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World Building

Is it Novel Worthy?

  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Partially

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5

shangrila

Inkling
Ignore the people telling you it's too big or small.

The world should suit the story you're telling. If it's a globe trotting advantage to prevent an apocalypse? Sure, fill that world map. But if it's not, don't stress about it. Do as much or as little as you want, so long as telling a good story is what's still in the forefront of your mind.

Personally, I think it's a rabbit hole far too many writers fall down. They wind up trying to stuff too much extra, inconsequential stuff into their story to justify their world building.
 

Aldarion

Archmage
Hello I'm really curious on people's thoughts on World Building and the scaling of it, I started making a map on Inkarnate and I'm quite proud of it but I've been told it's either too small or too big for a dramatic fantasy novel... I'm obviously not done with creating the landscape but I'm happy with the overall land masses.

For those who've written novels and personal projects as I am currently doing, what would you have done differently if my map was your own work? Would you add more land masses? Make it smaller overall?
MZSJKPK

Look, build the world as large as you are comfortable with it. You have no obligation to use all of it or even most of it in a story, or even through multiple stories. Much of your worldbuilding can be merely referenced - a statement here, a note there... Just having a sense of the world larger than what is seen and experienced by the characters already adds a significant depth to the story and worldbuilding within it.

This is an excellent essay on the topic:
Archaeology and the Sense of History in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth
 
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