How in-depth is your worldbuilding?

[NerdyCavegirl]

Judging by input from various writing forums, I'm a little too meticulous. I think not, at least not for me. I see the world as cycles, connections, and tiny sensory details most people don't notice. Mountains and deserts don't just form wherever, certain plants only grow in certain places, and cultures evolve from other cultures. My notes start with the size of our Earth and facts about the internal structure, but I don't change anything more in-depth than plate tectonics. Too much math when you change the circumference or axial tilt. Was gonna try starting the tectonics from the beginning, but that's also too much math. I do topography-based weather patterns to place climates and biomes, and cultural timelines in 2500 year increments from 10,000 BC-0, and 250 year increments from 1 AD-1750 AD. If I don't, I'm too plagued by logical inconsistencies to write, but if I put in the effort, the goats and cocaine are naturally in all the right places. How meticulous do others get?

 

[ThinkerX]

Said this before, I say it again.

Decades ago, I did far to much world building. Upwards of a dozen. Eventually, it dawned on me that planets are *big* and my 'worlds' could be more accurately described as 'parts of worlds.' So I consolidated from a dozen plus down to two and one or two other pieces that just don't fit. Both of my principle worlds are terraformed - geography and atmosphere altered by aliens tens of thousands of years ago, who then went on to import everything that wasn't a single cell organism. The primary world is around half earths size, and is maybe 70% land. A dang big chunk of it is 'great unknown southern plains.' The other is about 90% ocean, and boasts just two land masses that could be considered continents, one of which has a very strange geography.

I did have to make some unusual calls - no preexisting multi-cellular life means no ancient forests which means no coal, which made metal working difficult until I added solar forges and hot burning fumar trees. Some petroleum, not much.

The aliens occupied the one planet for at least 30,000 years before bringing in humans. During that time they did all sorts of things. As to what those things are - well, I'll find out when I write the stories. The one I did during the last NaNo implied a sort of war between two different alien races way back then. The vast majority of the aliens were killed or fled during a demonic invasion about 3000 years ago. The servitor peoples they'd brought in - including humans - survived, grew, and turned a series of work camps and isolated outposts into nations, or they collapsed into barbarism.

History of the principle nation on the main world starts around 1500 - 1700 years ago. They went from an island nation to a quasi roman style empire over the course of a couple centuries, and despite some hard knocks are still around.

I have maps, timelines, genealogies, and descriptions of various cities, provinces, and countries. Enough to lay an incomplete foundation. When it comes to writing the actual stories, well, I still make up a *lot* of stuff on the fly, be it house heraldry, regional foods, or clothing styles.

Enough worldbuilding to make a foundation is one thing. Too much worldbuilding gets in the way of actual writing.

 

[Drakevarg]

I don't think there's any such thing as "too much" worldbuilding, not really. If all you're trying to do is write a book then yeah, getting down to the nitty-gritty of plate tectonics when they never actually feature into your story is just wasting time. But for some, myself included, just coming up with how all the pieces fit together is it's own reward.

As for myself, I put a lot of detail work into my setting, but in a very spotty sort of way where I'll throw a ton of work into whatever area currently holds my interest at the moment, only to switch over to a different area as needed, with a lot of sketchy spots in between. With 5000+ years of history (and that's just the recorded stuff, there's a pre-history era that spans anywhere between several thousand and several million years that I'm going to leave deliberately vague) and two worlds, there's plenty of work for me to do, but also enough wiggle room that I can insert new ideas as they occur to me.

 

[Miskatonic]

I want to get the story itself taken care of before I start adding in the prose dealing with the worldbuilding elements. I've created enough to have a place to start and if I run into a spot where I need to start brainstorming more content that describes the world then so be it.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I did world building as a hobby in its own right before I started writing. I didn't bother too much with the scientific aspect of it though. Instead I focused on the various races and their cultures as well as on magic and magical beasts etc. I drew a few maps to get an idea how the world looks, but I never really thought too much about whether the locations of seas and mountains made sense from a geological perspective - so they probably don't.

This may bother some readers, but if that's the case, chances are they won't be enjoying the actual story either. My stories are (so far) very character centric. There's no large scale traveling happening and the geography just isn't important to the stories as such. It's enough that it's going to take Roy four weeks to travel from Kul Viller to Tin Jian by train (my world's big, and Roy is pretty bad at planning his trip) and that he'll pass through different climate zones and terrain types on the way.

For the story, the characters he meet along the way are more important.

That said, if you enjoy doing it - go for it. There's bound to be others who enjoy reading stories set in a thoroughly thought out and well grounded world as well.

 

[Ben]

the goats and cocaine are naturally in all the right places.

I'm interested in reading this "cocaine and goats" story!

I'm impressed with your level of detail - I was wondering if you were pulling our collective leg for a minute.

I think the world building is its own reward if you enjoy doing it, so go nuts by all means.

I'm more of a slacker and don't worry to much about making a map beyond what's needed for the current story and think up some basics of the history, which I add to as circumstances in the story inspire or necessitate.

 

[Miskatonic]

I did world building as a hobby in its own right before I started writing. I didn't bother too much with the scientific aspect of it though. Instead I focused on the various races and their cultures as well as on magic and magical beasts etc. I drew a few maps to get an idea how the world looks, but I never really thought too much about whether the locations of seas and mountains made sense from a geological perspective - so they probably don't.

This may bother some readers, but if that's the case, chances are they won't be enjoying the actual story either. My stories are (so far) very character centric. There's no large scale traveling happening and the geography just isn't important to the stories as such. It's enough that it's going to take Roy four weeks to travel from Kul Viller to Tin Jian by train (my world's big, and Roy is pretty bad at planning his trip) and that he'll pass through different climate zones and terrain types on the way.

For the story, the characters he meet along the way are more important.

That said, if you enjoy doing it - go for it. There's bound to be others who enjoy reading stories set in a thoroughly thought out and well grounded world as well.

I lucked out in that the person who made my map was knowledgeable about how to make sure the rivers and mountains match how they would be in real life.

I don't think it's worth getting too obsessed with the minute details, even if some people want to nitpick everything. I mean look at the popularity of ASOIAF and how preposterous the seasons are in that world.

 

[Russ]

World building is very secondary for me. It only exists to support the story.

 

[Miskatonic]

World building is very secondary for me. It only exists to support the story.

Also world building tends to mean there is no actual story-writing getting done. I think at times world building can be used as an excuse to avoid actually hunkering down and writing. This is one of the reasons why I'm putting a lot of stuff on the back burner, especially since I have a detailed map, and just getting to the story.

Eventually I'll have to come up with the various religious institutions, cultural traits unique to different areas, etc., but even that can be accomplished through some straight-forward dialogue.

 

[Nimue]

History provides that wealth of detail for me. I've no desire to try to fabricate something that has already come about organically. But worldbuilding is not in the spotlight for my writing. Story is king, and character is its queen.

If you can pull off sweeping omniscient paeans to your world or a scope so broad that all the surrounding details come into focus, more power to you. But I think it's worth asking whether and how this information will end up in your story. Unless your goal is to immerse yourself in worldbuilding, which can be an end in itself.

I can tell you one thing, and it's that spending a lot of time or effort will not automatically make something worthwhile; it will, however, make you more likely to cling to its importance because of the investment you've put into it.

 

[Heliotrope]

Not. I take the George RR Martin approach which is "make it up as you go along" to serve the story.

But actually, lately I've been writing mostly modern urban fantasy or historical fantasy (or a combo of both) so I've not been doing too much world building at all.

 

[FifthView]

One of the benefits of worldbuilding is the fact that the number of story archetypes is rather limited, whereas the number of potential worlds is vast. Seeing how a particular story archetype will play out differently in a new context can be a major draw for me–although, I love character-based stories for the same reason, seeing how a different character will navigate a familiar story. This, despite the fact that I also enjoy contemplating the different worlds and characters for themselves apart from whatever story is being told.

The vast number of potential worlds also means that spending a great deal of time on one world lets the rest of the field go fallow. I have one particular world that has captured my focus for several years now, but recently I had one of those sudden inspirations that really excited me. The problem is that I couldn't reasonably fit this new story into the world I've been obsessing over for four years. That world is quite reality-based, but the new story involves magical fairy-like creatures who live underground, with a character-based plot for an MC from that race. Although I contemplated forcing that story into the world I'd already created, as perhaps an outlier, I realized quickly that would be impossible. And that's okay. In my idle time, I do picture different worlds, and although I don't want to detract from the world I've already created, I think that being able to develop multiple very cool worlds can outweigh whatever advantage is gained by putting every ounce of attention on a single world for years at a time. (Obviously, mileage may vary. I could list a string of authors who have developed a single great world and mined it for many wonderful books.)

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

I don't focus on the sciency and mathy parts of the world building. I can't. I don't have the mind nor experience for it. Where I do focus is on legal systems, governments, and certain social structures. But that is because those are in my wheel houses. Even my magic systems are pretty middling so far as detail goes. Except for my one magic system based on property law, but that's a different story.

However, whenever I do focus on an element of world building it will have a direct impact on the story or characters. I ignore anything other than that because it's a waste of time and I prefer to write stories and interesting characters doing interesting things.

 

[Miskatonic]

Not. I take the George RR Martin approach which is "make it up as you go along" to serve the story.

But actually, lately I've been writing mostly modern urban fantasy or historical fantasy (or a combo of both) so I've not been doing too much world building at all.

Hopefully you'll be better at meeting your deadlines.

 

[WooHooMan]

So, has anyone ever came-up with a way to measure world depth? Also, does your question apply to breadth? Also, does originality qualify as "depth"?

As far as breadth goes, I've never done anything spacially bigger than a subcontinent. However, I've built settings from the ground up where the notion of continents or planets are meaningless. I've had to think-up whole new approaches to cosmology and physics and build the universe from there. Those are the extreme cases.

As far as depth go, I've gotten pretty deep, I guess. I try to (for the most part) avoid one-to-one parralels to Earth which means everything is built from scratch. Which is kind of a hassle because it's hard to convey that info to the readers if you can't say "it's like this thing but different".
Like I had a setting where most of the population were giant snakes and telepathic trees. And it's like, what reference do I have to describe the thought process of telepathic trees?

 

[Chessie]

World building is very secondary for me. It only exists to support the story.

Bingo. Same here. I create settings most of the time. The only fantasy world I've created is Mirovinia, based on Slavic and Alaska native mythology (specifically Athabaskan and some minor Haida). About as far in depth I've gone was to establish culture and principalities, which helps me add realism to the setting's structure.

Other than that, I either make things up or research them as I need to. For example with meals, everyone seems to be eating reindeer stew or baked milk lol. Tedious world building isn't my thing and I honestly don't have time for it. Writing is my focus. About the only things I've had to look up were fashion (and I ended up making something up anyway), weapons like the kindjal, or monetary system which I made up as well because it's a fantasy world and shouldn't resemble ours imo.

 

[Tom]

My worldbuilding is so in-depth that over three quarters of it never even make it into the story. I love creating worlds that feel as real as our own, with as much internal consistency and attention to detail as possible. Sometimes this cripples my writing ability, as I can feel lost if I don't have a complete basis for what I'm writing. Anthropology is a big interest of mine, so I take a lot of time building the cultures involved in my stories and figuring out all their aspects, from religion and government to what an average person's daily life looks like. It's just so much fun.

 

[Gurkhal]

Not. I take the George RR Martin approach which is "make it up as you go along" to serve the story.

But actually, lately I've been writing mostly modern urban fantasy or historical fantasy (or a combo of both) so I've not been doing too much world building at all.

I'm kind of sitting in this boat as well. I create the basic fundaments of the setting and then create the details for the story as I need it. This is mostly to avoid painting myself into a corner with the planning that requires me to know the basics of the world before I start to plan the story and create the details.

 

[Velka]

Shallow, like a puddle. What needs to be created to serve the story is, and that is when I'll devote time, detail, and research. Everything that doesn't fall inside the story doesn't exist because it doesn't need to.

 

[Trick]

I world build in my head and I write on paper. Eventually, it may drive me mad. On the bright side, maybe I'll be as popular as Poe by then. Dead in a gutter but making bookoo bucks.

I tend to have a story idea, which by it's nature dictates whether it's in our world or another. If in another, I design the world in my head while I outline the story. I occasionally make a list of cultures, scientific facts & theories, religions and historical events to research for reference in fleshing out the world. Once the story is outlined, I set it aside and dive into research but I rarely write anything else down. Little notes at most. Much like the story, from all the info floating around the old thought box, a world coalesces in my head and it works as a backdrop to the story without dictating any major changes.

Then I write the story. If it dictates changes to the world, I make them within reason. Sometimes the world squeezes the story in a way I didn't expect and it works out very well.

I once made the mistake of world-building for 8 years. I got 18 chapters of one book done in that time. Then I lost the only copy of those chapters. It kinda killed world building for me. On the bright side, I learned how to world-build at a much faster pace and I didn't have to learn the hard way that what I wrote in those chapters sucked. I'm sure it did but it doesn't torture me.

Write the story. If world-building is a hobby, enjoy it. But if you want to make money writing, put world-building on the back burner and get words about characters on the page.