Notes on Worldbuilding - from Nebula!
Oct 12, 2020 12:26:52 GMT -6
Post by RAVENEYE on Oct 12, 2020 12:26:52 GMT -6
So here's the short explanation of what this is. In May I got to attend the Nebula Conference b/c Covid forced SFWA to do it online, which meant the con, which is usually held in L.A. every year and is expensive, got to be infinitely more accessible and way cheaper for folks like myself. My con registration came with all kinds of free stuff throughout the year, including a Halloween party (if I "go" I will post costume pics), and monthly webinars!
The webinar series this year is on WORLDBUILDING! The first webinar took place yesterday. The rest will be every 3rd Sunday of the month until the next Nebula Con. Each month will feature a guest author who will discuss their take on specific worldbuilding topics.
Since most of us do some kind of worldbuilding for our fiction, I figured I would share my notes each month. If nothing else, maybe some of the tips will prove useful or start conversation.
Okay, so there's the preamble. And here are the notes I typed while the host and guest author discussed:
October - Session 1
Guest Tade Thompson author of The Rosewater Trilogy
Topic: How Much is Too Much, How Little is Too Little?
Update: The recording of this session is now available on YouTube:
Are you unable to write short fiction b/c you include too much worldbuilding detail? Kate, our host, nods. She’s called a “serial maximalist.” Makes it sound like including too much detail is a criminal offense. And habitual.
Maximalist vs. minimalist? Which way to go? How to balance the two?
Story first. Story before world. <-- This is most important.
Thompson explains why including some details upfront is important/necessary (and why many writers overdo it): “These are the basics of this world that you need to know before I can tell you the story I mean to tell you.” The world is the space where the writer and reader meet to transfer the message.
Example:
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water (this is the worldbuilding needed)
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after (this is the story)
Things to consider and keep in mind while writing:
* Worldbuild is about relationship between characters and culture, character and environment. Not details for the sake of details.
* How much worldbuilding causes the message to become lost in excess noise?
* Too much worldbuilding can bring several Chekov’s Guns into play that never fire. Sets up reader for disappointment with too many false important-seeming details.
* Choose the right details. Too much causes confusion. One perfect detail vs. too many random just-b/c-they’re-cool details.
* Why is this detail important to the narrative? What is the promise that this detail sets up with the reader and does the story deliver on it? Or is it excess b/c it’s just cool? Should it be shaved off? Murder the darling.
* pull familiar things first (a desk, a clerk) and slowly mix it in with the unfamiliar (a clerk at a desk in an alien registry office), so that there’s not too much at once and certainly not too much in the story opening. Keep in mind, you are requiring a reader to learn a new language and bond with the unfamiliar. Ease them into it, or risk overwhelming and alienating them.
* worst thing you can do is info dumping! At the beginning of the book! The worst place ever. Instead, open with “who am I rooting for, who am I bonding with, why would I choose to follow this character into peril and horribleness?” Bond first. People are relational, readers want relationship with a character, good and/or evil.
* Setting as emotion. Setting as character. Has to be done subtly, rather than spelled out. To weave in the necessary cues so that the reader feels what you want them to at the right time, without you having to tell them “You should feel dread now.” Make it so that the reader has learned through the characters and context why xyz instills dread when it shows up. Example: certain eschelons in a culture wear blue coats. We learn by watching the action and diving into a character’s heads that blue coats are worn by the king’s secret service and they raid houses looking to arrest magic-users and people scuttle out of their way. Therefore, many chapters later, when the child starts wielding magic, we know to dread the arrival of blue-coat wearing dudes, without being told to feel dread.
* Every single detail needs to set up the scene that is happening now or is imminently about to happen.
* “starting with conflict first” does not mean all stories need to start with battles, brawls, etc. Emotional conflict that contributes to stakes and caring about the character we will stick with is even more appropriate.
* Starting stories with fights, battles, or dreams are gimmicks and very hard to pull off well because the reader does not yet care about the characters involved. Reader is forced to invest their own sense of shock. These are considered short-hands to reader empathy (cop-outs).
Example:
“Women in refrigerators,” a saying attributed to author Gail Simone.
* Readers want immersive experience. This is done, less with empty stage dressing, and more with details that have meaning.
* Do not rush. It’s okay to take the time to build the story in such a way that true immersion results. Most readers are willing to spend some time getting to know the character and the stakes BEFORE the blood starts flowing. WHAT ARE THE EMOTIONAL STAKES INVOLVED?
* Beware (and be aware of) problematic worldbuilding: Example - filling your world with faceless/cultureless hordes who have no agency, just so there’s a people group you can mow down without remorse. Who are these hordes as people?
* the point of your worldbuilding needs to reflect what you’re wanting to say about the world and humanity. Dump all the cool details on the first draft, then with the second come at it from the angle: “What is THIS story about?” Edit the worldbuild details to reflect THIS story’s message. FIRST DRAFT IS TO OURSELVES. Indulge yourself. Include whatever you want. Second draft, what do I need to keep or cut to convey this message well?
Editor is on the side of the reader, to make the text readable for the reader. Therefore, the editor will help you clarify what you want to say. “This detail doesn’t help. This one does.”
***CRITICAL QUESTION: Do you want to build the world or tell the story?
* When touching on all the senses in your imagery, make sure the sensory details contribute meaningfully to the purpose of the scene, not random or incidental just because.
Example: One appropriate detail about a smell in a village can imply SO MUCH about that place or culture that need not even by stated outright or explained in tons of detail.
Think about the senses as you write a scene, but it’s not necessary include all of them, but find the one telling detail that builds your current scene/character. The detail must MEAN something.
*Characters will notice different things because they are different people with different backgrounds and takes on things.
*** CRITICAL QUESTION: WHY DOES THIS DETAIL MATTER?
* “Secondary world” = A world that is not planet Earth nor does it have any references to Earth. Mostly a fantasy world term, b/c sci-fi often references back to Earth and generally takes place in the same universe where Earth really exists.
* Write the book you want to read, then leave it up to the individual reader if they want to read your book or not. Consider short attention spans, short chapters, white space, short paras, quick plotting, but don’t let it dictate your story. Give the reader a reason to keep coming back to read more.
There’s no need to chase the audience and try to anticipate what will keep them happy. Reception of the story is out of your hands.
* Write the book you want to write and don’t worry about what it’s genre is or how it will be categorized. Just write your story. Let others worry about that.
* Tough conflict to write: having to go where you don’t want to go, for the sake of believable well-rounded characters or messages on themes in ways that that convey truthfulness instead of stereotype or shallowness.
Next Month:
November 15
with guest author N.K. Jemisin!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The webinar series this year is on WORLDBUILDING! The first webinar took place yesterday. The rest will be every 3rd Sunday of the month until the next Nebula Con. Each month will feature a guest author who will discuss their take on specific worldbuilding topics.
Since most of us do some kind of worldbuilding for our fiction, I figured I would share my notes each month. If nothing else, maybe some of the tips will prove useful or start conversation.
Okay, so there's the preamble. And here are the notes I typed while the host and guest author discussed:
Nebula World-build Webinars: Narrative Worlds
Notes and Nuggets
Notes and Nuggets
October - Session 1
Guest Tade Thompson author of The Rosewater Trilogy
Topic: How Much is Too Much, How Little is Too Little?
Update: The recording of this session is now available on YouTube:
Are you unable to write short fiction b/c you include too much worldbuilding detail? Kate, our host, nods. She’s called a “serial maximalist.” Makes it sound like including too much detail is a criminal offense. And habitual.
Maximalist vs. minimalist? Which way to go? How to balance the two?
Story first. Story before world. <-- This is most important.
Thompson explains why including some details upfront is important/necessary (and why many writers overdo it): “These are the basics of this world that you need to know before I can tell you the story I mean to tell you.” The world is the space where the writer and reader meet to transfer the message.
Example:
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water (this is the worldbuilding needed)
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after (this is the story)
Things to consider and keep in mind while writing:
* Worldbuild is about relationship between characters and culture, character and environment. Not details for the sake of details.
* How much worldbuilding causes the message to become lost in excess noise?
* Too much worldbuilding can bring several Chekov’s Guns into play that never fire. Sets up reader for disappointment with too many false important-seeming details.
* Choose the right details. Too much causes confusion. One perfect detail vs. too many random just-b/c-they’re-cool details.
* Why is this detail important to the narrative? What is the promise that this detail sets up with the reader and does the story deliver on it? Or is it excess b/c it’s just cool? Should it be shaved off? Murder the darling.
* pull familiar things first (a desk, a clerk) and slowly mix it in with the unfamiliar (a clerk at a desk in an alien registry office), so that there’s not too much at once and certainly not too much in the story opening. Keep in mind, you are requiring a reader to learn a new language and bond with the unfamiliar. Ease them into it, or risk overwhelming and alienating them.
* worst thing you can do is info dumping! At the beginning of the book! The worst place ever. Instead, open with “who am I rooting for, who am I bonding with, why would I choose to follow this character into peril and horribleness?” Bond first. People are relational, readers want relationship with a character, good and/or evil.
* Setting as emotion. Setting as character. Has to be done subtly, rather than spelled out. To weave in the necessary cues so that the reader feels what you want them to at the right time, without you having to tell them “You should feel dread now.” Make it so that the reader has learned through the characters and context why xyz instills dread when it shows up. Example: certain eschelons in a culture wear blue coats. We learn by watching the action and diving into a character’s heads that blue coats are worn by the king’s secret service and they raid houses looking to arrest magic-users and people scuttle out of their way. Therefore, many chapters later, when the child starts wielding magic, we know to dread the arrival of blue-coat wearing dudes, without being told to feel dread.
* Every single detail needs to set up the scene that is happening now or is imminently about to happen.
* “starting with conflict first” does not mean all stories need to start with battles, brawls, etc. Emotional conflict that contributes to stakes and caring about the character we will stick with is even more appropriate.
* Starting stories with fights, battles, or dreams are gimmicks and very hard to pull off well because the reader does not yet care about the characters involved. Reader is forced to invest their own sense of shock. These are considered short-hands to reader empathy (cop-outs).
Example:
“Women in refrigerators,” a saying attributed to author Gail Simone.
* Readers want immersive experience. This is done, less with empty stage dressing, and more with details that have meaning.
* Do not rush. It’s okay to take the time to build the story in such a way that true immersion results. Most readers are willing to spend some time getting to know the character and the stakes BEFORE the blood starts flowing. WHAT ARE THE EMOTIONAL STAKES INVOLVED?
* Beware (and be aware of) problematic worldbuilding: Example - filling your world with faceless/cultureless hordes who have no agency, just so there’s a people group you can mow down without remorse. Who are these hordes as people?
* the point of your worldbuilding needs to reflect what you’re wanting to say about the world and humanity. Dump all the cool details on the first draft, then with the second come at it from the angle: “What is THIS story about?” Edit the worldbuild details to reflect THIS story’s message. FIRST DRAFT IS TO OURSELVES. Indulge yourself. Include whatever you want. Second draft, what do I need to keep or cut to convey this message well?
Editor is on the side of the reader, to make the text readable for the reader. Therefore, the editor will help you clarify what you want to say. “This detail doesn’t help. This one does.”
***CRITICAL QUESTION: Do you want to build the world or tell the story?
* When touching on all the senses in your imagery, make sure the sensory details contribute meaningfully to the purpose of the scene, not random or incidental just because.
Example: One appropriate detail about a smell in a village can imply SO MUCH about that place or culture that need not even by stated outright or explained in tons of detail.
Think about the senses as you write a scene, but it’s not necessary include all of them, but find the one telling detail that builds your current scene/character. The detail must MEAN something.
*Characters will notice different things because they are different people with different backgrounds and takes on things.
*** CRITICAL QUESTION: WHY DOES THIS DETAIL MATTER?
* “Secondary world” = A world that is not planet Earth nor does it have any references to Earth. Mostly a fantasy world term, b/c sci-fi often references back to Earth and generally takes place in the same universe where Earth really exists.
* Write the book you want to read, then leave it up to the individual reader if they want to read your book or not. Consider short attention spans, short chapters, white space, short paras, quick plotting, but don’t let it dictate your story. Give the reader a reason to keep coming back to read more.
There’s no need to chase the audience and try to anticipate what will keep them happy. Reception of the story is out of your hands.
* Write the book you want to write and don’t worry about what it’s genre is or how it will be categorized. Just write your story. Let others worry about that.
* Tough conflict to write: having to go where you don’t want to go, for the sake of believable well-rounded characters or messages on themes in ways that that convey truthfulness instead of stereotype or shallowness.
Next Month:
November 15
with guest author N.K. Jemisin!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated session 2 with the video link.
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