Fitting Worldbuilding into the Flow of Your Writing
Whether you’re telling a story about 1920s New York City or charting a course across the galaxy, fitting the world and context into your story is always important. Here are some quick tips.
1. Use dialogue to set up future descriptions. If you wanted to describe a top-secret citadel that is incredibly difficult to break into, have the characters talk about it long before you provide a physical description of the fort. Portray how the characters feel about attempting to sneak in. “This is impossible.” “It’s a crazy idea.” “I want nothing to do with this.” Use dialogue to set the tone and feeling around the stronghold and then use description later.
2. Use someone who is new. Whether it’s the first time in a location or someone who is returning after a long time away, use the questions or encounters the new character has to flow with your worldbuilding elements.
3. Save the drama. What I mean by that is let dramatic moments stand on their own. Get the backstory, the precursors out of the way, so you don’t have to interrupt dramatic moments with undo explanation.
4. There may be an opportunity to use backstory or narrative lore to stand in for the passage of time in a chapter. If you need things to move along and there’s not a dramatic element in that particular moment (a long car ride, for example), use character backstory or other worldbuilding details to help bridge to the next scene.
5. Make it relevant. Establish the characters first. Get readers interested in what is going on with the characters on a personal level, and then use the worldbuilding notes to further enrich the story.
What other tips would you add to this list?
I love your posts, Andew, but I find this one nonsense.
1. Dialog: this is king in any world building. Some fantasy writers lean into dialog, others don't. But you can use character interaction to build your world without boring exposition as long as it's placed strategically throughout the story. (While you said none of this in #1, I'm imagining it's what you meant.)
2. Newb Perspective: this approach needs to be performed carefully, otherwise it's thinly-masked exposition, and fantasy audiences aren't morons. I don't like how you framed this—it's somewhat shallow. I would approach this from a foreigner's perspective; someone who's new to the region and how shit works, and they have to learn to get by. Meh, that's also pretty dull and over-sampled.
I find this trope lazy and just a terrible way to tell a story. Fish out of water is one thing, but forcing exposition because the protagonist is foreign (new) is a whole other line of inducing snores.
3. Huh? Drama is and should be part of the world. Whether it's an emotional engagement between 2 characters on a cold slope after a battle or flighting between 2 dunkards at a local tavern, engagement and drama build the world. Divorcing drama from the world divorces the characters from it. Sure, drama needs meaning via character backstory . . . but the world IS drama.
4. Meh, fine. I think every writer understands that filler is necessary. I just find this an inappropriate connection to building a world.
5. Yeah!? This is a weird one. I mean, yes. But for EVERYTHING. I don't follow this addition because it's one of those that should be associated with ALL WRITING within said world.