How do you make a world you created something new?

[Argentum]

How do you take a world that you already created, perhaps many years ago, and turn it into something new?

I created a world when I was a teen and worked hard for many years to give it life. I know every part of it, it feels pretty official and real to me. Then I got a fresh dose of creativity recently and I've been able to create over 7 whole new races and I've never been able to do that before. Now I'm more interested in this new world because it's new and exciting and the creative possibilities are absolutely endless. How do I take this new creativity I found and apply it to my old world? How would you start and where would you even start? And has this ever happened to you and how did you do it?

 

[sashamerideth]

Something about putting new wine into old bottles, I don't think there is a point in revisiting old work. I would prefer to start new, maybe keep old ideas in mind but not the old writings.

 

[Kaellpae]

I've been having a problem with having too many ideas for my single world. There's a few gods that I want to include, but I don't see it fitting together without feeling hammered in. There's also an old world that I didn't develop at all that I wanted to write in. I would only develop it through a few stories and call it good, but the spark is still there at least.
Total, I have ideas for 3 worlds. One is fairly underway, another has a few ideas building, and the last is a story intro that I wrote, and that's it.

An idea to fit them all together could be to just put them all at different time periods. I'm sure authors and world builders do that sometimes. Maybe you could do that with your world?

 

[Paul Rehac]

as someone who usually has more than a few ideas floating around at any one time, I usually try to follow the muse wherever it leads... That is, if you have energy and new ideas for an old world follow that lead as far as it will take you. You may decide later to use it with the world you originally envisioned or not... but by all means write down any and all ideas as fast as you can...

As far as integrating those ideas into an old world there are a number of possibilities for new races you had not originally thought were part of that world:

1. A cataclysm that threatens the entire world brings forth races that were once part of the worlds myth but not beleived to be real

2. Interplanetary or multi-dimensional travel... maybe these new races are interlopers from another worldor plane

3. Mutations

4. There was a previously unexplored area of the world.... or under the world that these races have been hidden away in...

There are endless ways of doing this depending on the purpose you have in mind for the world - that is what is the story or stories and how do you want to tell them.

 

[Leuco]

My advice is start small. "Think globally, but write locally." Try not to put things in your books simply because they "exist" in your world. You can make reference to them, but if they don't concern the heroes or play any significant role, then its probably best to not bother mentioning them until they do. That way you can introduce them as they are introduced to the heroes, and you can explain who and what they are without having too much back story. You can always add these creatures and places some other time as they actually become part of the plot.

I try to keep things simple, so I haven't had this problem yet. But that probably just means my world's really boring!

 

[Motley]

I've been able to create over 7 whole new races

When I read this, my first thought was, "Yikes!" If you already have multiple races in your world, I can't imagine a reader keeping track of seven more.

I'm with Leuco on the idea of not putting everything you know about your world in the story. I know some people say the world, in fantasy, often becomes like another character, but I prefer the characters to do all the living in the world.

 

[Argentum]

My worlds are for different stories entirely. And though I know everything of the first world because I've planned and created it, I didn't intend to show it all off right away. The characters would live it and they would be the ones to live it and it would be seen bit by bit.

My question really was something else entirely. When you get a fresh dose of creativity and you can finally break out of several restraints that had previously made it impossible, how can you take that creativity (which allowed you to create a brand new world and multiple races) and turn it towards the old world and somehow make it 'new' again? How could you revamp a world? My world is pretty much created, but I cannot really call it 'completed' because it lacks several things (things that make it different from other authors' stories). I want to go back and change/alter my world. I just wanted to know where or how to start and how to take this new creativity I found and somehow apply it to the 'old' creativity that gave me my first world? I hope I'm making some amount of sense.

 

[Ravana]

Unless the new material slots neatly into what's already there, I'd basically start over, with the new ideas taking precedence, adding the parts of the old that fit in with the new and revising the rest. I've done that more than once, and find it much easier than trying to shoehorn new material into an old structure. One of the most important aspects of writing is not being so devoted to what you've done before that you simply can't abandon it. No matter how much you may love something you already have on paper, if it doesn't fit, it doesn't, and trying to force it will result in an inferior product. Hang on to the stuff you have to discard: you can always use it for other stories… not everything you write has to be in a single world. And you may discover later, in future bursts of creativity, that some of it can be worked back into your new world, courtesy of those new ideas and some minor revisions.

 

[Shadoe]

My question really was something else entirely. When you get a fresh dose of creativity and you can finally break out of several restraints that had previously made it impossible, how can you take that creativity (which allowed you to create a brand new world and multiple races) and turn it towards the old world and somehow make it 'new' again? How could you revamp a world? My world is pretty much created, but I cannot really call it 'completed' because it lacks several things (things that make it different from other authors' stories). I want to go back and change/alter my world. I just wanted to know where or how to start and how to take this new creativity I found and somehow apply it to the 'old' creativity that gave me my first world? I hope I'm making some amount of sense.

You might try simply changing the names of things. I'm not sure if this would work in your world, but it helped me on one of mine. For instance, if you have a horse used a lot, change a "horse" to a "conij." Do this for a few different things, then see if the world looks different to you. You can change your conij back to a horse later.

 

[Peutra]

You'll have to change the fine parts of it as well; you can't just change the names and be done with it. Like Shadoe said, if you change a horse to a conij, you'll have to make it not a regular horse or you'll be better off calling it a horse (unless a conij is the name for a horse in your world).

 

[Argentum]

For certain areas it might help simply changing the name. For instance, finding a name for the currency instead of just 'coppers'. Something simple, but it helps a little. But I do agree that you would have to almost uproot certain things and start over.

There are a lot of things I haven't fully created yet and perhaps I don't have to start over so much as simply go in debth. I have elves, men, dwarves, and other various humanoid races and I'm working specifically on what makes them different from other books (what makes them mine). I'm not entirely sure where to start. Everything needs to be altered or at least improved in some way. I think I'll probably work on several of the more important cultures first. Here in Korea they have these binders, but instead of paper, they have sheet protectors in it. So I have one for each culture/city and I put in all my details there. I'll probably do that for a while and then move on to races and certain characters.

 

[SeverinR]

I agree with those that say keep them seperate, but write the story you want to read and include what you want in your world, old or new.

You'll have to change the fine parts of it as well; you can't just change the names and be done with it. Like Shadoe said, if you change a horse to a conij, you'll have to make it not a regular horse or you'll be better off calling it a horse (unless a conij is the name for a horse in your world).

You can lead a conji to water but he will no more likely drink then that stupid horse next to him. Don't look a gift conji in the mouth, they have bad breath.
Alright maybe I'm beating a dead conji here.