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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/17394
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/17394
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

LotR does in fact have such a book (I believe it is the _[Silmarillion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion)_). However, that book could only be published because the Hobbit/LotR books came first. In short, there would be no interest in it without LotR in the first place. This is why an encyclopedia or history book of a fictional land will not work on its own. It may get published, but the interest simply won't be there.

LotR was indeed _backed_ by massive worldbuilding. It helped that the author was a linguist, enabling him to make authentic-sounding languages. In its most basic form, however, LotR was a story.

In order to write a story in your world, you may look into getting over writer's block, some of which deals with getting bored. There is an excellent question about that [here](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/17128/what-are-the-reasons-behind-writers-block). My answer on that question, which I would also recommend for you, can be found [here](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/17128/what-are-the-reasons-behind-writers-block/17139#17139).

When it comes down to it, you need to **design a theme first**. A theme is the idea or thing you are writing about - what it is that you are trying to show the reader. Once you have that theme, you can **build a world** designed to show it, and then **build a story** designed to use your world to show your theme. If your theme is truly something you are greatly interested in, you won't get bored of writing about it.

Original score: 4