How far do you go with worldbuilding?

[diabolicalplotter]

I'm curious about what others do for worldbuilding. Do you build out to the small details before writing, or do you have a loose framework and go from there? I'm sure it depends on the type of story you're writing as well. I get impatient to write after I have a skeleton down, but then I always have to go back after realizing I've not fleshed out an important part of the world, and it becomes a cycle of creative glee into irritation with self and back again. I know it's a process I need to figure out for myself, but maybe you all have some tips that have not occurred to me yet.

 

[pmmg]

I have a loose framework, and let it grow organically from there. I am more interested in stories than world building. Story trumps world building.

But, since were on the subject see: Goldie's Guide to World Building <--wrote for my daughter, but anyone can enjoy.

 

[diabolicalplotter]

Thank you! Am diving in...

I agree with you there about story trumping world building. I think I may need to get over my need for detail accuracy, in the beginning... I do get a lot of ideas and connections from world building, though.

 

[skip.knox]

Most stories start with an idea, right? An idea for a character, a world, a plot, but pretty much nobody thinks up all that in one initial thought. That can work for a short story, but not for novels.

So, if you grant that, then it's easy to see that it's a process, getting from Idea to The End, and that the process is iterative. For example, I have a mage's tower. Several mages are in there, and someone is killing them one by one. Of course there's going to be investigations, discoveries of bodies, etc.

All that has physical implications. How tall is this tower? Because I don't want all action on the same floor. So, if X happens on Floor 5 then Y happens on Floor 2, I now have to think about staircases, any magical avenues (if any), and the layout of those two floors. And how tall is this tower? Twenty levels. Halfway through the novel I realize I can't possibly use that many and I'm starting to invent things to happen just to pull in another floor. All right, ten floors. Or seven. No wait, it'd be cool if the tower itself were seven-sided. That opens up possibilities for this one scene. But this main character has a limp and I can't very well put them on the seventh floor. They wouldn't tolerate that.

And so on. Setting affects plot affects character affects setting affects theme (where'd that come from?) affects character affects setting ...

"Iterative" is ever more much more concise. I jump back and forth between backstory, setting descriptions, and the writing of the actual story.

Here's another way to think about it. Do you have to know absolutely everything about your characters before you can begin to write them? No? You need only two or three things about them to get started. As you write them, they fill out, and your file or notebook on characters starts to fill up with notes. Same thing with setting (world-building). As soon as there's any possibility of starting to write actual story, I get to it.

This approach is not without cost. Then again, no approach is without cost.

 

[DanGreen]

I have the exact opposite problem usually. I tend to do barely any worldbuilding ahead of time and instead write down all the pertinent information as it comes to me.

 

[DanGreen]

But, since were on the subject see: Goldie's Guide to World Building <--wrote for my daughter, but anyone can enjoy.

That was some actual gold right there. Clear and helpful.

 

[El_d_ray]

I want an interesting idea for a setting, how this world works, what makes it stand out to me. Then I start build regarding this point but only as needed, if the story or illustration demands some stuff, then I will work this out. It can sometimes be daunting, that I want to add some details, and I have to mark it as something to get back to, and make this background work to connect some obscure things that will noticed maybe one or two people, but I like to do it this way.
Really don't like to create stuff upon details before the story, I don't feel like it's worth it.