TheMirrorMage
Scribe
I had this general idea in mind for a story, and since writing it down I've been trying to mould a world around a basic story arc. I've gotten a few days into the world-building process and I'm starting to feel constrained to a story that almost doesn't even fit with my world anymore.
I had similar issues with previous, unfinished projects where I had a plot in mind and began building a world around it, only to realise that the world had essentially become the plot. The issue isn't necessarily with the lack of detail (food, clothes etc) but rather with the large concepts were built to carry the plot - for example, the society in my imagined world lent itself logically to be space-faring, but the society in the initial plot could not have had the ability to leave their home planet otherwise the plot would take a different direction.
I've decided to let the plot take the back seat, if not just throw it out the car altogether, while I focus on building the world itself. Partly because I enjoy the world I've created more than the story idea I initially had, but also because I want to have a better idea of the worlds logic and current condition before changing it with a narrative.
So, has anyone else come across similar issues? Do you tend to create the world first or the plot first?
I had similar issues with previous, unfinished projects where I had a plot in mind and began building a world around it, only to realise that the world had essentially become the plot. The issue isn't necessarily with the lack of detail (food, clothes etc) but rather with the large concepts were built to carry the plot - for example, the society in my imagined world lent itself logically to be space-faring, but the society in the initial plot could not have had the ability to leave their home planet otherwise the plot would take a different direction.
I've decided to let the plot take the back seat, if not just throw it out the car altogether, while I focus on building the world itself. Partly because I enjoy the world I've created more than the story idea I initially had, but also because I want to have a better idea of the worlds logic and current condition before changing it with a narrative.
So, has anyone else come across similar issues? Do you tend to create the world first or the plot first?