Not sure where to go with this...

[Dr Steve Brule]

Very good posts from everyone. I think the hardest reason for me to pick a hero and then just write it "like a normal story" is that I value world building so much that I have centuries and centuries of lore built up. Empires rising, falling, conquering. Gods being born and killed. Alliances swaying and bonding. So much in my world is dynamic and changing. I guess when I look at my world in my mind, I see the whole timeline scope of things so it is hard for me to narrow it down to a single point of interest because I feel like I would be leaving so much out that I wouldn't want to be shoehorning info in.

Like I said, originally I hadn't planned on making this universe into a book. I made it just for the fun of it. I think that's why I may have this somewhat stubborn attitude when it comes to publishing. I'm not really looking for it to be a success, or popular. Don't get me wrong it would be nice and I wouldn't complain but at the core, I am writing because I enjoy it.

I just had a thought. Perhaps I could write a book, maybe a trilogy or something, set in this universe. Once that is released, maybe then I could make the sort of expanded mythos of the world. That way I am able to market some of my work while still being able to complete this lore project. It's still just an idea but I kind of like the sound of that. A few of you here said that the Silmarillion is loved by the fans because they fell in love with lotr/hobbit first and then wanted to know more about the world.

 

[Mythopoet]

Very good posts from everyone. I think the hardest reason for me to pick a hero and then just write it "like a normal story" is that I value world building so much that I have centuries and centuries of lore built up. Empires rising, falling, conquering. Gods being born and killed. Alliances swaying and bonding. So much in my world is dynamic and changing. I guess when I look at my world in my mind, I see the whole timeline scope of things so it is hard for me to narrow it down to a single point of interest because I feel like I would be leaving so much out that I wouldn't want to be shoehorning info in.

Like I said, originally I hadn't planned on making this universe into a book. I made it just for the fun of it. I think that's why I may have this somewhat stubborn attitude when it comes to publishing. I'm not really looking for it to be a success, or popular. Don't get me wrong it would be nice and I wouldn't complain but at the core, I am writing because I enjoy it.

I just had a thought. Perhaps I could write a book, maybe a trilogy or something, set in this universe. Once that is released, maybe then I could make the sort of expanded mythos of the world. That way I am able to market some of my work while still being able to complete this lore project. It's still just an idea but I kind of like the sound of that. A few of you here said that the Silmarillion is loved by the fans because they fell in love with lotr/hobbit first and then wanted to know more about the world.

I soooo understand how you feel. I also love fantasy worlds and worldbuilding. My worldbuilding project recently went from covering thousands of years of history to millions. And I am in love with just the immense scope of it and it makes me feel sad to think that I might be the only one to ever truly grasp it all.

But I force myself to remember that Tolkien was able to create the delicious feeling of the depth of the history of Middle-earth in LOTR precisely because there was so much there that he only hinted at and never went into great detail about. You don't get the same feeling from The Silmarillion. They rouse very different emotions and I wouldn't want to have not experienced either of them.

Personally, I am approaching my own storytelling task by planning a series of stand-alone stories set at different times and places within the same world, each with a different ensemble cast, that can be read individually but will also create a sense of a great world saga when read consecutively. If I can carry it off anyway. And then also a more "modern" (think steampunk age of exploration) series of stories following a main character that will draw on that great wealth of history without ever needing to explain it in detail. It's probably too ambitious a project by half, but I guess that's what happens when you start worldbuilding too much.

 

[Dr Steve Brule]

Mythopoet, I agree. I do believe that you can make a strong connection to the reader by leaving this vague or in mystery. If you fully explain everything as the story progresses it leaves less room for your reader to wonder. Some of my favorite memories of reading books is actually when I am not reading them; when I am on my way to work, or something else and I ask myself questions about why and how.

Mystery can be a good way to add depth without going in depth.

 

[skip.knox]

Until actual stories come to you, there are alternatives. I, too, have a rich world, mainly because I ripped off this one, and I have all sorts of perfectly fascinating (emphasis mine <g>) aspects to it. Stuff I know is never going directly into a story.

So I have a web site. That's where I put stuff (I've rather neglected it lately; busy with novel) that I guess would qualify as world building. You could do the same. Build a web. Or a wiki. Whatever suits your temperament. Put all the stuff there. Right now, probably only friends and brow-beaten relatives will see it, but once you do start publishing, then your readers will flock eagerly to your rich backstory site. I'm not joking there; it really does work.