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Hellooo everybody! The time has finally come. We're talking about world building.
This video is dedicated to one of my patrons over on Patreon, Aron Mo. Aaron Mo? More like Aron
Mo-mentus, Aron a-Mo-zing. Like a lot of you, Aron 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 (1): 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 in 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's 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’s 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 (2): Travel matters. 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 go to write their story, and the character never leaves
their village. Congratulations, you’ve just wasted years of your life that you're never going to 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 (3): 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 it would have on a society, but I'm
sure you can logically assume that something as significant as mystical powers would change shit
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 going to 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 going to 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 fuel 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 (4):
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 will still be people who practice their beliefs in hiding and were 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 that 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 sorts 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 (5): Diversity in world building,
is realistic world building. A lot of people get bent out of shape about the concept of diversity
and fiction, which I honestly find really weird. We all want to see ourselves in stories. What's
wrong with that? Why is that so hard to grasp? And usually the people who say (Gruff voice) “I don't
care if I see myself in books!” are 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 wider 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 nix
diversity in your world building, you don't get to act like your hands are tied. “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 worldbuilding,
you CHOSE to make your kingdom like this. Why is that? If 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. So that’s all 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 Aron Mo 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 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
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