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Q&A

Posts tagged world-building

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Q&A What's the point of writing that I know will never be used or read?

Writing can be a very difficult, frustrating, stressful and effortful process. It can also be very isolating to the writer. Given that writing is a form of communication, what is the point of writi...

7 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  edited 4y ago by ArtOfCode‭

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Q&A The concept of "Exotic Culture" and the necessity of a new world

A personal point of view on the necessity of a new culture in fiction "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away", "Pandora", "Dune", "Middle Earth". All quite different worlds compared to ours, b...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by M.N.Raia‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Mark Baker‭

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Q&A Character and world building in less than 2000 words

Is it possible to build a new character and/or world in a science fiction under a tight word limit? What aspects should be covered and what avoided? Also are there some similar previous examples to...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Abdul Rehman‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Mark Baker‭

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Q&A Is it a good idea to leave minor world details to the reader's imagination?

As a writer, I used to write short stories and poems. As a reader, fantasy is my favorite genre. And I am currently working on my first novel, an extraterrestrial fantasy thriller. When describing...

9 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Sangeetha‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by DPT‭

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Q&A Storing WorldBuilding Information

I've been writing a story and world-building as part of the process. Now it has come to a point where I have lots of information about the world and I need to store it effectively for my own refere...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Oren_C‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question world-building
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Q&A "The flux capacitor--it's what makes time travel possible." When to keep world-building explanations short

Gosh, I really think I'm quite clever sometimes. But what about those situations where the readers (audience) can be told, and they feel completely satiated and entertained by not going into the nu...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Stu W‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question world-building
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Q&A Is it bad not to explain things?

Background So I see a lot of questions on the site like this. They're all about deeply explaining worldbuilding and stuff, doing all of that explaining type of thing. Normally, I just skip that. F...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Daniel Cann‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writer's Block: How to Stop World-building and Start Writing?

This is a question that doesn't directly apply to me, though I can easily see myself having this problem. I thought I'd run writer's block for a loop and find the answer before the problem arose. :...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A A protagonist who knows little about the world he born and grew up in until majority (present)?

This protagonist born and lives in a peasant village in a medieval-like age, where education and science aren't known much. But a certain awful event occurs in this village that leads this characte...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Yuuza‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Map of my fantasy world - how do realms, kingdoms, cities, towns and villages fit into it? [closed]

In my latest novel, I have created a fantasy world and would like to create a custom map of said world. However, I do not know how realms, kingdoms, cities, towns and villages all fit into it. M...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by M.Y. David‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question world-building
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Q&A Can I plug a loophole in my magic rules without rewriting the whole novel?

I've gotten feedback for a complete draft of my WIP fantasy novel. Overall it's looking good, but a couple of friends noticed a significant loophole in the system of magic I use in the book. The bo...

5 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Standback‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A When do I explain my created world scenario in a prologue vs. letting it unfold in the story?

Let's say I'm creating a unique world for my book. New planet, maybe new species, complex society with complex rules, history, government, and so on. Some of these details are absolutely necessary ...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How much should I reveal of how the world functions in fiction?

I am currently working on a fiction novel. The way the world (magic, technology, government, species etc) works is extremely complicated. Basically, the idea is to reveal the mechanics bit by bit...

2 answers  ·  posted 11y ago by Invader Zim‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A World Building critique: Building an SF society off a tangent of "Adaptation"

I'm writing a short story for my english final - I'm a junior in high school; we've already taken our AP exam, but our teacher wanted to finish the year with something meaningful. Anyway, I have b...

2 answers  ·  posted 13y ago by Qcom‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I include an appendix for inessential, yet related worldbuilding to my story?

I'm of the opinion that a story should stand on its own; any worldbuilding that is necessary for the plot and story to function should be part of the story. However, at the same time, the world I w...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Matthew Dave‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Avoiding cliches when writing gods

When writing fictional polytheisms, it's tempting to draw inspiration from the existing ones. In ancient religions (I'm mainly thinking of the Greek/Latin, Egyptian and Norse pantheons) there are ...

6 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can you make up a convincing dialect?

I often need to introduce one, if not several, made up dialects. We're talking about fictional worldbuilding: so any real world dialect is ruled out. They can be used as a source of inspiration, b...

0 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How many elements can you focus on during worldbuilding?

Possibly related: How can I get readers to accept more than 1 "buy" in worldbuilding? Worldbuilding is a tireless art; that's what our brother site Worldbuilding-SE is for, and why as a writer ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Fictional races and fictional racism

Possibly related questions: Should I add racism in my book's world or have my world have no racism? Is accurate human nature required for good writing, even in fantasy scenarios, or with fictiona...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Do readers need to identify with fictional characters?

On the modern day many people complain about how models, actors are damaging to society because people can't identify with them. Males actors or models which are ''too'' muscular are considered ''u...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Which should come first, building my story or building my world?

I’ve always been writing, but never wanted to write something in a world I create. I already know what direction I’ll be taking my fleshed-out characters, but I’m still wondering whether or not I s...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by AnUnnamedAuthor‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to "defy" physics on a sci-fi?

I am an amateur at worldbuilding and I am already building a sci-fi themed world with fantasy elements. In my world there will be different kinds of new elements to the periodic table and some fant...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Victor Matheus‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I introduce the names of fantasy creatures to the reader?

In the story, these fantasy creatures are everyday animals that most people in the story already know. How can I introduce them in an natural way that instantly makes readers remember their names? ...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by M Arif Rahman Winandar‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What editor can I use for world building that has a tree-like structure for my files?

I'm looking for a simple editor to start getting into world building and story writing which is working out fine in Microsoft Word. However, I'm finding it difficult to continue without any structu...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Sam Coutteau‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it okay to include world-building facts by "telling" instead of "showing"?

I know we need to show and not tell, but is it still okay to sometimes tell instead of having to show it? For example, I wanna let the reader know that humans in my story are actually the same spec...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Klara Raškaj‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Any software that allows me to create documents and maps with links to other documents or photos?

I have to create a small world for my WIP game so I can submit it as my thesis. While I am aware I can use simple text editors (my usual choice) I want to be able to create a tree/web of my ideas, ...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by mechanicarts‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What techniques authors use to keep track of their cast?

There is a problem as stories progress (especially in never-ending web novels) where the cast of characters keep growing. Some webnovels I follow are in the hundreds! Is there a technique for auth...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Mindwin‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do you build a story from a world?

I have some material for a "world" (more fantasy than sci-fi at this point). I've noodled around with this world off-and-on for ages but have never had a story to put in the world. I have some brie...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Terri Simon‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do we write a story about genocide committed by a fascist government without falling into the "Nazi Germany" cliché? [closed]

Too often, when people make a story about genocide committed by a fascist government, the story often devolves into a Nazi Germany cliché, especially when the story is set in a modern or futuristic...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by repomonster‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Map-making software

I'm looking for free software, preferably open-source, that would allow me to create maps for my story. I guess what I need is a tool that would allow some measure of 3D modeling. Features I would...

0 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I include an appendix to reference words of an in-universe language for a fantasy novel?

Context I am currently working on a fantasy novel in which one of the main characters is a nobleman and scholar, studying exotic languages as part of his higher education and translating documents...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Sciborg‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I add racism in my book's world or have my world have no racism?

I've been writing a children's novel inspired by action cartoons, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, paganism/Wicca, mythology and Harry Potter. It's a very dark children's book I'll admit, but Harry Po...

7 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Willfire Z Tiger‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Dead children in pre-modern setting

The reality of pre-Industrial Revolution times was that about half the children born died before age 5. It would be a mistake to think that parents cared less - we have multiple written records sho...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Fictional cultures and languages existing in the same area? [closed]

So I've got this fantasy planet X, where humanoid peoples Y and Z are at war on an island nation about the size of England, and they've been at war with each other for hundreds of years. They are ...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by weakdna says reinstate monica‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How important is the apocalypse in a post-apocalyptic story?

I am writing a story set after an apocalyptic event that has left only 0.1% of the world population intact. I originally wrote a zombie-like apocalypse but simplified it to a plague-like disease, a...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Edgar Gordon‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A In the background of the Future

As I've mentioned multiple times, I'm writing a military sci-fi novel. The focus of the story is war, and that happens far away from Earth. However, I'm starting with my MC's "normal", on Earth. It...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I make up my own names for the days of the week/months

I'm writing a light fantasy book. I think it will end up falling into the YA genre. I'm considering making my own names up for the days of the week/months. The book is set in a fantasy world, so ...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by klippy‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Character is an expert on something I'm not

My OC Edward, who I thought of quite a while ago but haven't done anything with, is a professional cyber spy and hacker. He's employed by an organization (in the future, of course) that is basical...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by weakdna says reinstate monica‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write a good MacGuffin?

I backed myself into a corner and have to create a [TV TROPES WARNING] MacGuffin for a story. How can I create a good MacGuffin? How to make it interesting for the reader ? I don't know where to ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Cerise St Hilaire‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Explaining made up card game

In my book I've made up a card game where I've already thought out the rules. Now I want some of the characters playing this game. My questions are: Should the reader know the rules? If I want t...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by programmer23‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing Unequal Societies (Without Supporting Inequality)

Historically, most occidental cultures (and many other ones) were strongly biased against women. Women were effectively barred from the vast majority of occupations - sometimes actively, and someti...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Watercleave‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I know which elements I can use from the work which orginally inspired me?

I recently read the Blood on the Stars series by Jay Allan and really enjoyed the idea of a post-Golden Age human civilization that has splintered into factions and is now at war with itself. I re...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by jwil408‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it Ok to make up places if I want the reader to think it’s set in the real world?

What I’m doing is making a story in the medieval times and I wanted to make up a village and have my characters be there and travel around there but do I have to make everything around there in the...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Angel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Cutting down story length without leaving out locations

I'd like to write a story and I have plenty of elements for it, up to and including a set of locations, characters and events, as well as some loose sequence for those. This is still a planning ph...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Zoltán Schmidt‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Balancing setting, theme, and character arcs: how to deal with a setting that carries emotional weight but is left behind?

When writing a story, how do you find a good balance between the significance of different elements, such as plot, themes, and bold settings and characters, and the character arcs? In my case I ha...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by wordsworth‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I know if a concept is sexist or not?

In my story's world, witchcraft is a respected institution, with the most powerful practitioners being at the top echelons of society. Due to this, society traces its lineage through matrilineal li...

9 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Incognito‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I create my own ConLang for my story? [closed]

For my story I'm writing, some of the characters speak a different language from the protagonists. Should I actually create a ConLang (constructed language) for them and use it in dialog OR should...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by WeekzGod‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How often do writers develop characters before plot, and why?

As someone who writes a little as a hobby, this is something that I haven't really thought about until just recently, but... Is it common for a writer to develop characters before actually coming ...

3 answers  ·  posted 12y ago by JAB‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I strike a balance between setting and plot?

I'm not a fan of Tolkien's work, but it's relevant to my question, so take it as a reference point. I love linguistics, culture, and worldbuilding, but sometimes have difficulty focusing on specif...

3 answers  ·  posted 13y ago by Jon Purdy‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Potential confusion: referring to home planet as "Earth"

I'm writing a science fiction story and it's based in another galaxy, colonised by humans originally on a geographically equivalent "Earth". My current usage refers to it as "Earth" and provides a...

3 answers  ·  posted 13y ago by Nick Bedford‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭