The transition.

[riggy99]

So, I am not sure if this is in the correct place, but I have a question. What is the best way from transitioning from the world building stage to the writing stage? Personally I have created and designed a lot of worlds down to tiny details, however I then struggle with writing the story. I understand more reading and practice will help so I am working on that. I was wondering if anyone on here as any tips or tricks to help a guy out. Thanks in advance.

 

[Penpilot]

Here's the way I look at it. World building is like writing an RPG manual, lots of facts, lots of rules, but it's not a story. The story is the players using that manual to play the game.

A story in it's most basic form, IMHO, is a character, a problem, and the character's desire and struggle to overcome that problem. So find an interesting character in your world, throw a problem at him/her, and see what they do to solve it. Overall, it can be a lot more complicated, but what I mentioned is everything boiled down.

Good luck

 

[Guru Coyote]

Maybe you can start by taking on of those many details you designed, and try and write a small scene including it. Penpilot's basic elements of a story (a character and a problem) are all you need to start.

Also you could try a variation of the "three word challenge": put key elements of your world on index cards, shuffle them well and draw three at random. Now see if you can come up with a scene or story that includes all three...

 

[Saigonnus]

Another option you could explore is simply trying to create a situation without characters. Create a basic sequence of events without thinking of characters; those can be fleshed out later.

A. Girl gets kidnapped from a village and her family slain by men supposedly working for the Duke.

B. Her friend discovers someone had witnessed the event and asks them about it.

C. With the knowledge, the friend tries to get help from the half dozen king's soldiers that are stationed just outside the village, but they can't help since there is the constant threat of "insert enemy here" and they can't leave the village or outpost undefended.

D. A grizzled old mercenary, overhearing the conversation and coming from a similar past, decides to investigate and finds out it was men sent by "insert antagonist here" to sow discord among the villager of the area in an attempt to have them rebel against the duke and come to them for protection..

E. The mercenary and "friend" follow their trail until they reach the fortress of "antagonist" and realize they'll need help getting inside.

F. Returning to the village, he sends out ravens (used as messenger birds) and within a week, three of the mercenary's best friends arrive to help; paid out of the mercenary's pocket.

G. They scout the fortress and find a weakness, entering after dark.

H. The antagonist discovers they are coming (the mercenary is betrayed by one of their "friends") and captures all of them.

I. The friend, who is a passable hunter manages to sneak in and steals some clothes to pretend they live in the fortress.

J. They find where the mercenaries are held and frees them after stealing the keys from the drunken gatekeeper.

K. The mercenaries kill the traitor, and escape with the prisoner; pursued by the antagonist.

Etc.

Etc.

Just keeping the events general like this could help to develop a plot line for a story. Think then about the elements that make up the story; the village, fortress etc... and choose a spot within the world that will work. The details can be fleshed out as you go, like what the village looks like, how they travel here and there... who the characters are and the reasons behind the plot.