after and get a fairytale ending? no of course not but i don't see a doom and gloom end #for them either. narratively speaking jimmy has been in prison all this time and who knows what kim has been up to all this time #i just don't think it would be narratively satisfying if the ending was about punishing them i really don't #i think it's going to be bittersweet for sure but there's no doubt in my mind that it'll be full of heart....#but god all of the takes about jimmy not deserving to meet up with kim in the gene timeline are just making me root for it even harder #and i really hope the world turns back to color the moment he sees her and idc how many people think it's cheesy <3 #and you know what someday maybe they'll finally get their house.#mine

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fitzrove · 3 months

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Rant in the tags... I am insufferable

#i keep watching video essays that annoy me.....#largely about like idk 'girlhood' 💀#and they never make sense or come across as relatable because smth like loneliness or relationship drama or identity for women is ALWAYS #connected to relationship history with men 💀#and h*terosexuality is treated as an universal aspect of womanhood #this also makes many stories unrelatable to me. a man existing is not a crime but stories saying smth deep about womanhood through how women #feel about men makes it alienating when you don't see the world that way #also idk some video essays are just soo pretentious and the person talking obviously doesnt know enough abt the topic #this doesnt only go for 'girlhood' type essays btw it also goes for the stuff i watch about minecraft and ts2 etc (yeah...) 😂💀#anyway yeah where is the essay about the universal girl experience of wanting to be crown prince rudolf (JOKING)#no but the thing is... watching dune made me realise... ppl never let a girl be a hero in blockbusters IN THE SAME WAY men get to be #st*r w*rs tried but the overall plot failed in many parts & people couldnt be normal abt it #idk i do think its because of how sex and romance are treated way differently in women's stories....... women never have those happen #just randomly on the side as things that build her up and somewhat affect the hero's journey - it often becomes About The Man #(because often it is a man)#idk #where's girl p*ul atr*ides. where's girl j*sus. where's girl crown prince rudolf #(in my fanfics.... that last one is in my fanfics...)#well just one so far unfortunately 😔

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elizabethrobertajones · 10 months

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Good choice for an upstanding roegadyn husband for Frog to bring home to her parents to impress them: Rammbroes

Hilarious choice for bringing home an upstanding roegadyn husband to alarm and frighten her parents: Rasho the captain of the confederacy in the Ruby Sea.

#the trouble with having a WoL with a well adjusted home life and living parents #is sometimes you think 'hmm they would probably still have something to say about her marrying an elezen #even if he were the leader of Ishgard'#'I must now evaluate every roegadyn man of a certain standing for potential parent pleasing husband quality'#idk maybe this is just an elezen/hyur/roegadyn problem and the world building for other races feels less analagous #to recent historical societies where this would be important #although woe betide if you have a Sharlayan OC #they definitely have roegadyn culture first and foremost #in terms of like... day to day social structures #I'd say the hyur/elezen/roe non-specific 1800s to modern societal expectations #but roegadyn founded Sharlayan's society and you can see how it mirrors Limsa first especially with boats and arcanists #point is your sharlayan moon catgirl might still have to bring back a respectable husband to impress the parents #in which case you could do worse than Rammbroes :P #ffxiv #I am just rambling #I haven't not skipped the ruby sea cutscenes on alts literally ever so this is the first time watching them since Frog was first here #they're REALLY long and back to back in my defence #also Gosetsu would be perfect parent pleasing husband material but like however old Rammbroes is Gosetsu has at least 2 decades on him #going from 'hmm' to 'Frog MUST see her own grandpas in him and that's that'

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konfizry · 1 month

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Anyway speaking of the sun did I ever tell you about the tales of arise eclipses

#im thinking about it again xyhdfgdchdchjh #do you think they like. considered it #i MEAN ofc they did #they cided that sun disappearing behind rena but dO YOU THINK #that they initially planned to have that actually impact like. the WORLD #in a significant manner?#with the actual luminosity level being affected and all #because like for cyslodia iirc this means no sunlight in the morning #(or cyslodia that we get to explore cyslodia's pretty big after all)#but like i can see how this is a problem like #you liberate cyslodia that is the One Realm where its always nighttime except when you end the renans' grasp on the region there #it still doesnt get a full day of sunlight because of astronomical reasons that we cant do anything about yet #also probably the region of the Central Ocean is in perpetual darkness as well but for those same astronomical reasons #like it GERS CONFUSING it would confuse everything idk #but heres the solution: you ditch that cyslodia in endless nighttime idea bc it was stupid in the first place #like. in calaglia they harvest fire astral energy so its a fiery place. theres fire everywhere. in menancia theyre harvesting #earth astral energy so its super lush and green. and so on and so forth #and in cyslodia theyre harvesting light astral energy so theres. theres no light. its dark. because theyre stealing it!!!!!#well why usnt menancia a barren wasteland then. why isnt ganoth super dry. wha #i COULD accept it if like. maybe. if like the completely stealing the light thing us like. ganabelt specifically.#like hes just a Special Boy and found a way to pull all the stops #and something like that has never been done before in the history of the crown contest #but no this has been going since the great conquest apparently so???#like how arent the other lords doing something like that too?#is light astral energy like so fundamentally different that the harvesting process is the opposite of what happens in other realms?#and if thats the case why dont they ever explain it in the game. or just make a pasing comment about it. I'm not picky #aaaanyway. just get rid of that specific cyslodia plot point #and THEN you can focus on how living in the shade of rena influenced what parts of Dahna #like. to just kinda like. cement the world building a bit?

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aroacettorney · 10 days

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when will aup sidestories return from war and stop leaving me bitter about how the main story ended

#lumensis' characterization & death + the revelation of ludgers desire were extremely anticlimactic #700+ chapters of building up only to have the resolution forcefully/hastily crammed into. what. 2 and 1/2 chapters?#and am i supposed to care for his relationship with his mom when it didnt come up in 99% of the novel?#tbh it had *many* opportunities to come up but the author wanted to keep ludgers desire as mysterious as possible #and so it lost its chance to have any emotional buildup #well other than the implications of regrets which were frankly a bit oversaturated in the novel #(again. what happened to the 'show dont tell' principles)#honestly even occasional flashbacks to ludgers mom teaching him about all kinds of myths and lores when its relevant #would have helped in this aspect plus showcased his growth and development over time even when its off screen #(doesnt make his vast knowledge look like it conveniently came out of nowhere)#while also greatly enhancing the world building of his game breaking 'real magic'#anyway i think ludgers reconciliation w his mother would have been more impactful if ludgers past life came up more often #hell it would have done wonder in exploring his depth if we are going with framing his past lifestyle as a flaw #the thing about ludger as a character is that his past (in both worlds) is much more interesting than his present #bc its the only way we can see how he mentally changed in comparison as his changes are nearly non existent in the present timeline #(a part of the reasons why ludgercaseys relationship over time is an appealing topic is that it showcases both of their changes)#(reading about a protagonist who has no mental changes over the course of the story is no different than watching... a nature documentary)#im still v salty about how we never get to see arpas and bettys reconciliation btw #so do emotional closures between ludger and other characters #those are literally the meat of the story that would be worthy of their own arc #sayren why the hell did you rush through them and put them off screen #in the end instead of proving that he has finally learnt his lessons by confronting his emotions ludger chose to run away from it yet again #even if we are to assume that is whats gonna happen post epilogue why is his change accomplished by a goddamn last minute timeskip #(that is also lowkey a failed suicide attempt in disguise)#instead of what could have been... idk... a banger novel named aup #good christ #rant

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baronessofmischief · 5 months

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Rebel Moon on Netflix is sooooooo soso bad guys 😂 like at least there’s space Charlie Hunnam with a Scottish accent and sometimes the main character has a flashback where she has a better haircut AND there’s a sibling duo who have the best costumes in the movie but the story? The script? The movie structure? Cohesiveness? Absolutely terrible. And there’s still 45 minutes left