Over at Story to Script, I’ve got a solid article on proper worldbuilding… practical tips on discovering and shaping the worldbuilding details your story actual needs.
What I wanted to touch on today, here in this short article, is something I see all too often… A post on social media that goes something like this;
“I’ve been developing my story world/setting for the last 3 years or so. It’s super rich and full of detail, but…”
It doesn’t matter what the but is, whether they’re having trouble with the actual story, or looking for an artist to help them to bring it to life, whatever…
The thing is, this kind of worldbuilding is always a trap!
Worldbuilding writers are enamored by two things…
Firstly, the existing IPs they “love.” Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Mad Max, whatever…
and Secondly, the ease of actual worldbuilding. Unlike fiction that has to actually function with all the moving parts we discuss throughout my sites and books, vomitting up a hundred pages of ‘how your thieve’s guild operates‘ doesn’t actually have to meet any hard parameters. Jot down some lists, throw down a few paragraphs, hey, even some detached dialogue with no description, context, or narrative drive–
Look, Ma! I’m worldbuildin’!
So here’s what newer writers who focus on worldbuilding miss…
All the great IP worlds you love to get lost in… you love them because THEY EXECUTED A GREAT STORY in those worlds. You fell in love with the story… the worldbuilding was just the cream in the doughnut.
If Harry Potter had bombed. If you wound up hating every second of the story, I guarantee you nobody would be buying tickets to the Hogwart’s train.
I mean really think about it for a second, with any of the IPs you love for their worldbuilding… are any of the stories that drew you to the IP absolute rubbish?
Think of it this way…
If you met the love of your life standing in line at the bookstore. Would you not have fallen in love with her, if she was wearing a cashmere sweater, instead of a Rolling Stones t-shirt? Would sparks have not flown if she had a ruby nose piercing instead of a gold dimple stud?
The details matter. They take an 8 and make it a 10… They’re the straw that breaks the camel’s back and pushes people from enamored to obsessive.
But love at first sight, or love of any good story, is stronger than the superficial details… Or at least, the loves that last are.
So for the love of God when you’re sitting there for years hand drawing roadway maps between The Happy Shire and Dundledorf Downs, remember, if you story can’t stand on its own without those details… you don’t have any story at all.
Without the story, nobody’s falling in love with anything.
Figure our your story first. When you got something with bones, THEN worry about all the different species of frogs used as currency in your Ghibli Spirit Realm inspired setting. ▪
About the Author —
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Newcomer or veteran writer, if you’re working on a project that needs commercial success, Nick urges to you read this intro article.
Nick Macari is a full-time freelance story consultant, developmental editor and writer, working primarily in the independent gaming and comic markets. His first published comic appeared on shelves via Diamond in the late 90’s. Today you can find his comic work on comixology, Amazon, and in select stores around the U.S.