Nohens Writing Tips #2 · 7:12pm Aug 27th, 2017
While I´m working on the next chapter (yes, indeed thats still happening, don´t hit me!), I thought it would be a good time to continue this blog series to tie you guys over until the release.
As usual, these are only guidelines not rules, so if you disagree with my advice feel free to ignore it. These blogs just serve s window in how I write my stories and what elements I use. Now without further ado...
Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is essential for any long-running story. It gives your characters a stage, on which they can act and provides information about their surroundings and the history of the world they´re inhabiting. As such it is a key-element for big projects. The execution of it influences the quality of your story greatly. Lack of worldbuilding or poor handling of it may cripple your writing and can lead to a variety of issues even if other elements, like your protagonist and plot, are fine.
Now what exactly is worldbulding? It is basically the description of your worlds environment and history. It can range from small items to entire countries. Wether this a short explanation, why the Big Bad has interest in this MacGuffin or describing the structure of Princess Celestia Court. All of that is worldbuilding, in which you provide background-information to the reader. You "build" your story.
Now, keep in mind, that worldbuilding is an element you use, if you are writing a medium to long story. Any fanfic that goes further than half a dozen chapter needs to involve some worldbuilding in its structure by sheer necessity. The moment you involve more characters than your protagonist and antagonist or when you are moving the plot to a different set-piece or location, you use worldbuilding. That is because the motivations and personalities of your characters are directly influenced by the world their living in and describing that world in turn is necessary for them to function. The more characters and the more locations you use or reference, the more worldbuilding you have to do. Tldr: The longer the story, the more complex the worldbuilding.
There are some essential things one has to keep in mind, when writing a story that involves worldbuilding. First and foremost, be consistent. You are most likely writing your fanfic over a long time, from months to even years. It is very easy to lose sight over specific details or forget parts of your background during that period.
This is very dangerous. Because while you forget, your readers don´t. They can read the story one go, are up to date over the development and, most importantly, don´t forget anything. If they spot a plothole or inconsistency in your story, they will point it out. Any time you contradict yourself, their immersion will be shattered and their entertainment will be diminished because of it.
Avoid that at all cost. Make notes of your background. Read up on them regulary while you write and keep double checking, just in case. The more complex your worldbuilding, the more careful you have to be with this. The best stories are the ones, where the writers manage to do just that, even while their epic is reaching over 600 pages. Ironically, if you do well, most readers won´t even notice. Consistency is one of those things that, when you do a good job, won´t get praise, but, if you screw up, will have readers quickly call for you head (figuratively, of course). So, pay attention.
The second things is creativity. Think of the great fanfics of MLP. Fallout Equestria, Starlight over Detrot, etc. These stories stay in your mind not only because of their great plot and characters, but also because of their unique and original background. Their worldbuilding is engaging and interesting and adds another layer of entertainment that keeps the readers glued to the chapters.
Creative worldbuilding comes in many forms. You can try to be original and come with something up, that no one else thought of. That can be difficult in our current age of mass-media. More importantly, you can go too far and deviate so strongly from the source material of your fanfic, that it becomes utterly unrecognizable. At that point you are no longer writing a fanfic, but a completely seperate story that just so happens to have pastel-coloured ponies in it.
It is safer to go with concept already tried and familiar. Inspiration from other stories or media is encourged here. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, after all. Don´t overdo it, though. Plagiarization is still a crime and will earn you no friends on the internet. Take instead a concept and give it your own spin. Maybe you place Twilight and her friends in a kingdom inspired by greek mythology. Or they have to tend with an horde of nomadic tribes led by a "khan" or have to find a magic sword in a stone. Those concept are familiar to the reader and, provided you write well, can give your world dimension without you having to be the new Tolkien.
Fallout Equestria is a good example of that, as it simply takes the setting of the Fallout games and mixes it with MLP. Yet, it works well, because this not a simple copy-paste job, but instead a skilled applied synthesis of two franchises. Kkat managed to keep the spirit of Fallout alive, while providing the reader a unique experience by giving him a chance to see the Wasteland through the lenses of ponies. Worldbuilding is critical here, because he had to decide which elements of the games how to represent and how that ties into the canon of MLP. As the story goes on, this becomes more and more intricate, but never becomes stale, because new information is always revealed that stays consistent and creative.
A good, unique worldbuilding tries to stay fresh as long as possible. Don´t reveal all information at once. Instead give reader little pieces of the bigger picture and let them piece the overall background together themselves. Explain the rules and forces that govern your world over the course of the story, all the while keeping the whole thing already in effect. This leads to readers coming back to the earlier chapters with a feeling of revelation, when they begin to understand the influence of your background. It creates a living, breathing narrative.
Over all that I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay consistent. Your worldbuilding lives and dies by it. The rules you set need to be set in stone or the loopholes have to be integrated early on, in order to not be a deus ex machina. You cannot say "Death cannot be cheated" and then later let Celestia revive Applejack like it is no problem. That comes over as cheap and contradicts your background.
If you instead say "Death cannot be cheated, unless for (insert specific circumstances here)" and then let it come to pass, you remain inside your own boundaries and can even earn the praise of your readers, if you do it well.
Overall, worldbuilding can be a complex and difficult subject to work with. Yet, if done right, it will make your story not just an ordinary fanfic, but something unique and special. It also can be a lot of fun, when you flesh out the background of your world and give many new ideas for future stories or inspire others to write in this universe your created.
As long as you follow the principles of consistency you will ensure at least an adequate stage and can focus on your plot and characters. And when you throw creativity into the mix you can actually manage, with some luck, a truly great story.
Anyway, thats all for today. I hope you found this little lecture of mine interesting and helpful. I will go back on writing on the chapter, that should (hopefully) come out next week. Until then, have good time!
Good piece of writing tips for worldbuilding with lots of good advice. Gracias, Nohen.