MrNybble
Sage
When does world building completely overwhelm story building?
Here is the story behind this question. A new writing group I join last month just had a returning member come back after a six-month hiatus. This person I will call Steve has a problem with writing. He has been writing for over fives years and hasn't finished a single story. Yet, he has enough material to build a complete fictional society, planet, ecosystem, history, unique technology, etc. No plot as it keeps changing with the addition of new world elements. Hundreds of characters with complete several page biographies. Detailed maps of areas for past, present, and possibly future plots will take place. Steve is too worried about not having enough detail for the reader to understand his world and characters without all of it created beforehand.
I tried to talk with Steve saying I'm the opposite. Write the story with vague details and explain them later when needed to progress the plot. Writing an encyclopedia before writing the story isn't my style.
Here is the story behind this question. A new writing group I join last month just had a returning member come back after a six-month hiatus. This person I will call Steve has a problem with writing. He has been writing for over fives years and hasn't finished a single story. Yet, he has enough material to build a complete fictional society, planet, ecosystem, history, unique technology, etc. No plot as it keeps changing with the addition of new world elements. Hundreds of characters with complete several page biographies. Detailed maps of areas for past, present, and possibly future plots will take place. Steve is too worried about not having enough detail for the reader to understand his world and characters without all of it created beforehand.
I tried to talk with Steve saying I'm the opposite. Write the story with vague details and explain them later when needed to progress the plot. Writing an encyclopedia before writing the story isn't my style.