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Q&A Are worldbuilding questions on topic?

It seems to me that there are two types of worldbuilding question. One is about the literary craft of creating the story world in which every story exists, even those that are ostensibly set in the...

posted 5y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  edited 5y ago by Mark Baker‭

Answer
#2: Post edited by user avatar Mark Baker‭ · 2020-03-05T01:12:33Z (almost 5 years ago)
  • It seems to me that there are two types of worldbuilding question. One is about the literary craft of creating the story world in which every story exists, even those that are ostensibly set in the real world. That would strike me as obviously on topic here.
  • The other deals with the mechanics of fantasy and science fictions worlds. These are not literary questions. They are about the feasibility or plausibility of invented societies, technologies, and magic systems. Many of them seem to depend to one extent of another on scientific knowledge. They are not writing questions, though they may be questions that writers in these genres need to answer, as, for instance, a writer of mysteries may need to find answers to forensic questions or a writer of age-of-sail historicals may need to find an answer about belaying pins.
  • In fact, writers may need to find answers to research questions in every imaginable field. But they are not writing questions, they are research questions, and to make on type of research question on topic here would seem, in fairness, to require making them all on topic here.
  • For this reason, my vote would be no on this class of worldbuilding questions.
  • It seems to me that there are two types of worldbuilding question. One is about the literary craft of creating the story world in which every story exists, even those that are ostensibly set in the real world. That would strike me as obviously on topic here.
  • The other deals with the mechanics of fantasy and science fictions worlds. These are not literary questions. They are about the feasibility or plausibility of invented societies, technologies, and magic systems. Many of them seem to depend to one extent of another on scientific knowledge. They are not writing questions, though they may be questions that writers in these genres need to answer, as, for instance, a writer of mysteries may need to find answers to forensic questions or a writer of age-of-sail historicals may need to find an answer about belaying pins.
  • In fact, writers may need to find answers to research questions in every imaginable field. But they are not writing questions, they are research questions, and to make one type of research question on topic here would seem, in fairness, to require making them all on topic here.
  • For this reason, my vote would be no on this class of worldbuilding questions.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Mark Baker‭ · 2020-02-29T04:00:00Z (almost 5 years ago)
It seems to me that there are two types of worldbuilding question. One is about the literary craft of creating the story world in which every story exists, even those that are ostensibly set in the real world. That would strike me as obviously on topic here.

The other deals with the mechanics of fantasy and science fictions worlds. These are not literary questions. They are about the feasibility or plausibility of invented societies, technologies, and magic systems. Many of them seem to depend to one extent of another on scientific knowledge. They are not writing questions, though they may be questions that writers in these genres need to answer, as, for instance, a writer of mysteries may need to find answers to forensic questions or a writer of age-of-sail historicals may need to find an answer about belaying pins. 

In fact, writers may need to find answers to research questions in every imaginable field. But they are not writing questions, they are research questions, and to make on type of research question on topic here would seem, in fairness, to require making them all on topic here. 

For this reason, my vote would be no on this class of worldbuilding questions.