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Worldbuilding and writing
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Worldbuilding and writing
Worldbuilding and writing fantasy..ouch.
So, do you guys struggle with worldbuilding or just writing fantasy novels in general?? I have so many fun fantasy stories I would absolutely love to write, but I can't figure out how to commit myself to just building on one plot. And I would also love to write a series or two, or like, 7, but I just don't understand how you can't get distracted. Even when I write realistic fiction, which was my favorite to read and write for a while (basic I know lol) I would fing hard to make the atmospheres feel natrual. I think fanatsy books are soso cool, but I just struggle with worldbuilding and finding the motivation to keep at such an in-depth story.
So yeah,that's pretty much all. Does anyone relate and/or have advice??
Yeah, I hope you have a wonderful day!!
<33 Spellbound
submitted by Spellbound, age 13 she, xe, They, lost in therapy
(March 27, 2022 - 10:04 pm)
(March 27, 2022 - 10:04 pm)
Yesss same :'(
I think collaborating with others is a cool idea, which I'm actually trying out now, since you can all help each other stay motivated, but this has its own challenges too, like limited creative freedom, or group burnout, etc,
I'm thinking maybe I'll start with a few AEs, and then let my brain take over until the whole thing is twisted into multiple planets with hundreds of characters and multiple complex languages, politics, species, history and ecosystems, etc.... Because that's just what it does. At the same time, I obviously have commitment issues, so hardly anything gets too far off the ground. :P
(March 27, 2022 - 11:39 pm)
Ooh, I had never thought of collaborating! Although, I'd probably be annoying to work with and get burnout, it does sound like a cool idea! But yeah, commiting to writing one story is so hard for no reason! :p
<33 Spellbound
TOP!
(March 28, 2022 - 10:01 am)
I really don't struggle with worldbuilding, but I seriously have problems writing it into a plot and actually continuing the plot.
Case in point: I made a whole planet, devised a school system, drew a map, made a language, wrote so many notes about how the people are.
Did I ever do anything writing-wise with the world? No.
(March 28, 2022 - 4:30 pm)
EXACTLY! THIS IS LITERALLY THE PROBLEM! >:0
(March 29, 2022 - 1:54 pm)
OMG i'm literally doing that exact thing with a story right now :0
(March 29, 2022 - 4:42 pm)
Hi Spellbound! I have a personal world I'm building for my own stories: I find it easiest to make a creation story for the world first, which gives background and perspective to it. And consider who is in this world. There quite likely are other creatures besides people: who are they? Building a whole world is really overwhelming though, so I picked a region, and more specifically, a town, to begin my stories at. Then I don't get lost in the rugged forests, mountains, and wastelands of my world. Happy writing!
(March 28, 2022 - 8:51 pm)
Interesting!! Thank you for the advice!! <33
(March 29, 2022 - 4:43 pm)
I don't struggle very much with worldbuilding, but finding a good plot, YES. And actually sticking with it until the end! I have over a hundred unfinished stories that I really want to come back to. I just loose momentum after my writing "phase" is over.
I would say if you're having trouble with fantasy worlds, take a step back. Not everything revolves around the setting - it revolves around your characters. As one of my favorite authors put it, "a glittering adjective palace does nothing for your story if the characters who live in it are as boring as a bowl of cornmeal mush." Once you start creating characters, their features could make the setting fall into place. Good luck and don't stop writing!
(April 9, 2022 - 7:04 am)
EXACTLY
(April 9, 2022 - 1:47 pm)
I'm working on a reply, but I do have a question. Since you posted this, I'm assuming you want advice? Which of these things do you struggle with:
-Information distribution/exposition
-Description
-Creating a plot that goes through the whole book
-Finding ways to continue the plot throughout the whole book
-Commiting yourself to a story/not getting distracted
-Contrivances in worldbuilding
-You need ideas for ways to do things not related to a story's content
-Other (please specify)
Thank you! This will help me be more helpful. And also, if you don't trust me, that's fine XD After all, you have no basis for what I know about writing.
And I do want to say this: You don't have to work on only one thing at a time! I personally work on several at a time. So do whatever works for you : )
And oh my gosh my captcha says "pprey"!!! Prey! *purrs*
(April 9, 2022 - 11:15 am)
Oh my gosh, thank you so much!! This would be awesome!! I'd say I struggle most with:
-Creating a plot that goes through the whole book
-Finding ways to continue the plot throughout the whole book
-Commiting yourself to a story/not getting distracted
-Contrivances in worldbuilding
it would be incredible to get advice from you!! thanks again!!
(April 10, 2022 - 8:43 am)
All right! I look forward to working with you. If you could talk about the particular contrivances in worldbuilding, that would be great! And if you could talk a bit about the plot in your story and what the hardest things are, that would help me a lot too :D And I'm far from an expert, so discard anything that isn't useful or is wrong. Thanks!
I don't have much written yet on plotting, so I'm going to suggest some things about "commiting yourself to a story". First off, this will be different for everybody. What works for me may not work for you. So I'll just give some thoughts.
So, it generally helps to have an emotional attatchment to a story. Perhaps you love your main character, or there's a relationship you want to grow - anything that won't make there be less interest as you get more used to the idea. Since I think you said that you're having trouble with motivation, maybe if you get really attatched to things that will help. I know that it's saved a few of my stories when I had to completely redo them. However, don't give up on the new fun shiny things - they can help make writing - and reading - your works more fun! (As long as they make sense, of course. For instance, in a gloomy horror story, going to a fairy's house in a mushroom for a fun tea party would make no thematic sense. And adding unrelated scenes for them is probably going to bore readers.)
From looking through the thread, it looks like you might not have finished a lot of things. That's completely fine! But if you're not very good at finishing things, it could be helpful to try writing short stories first. They take less time and dedication and also help you get better at writing. It's possible that the sense of satisfaction from getting something you like could help motivate you. You can work up to bigger stories in time. And you definitely don't have to only work on one thing at a time!
As for building just one plot, I'm not completely sure what you mean. You can always write multiple stories in one world, though! It is good to stick to one main plot per book, though, and even subplots should add to it - that's a really good instinct to have.
Oh my gosh, reading through this I sound so old and mature XD In any case, I hope this helps :D I'll be back in a bit, hopefully with more pinpointed advice. And if there's anything I misunderstood, please point that out! Keep writing!
(April 10, 2022 - 6:39 pm)
OKAY SO--
I'm pretty good with worldbuilding I think. BUT my problem is always that I start a plot and make SO many changes as I go along that by the time I reach the end the beginning is basically in a different reality.
Anyone esle have that problem?
(April 20, 2022 - 9:10 pm)
Anyone wanna talk about some of this again? :)
(May 8, 2023 - 9:12 am)
(May 12, 2023 - 9:11 pm)