What are techniques to explore a world you've built?
Beside omniscient narrative that explains the world, what are other techniques to introduce the details of a world to the readers? (That is still part of the story)
I've been thinking two things, but there's got to be more techniques out there.
Bring an outsider that is not native to the world, and have the native explain things. The outsider may or may not the protagonist.
Have the protagonist suffer amnesia or complete memory wipe, then reintroduce the world to him/her.
How to introduce a world that's alien to the reader is nuanced by the space opera genre, and the answers provided are all talking about the narrative technique.
I'm not sure if I use the right term for the question, but I hope you understand what I mean (and please correct me if I'm wrong or unclear)
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1 answer
I am of the opinion that nobody wants to read about the world I built! Or really I mostly sketched it.
I don't think people want a museum tour, I think they want a story. If what you built does not relate to that story in some way, it doesn't belong. But much of it can, where characters have come from, been, are going, etc. What they have seen, what is amazing, their shared experiences.
It is the reason we make characters have to travel far and wide to accomplish their mission. Imagine if Tolkien had the whole story take place in one village, Imagine if Harry Potter just went next door for his magic lessons instead of traveling to Hogwarts.
Traveling and what Charlie sees on his way to the Ice Village is how he sees your world; and if Charlie travels with Debbi, then she can tell him of the Sand Giants that turned her uncle into a dried husk, now stored in the attic and brought out to be decorated with a handful of tinsel every Christmas.
It helps if your characters encounter new people and they travel in stretches together. IRL many people try to fill the silence with conversation and getting to know people, even if there is no real purpose to it. It is entertainment. I've had dozens of such conversations on planes, and heard life and career stories aplenty.
Half the passengers will travel from California to New York in complete silence; the other half will try to pass the time.
Little stories of walk-on characters within your bigger story is a way to describe the other parts of the world, too.
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