Common Worldbuilding Mistakes

hello everybody the time has finally come we're talking about world building this video is dedicated to one of my patrons over on patreon Erin Moe Erin Moe more like Erin Momentis Erin a Mosin like a lot of you Erin was interested in information regarding world building and many of you know I am currently in the process of releasing a fantasy novel that takes place in a completely different world so I have a little bit of experience with this and I actually have a lot to say on this topic so I decided to divide it up into two videos today I'm discussing some of the recurring mistakes writers make when they delve into the pit of despair that is world building before you build the crap out of your fictional society be mindful of these blunders and try not to duplicate them number one avoid info dumps it's great to figure out the history of your world you'll need to know the details of its government its Foreign Relations its class system but your readers don't always need to know this stuff and they certainly don't need to know it all at once it a massive info dump a lot of world builders especially fantasy writers like to include a multi-page info dump that explains every detail of their world down to the legal system and imports and exports not sure if you realize this but that shit's boring I'll be the first to say that sometimes exposition is necessary but only sparingly and in small doses most of the world building process is done so the writer can get a firm grasp of their world not so the reader can learn about the highly efficient plumbing system beneath the Kingdom grounds literally no one cares a little bit of exposition is fine but for the most part allow your readers to get to know the world by following your characters as they travel through the world you don't need a massive info dump explaining the climate the reader will understand that it's a cold climate when your character is trudging through snow you don't need to explain the class system when your character is referring to some people as Nobles and some people as peasants that kind of speaks for itself info dumps do you know favors if the reader can simply learn about the world by reading the story itself number two travel matter a lot of writers put themselves in shitty situations while world-building because they didn't bother to ask themselves one simple question where the hell are your characters going maybe your book begins in the ruby kingdom so you think to yourself okay I'll build the Ruby Kingdom easy except if your characters travel to the kingdom of darkness in Chapter three building a single location that only appears in a couple of chapters isn't exactly sufficient additionally some writers will spend months or even years building not one or two realms but entire planets filled with territories each with its own race religion government Society I could go on then after toiling over all this work they'd go to write their story and the character never leaves their village congratulations you just wasted years of your life that you're never gonna get back so before you dive into world building take a look at the direction of your story where is it gonna go where are your characters going to go it's good to have a general idea of the world you're creating but it's smarter and more time-efficient to focus a majority of your efforts on the exact places that will be predominantly featured in your series number three magic and superpowers make a difference a long time ago a new race of magical beings appeared in the world and nothing happened really everything just continued as normal we don't have magic in the real world so I get not understanding the effects that would have on a society but I'm sure you can logically assume that something as significant as the mystical powers would change [ __ ] for a lot of people how do you think people would react would they be excited curious terrified or all the above how would religious figures react what about the government you need to account for these responses and subsequent changes because life isn't gonna continue as normal if suddenly everyone can fly now say your society isn't experiencing superpowers for the first time say magic has always been a part of this world this is gonna affect stuff too if people have the power to control the weather you can't write about crops dying in an unexpected drought because farmer John would have made it rain am i right if your characters can read minds then you can't rely on a deep dark secret to feel the plot because there are no secrets your characters can literally see into each other's thoughts think about how powers would affect society as well as day-to-day life consider not only the reactions people would have to these powers but how they would implement them into their normal everyday activities number four people are not a monolith it's normal for a country to have one particular government but it's not normal for every single citizen to support that government it's normal for a kingdom to have a dominant religion but it's not normal for every resident to practice it the real world does not work in absolutes people have their own unique opinions and perspectives so while it's possible for most of your world to think a certain way or carry certain beliefs there will inevitably be outliers even if your government used militant force to enforce societal norms there would still be people who practice their beliefs in hiding and we're willing to die for their cause so how do you know if your world building has produced a monolith is there one religion or belief system in your kingdom or even worse the entire world is there only one political system and does everyone follow it no questions asked does every character have a name based on the same language or written in the same style regardless of background these sort of things aren't true to life if your world building is lacking variety it's lacking realism and on a related note we have number five diversity and world building is realistic world building a lot of people get bent out of shape about the concept of diversity in fiction which I honestly find really weird we all want to see ourselves and stories what's wrong with that why is that so hard to graphs and usually the people who say I don't care if I see myself in books or the people who already have a ton of representation so of course you don't care you don't know what it feels like to be treated as if you don't exist so here's the deal folks if you want to tell realistic stories that appeal to a wide audience diversity is a must remember society isn't a monolith it's not realistic that your characters all look the same have the same sexuality or the same physical and mental capabilities and no your book is not diverse just because you included humans and fairies additionally if you mix diversity in your world building you don't get to act like your hands are tight I really wanted to include a more diverse cast it just turns out that this particular Kingdom is a Caucasian Kingdom what do you mean it turns out you are in complete control of your world building you chose to make your kingdom like this why is that this question makes you defensive then you've learned something about yourself if you're making excuses to avoid writing people with a different skin color or body type or sexual orientation than you then it might be time to do some soul-searching and figure out why something as simple as melanin and hormones makes you uncomfortable that's what I got for you today world building is a difficult process there's lots of room for error and these mistakes in particular are super common so don't make them a huge thank you to Aaron Moe for requesting this topic if you'd like the chance to have a video dedicated to you or if you want access to tons of other rewards that check me out on patreon the link is down below I'll be covering the sort of things you should nail down during the world building process in the near future so be on the lookout with that said don't forget to subscribe to my channel I post new videos on Wednesdays and if you want to be alerted as soon as I upload click on that bell below my book is still available in eBook and paperback on Amazon right now you can also order a signed copy I got the links below as well and you should totally follow me on social media I'm on Instagram Facebook Tumblr and of course you can tweet me at Jenna maresi bye

Channel: Writing with Jenna Moreci

Views: 240,856

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Keywords: write, writer, writing, read, reader, reading, book, books, ebook, author, novel, literature, publish, publishing, writing tips, writing advice, worldbuilding, worldbuilding tips, fantasy, sci-fi, science fiction, fiction, humor, funny, comedy, laugh, laughter, motivation, inspiration

Id: Tj3yTH1sY5M

Length: 8min 4sec (484 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 20 2017