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Something that I have been pondering for a while now is what I think should be a rule in worldbuilding. What I feel is a problem with peoples worldbuilding today is that it is too formulaic. What I mean by this is that you are asked all these questions about the features of your world in a stats spreadsheet style.
Ex:
Make your own creature!
Make a shape you like. [draws random creature design]
Now what does it eat? -meat
Is it playful? -yes
Is it hostile? -no
Is it intelligent? -yes
Ect…
Now am I saying that these are bad questions to ask, no. What I’m saying is that this is very incomplete. If all you do is make a graph of all the statistics of the worldbuilding concept, what really sets it apart as unique and interesting? It becomes nothing more than a barcode of the different available features already listed. It is a roulette machine with the different static modular features you choose from.
So what else is there to do? Your already listing everything about your concept, how do you do more than everything? What I’ve realized, is that you don’t need a list, you need a mechanic.
What do I mean by this? The mechanic of the concept is the pitch, it tells the audience why this is interesting. The closest question analogue to this I think would be simply ‘What if…’. I have difficulty truly quantifying it, but you’ll definitely know it when you see it. This is frustrating to follow though, which is why the barcode method is so attractive to many writers and worldbuilders.
However, I think it can become very easy to apply this idea once you gain intuition. I apply this to all my worldbuilding now, and I feel that it has greatly elevated it. The best way I think to understand it is through example.
A true master of this mechanic style of worldbuilding I would point to is Brandon Sanderson. Do you really think he came up with Kaladin Stormblessed of Roshar with a DnD character sheet? Did he think of the omnipresent mists of Scadrial from a make your own world climate website tutorial? No, he thought of mechanics.
When creating Kaladin, he didn’t ask: is this a morally good character? What is his personality? What are his physical body proportions? No, he asked: What if a young man raised by a surgeon that taught him that there is nothing noble in taking life, always dreamed of becoming a soldier? What if he denounced said dream in honor of his parents, only to find that it came true, and was suddenly faced with the question of is it right yo take life to save other life, and if so, which is right to save? What if this young man try’s to protect, only to find that everyone he tries to save, dies in his hands, and he is always, always the only one to survive… ?
When coming up with the mists, Sanderson didn’t ask: what is scadrial’s climate patterns? Is it windy? Is it humid? No, he asks: What if there was so much mist, that you could hardly see your hand in front of you, and you could see the pure white turbulent, spiraling patterns, dancing around you, almost as if… they were alive. What if the mists… were alive? What if said mists manifested at night, and vanished in the sun, seemingly without reason or purpose…? What if, no one could really figure out why they were there, or what they are, all they could really know of the mists, is that they simply are…?
The thing about this style of worldbuilding is that you have to really think. There’s no algorithm for it. After you come up with the mechanic though, you can begin to develop it with the more classic questions, but the answers should be in general derived from the mechanic in ways that makes sense. Eventually from one good mechanic, you can develop all sorts of other good mechanics branching from it.
Again an example from Sanderson. He made Roshar asking: What if there was a world whose moons create storms more destructive than a hundred hurricanes always brushing from the same direction across the contentment? How would the flora and fauna develop for survival? More mechanics! How would humanity develop, where would they build, how would they build, how do they cope? More mechanics!
I hope any of this is making sense. Perhaps I’m just blabbering about this idea I’ve had, but there’s a way better and easier way of putting it, and maybe I’m flat out wrong all together, putting focus on the wrong thing. So what do you guys think? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are there better ways of putting it? Are there other things you would add? Ect?
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
No, that totally makes sense! I love the ideas from Brandon Sanderson’s books you mentioned, though I haven’t read about any of them. Yes, in my opinion, worldbuilding should start with an idea instead of a formula, but I also think sheets like that are good ways to inspire something if you’re feeling blank, because you can’t force ideas.
I don’t have a whole lot to add to this, but I find worldbuilding like this really interesting. Are you saying that there should be a rule against using algorithm-like sheets to create worlds? I don’t agree with that, but I definitely think if you just stick to something like that your writing can become a little dry.
This whole topic reminds me of an idea I had about carnivorous trees that move like a breeze is blowing when there is no wind, sort of just swaying a little, if that makes sense. I don’t know, I thought it sounded like a cool spark for an ecosystem that I would probably put on a distant planet, but my sister didn’t think it was original. Have you heard of anything like that before?
WE ARE REVIVING THE PROTECTION SQUAD! *steals Joseph, Julian, and Sabina from Ellette*
That makes sense to me, but I might just be weird. I find that a very good point. I don’t really have any two cents to add, but I’ll probably be stalking this topic and commenting on other people’s thoughts lol.
Any noun can become a verb if you don't care enough.
Ooooops on second thought I did read most of Mistborn lol
WE ARE REVIVING THE PROTECTION SQUAD! *steals Joseph, Julian, and Sabina from Ellette*
Ok, like 90% or something. It was pretty good but I was younger and it was maybe a little violent for me.. plus I didn’t know what was going on with the spirit that took over a dead guys body at the end. But maybe I’ll try it again sometime lol
WE ARE REVIVING THE PROTECTION SQUAD! *steals Joseph, Julian, and Sabina from Ellette*
Ohh yeah they can be kind of violent…
But you should definitely read it again 😉
Any noun can become a verb if you don't care enough.
This is something I’ve actually been working on with my WIP Healer. I find it has become easier to do this than the standard lists of questions on websites, downloads, etc.
For example, when worldbuilding for the races I thought, what if only some of them had opposable thumbs? What if only some of them stood upright? And so, Felisaro and Arcanin became essentially larger versions of the animals they’re based after. But what if those races had other advantages? And so, the Felisaro became the inventors of Orythia, and the Arcanin were given magic.
So yeah. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite things to do, and I totally agree about the what if mechanic.
Follow your heart, but take your brain with you.
Yeah, it’s ok to to use an algorithm every now and then. I personally shun it more often than not in preference of finding a mechanic, and then building off of it in all directions, thus finding all the aspects and eventually answering all the questions the sheet system wanted you to answer, but in a far more natural way that feels like it is supposed to be that way, and not just some roulette machine.
That is my personal preference though, and I do think it can be a bit of a spectrum. What I do think should be a rule is always first look for a mechanic. After that, you can do whatever system your comfortable with, including the sheet system.
You are right though that you can’t force ideas. I think honestly you can’t direct or shun towards any one direction if your searching for a mechanic. Sheets could definitely work, but so can a million other things that may be completely unrelated to even the topic of the mechanic you find. Sanderson for example says that a large portion of his ideas comes from road trips, like the mists. The only real way is to think, but you can’t make yourself think, sometimes you need to go on a walk, see something as simple as a mailbox, ponder on its nature and purpose, and let ideas flow, or yes, find a sheet that asks questions about your world, think about those questions, ponder why their asked, how can you perhaps go beyond them?
As for your idea, I find it intriguing. If I was thinking in terms of mechanics, I would say that the carnivorous idea is more of a afterthought, but the swaying concept is the real mechanic. I say this because the diet part is more of the basic sheet style question of ‘what does it eat?’ then you say it eats meat, moving on. The swaying idea however seems like it has potential, so I would start with that, and perhaps from building from that idea, meat eating will become a natural biproduct. I like the idea though, because it could create a more eerie feeling if you were to walk in a forest of these trees. You don’t feel the comforting brush of the familiar wind, instead, you only see these trees that appear to bask in it without you, rocking back and forth. A sense of wrongness would come from them, you might start to question their reality, or perhaps you might start questioning you own, like your only watching as an observer, perhaps you’d feel like a lone ghost, unable to feel what is felt here.
Honestly I think the carnivorous idea would be a little too blunt and repetitious, and would take away from the eerie ambience, replacing it with a much more straight forward threat. Those are my thoughts at least, so don’t take my word as any authority.
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
Lol, that’s fair, glad it makes sense though😂
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
Hi Solfyre! Been a while, how’s your summer been?
Yeah, defiantly, it adds a level of believability when you ask those questions, and then ponder on the natural repercussions. I think another layer of it as well is to think about the whys and hows of your mechanic, but strangely enough, I think those might be more secondary to finding the mechanic itself. Sometimes, you just need the mechanic for the narrative it gives, it tells a story, its up to the writer as to how much is going to make sense from the mechanic, because the whys and hows are more leaning towards specifically hard worldbuilding, whereas a mechanic (in my opinion) should be universal over the whole spectrum.
Worldbuilding is definitely a favorite activity of mine, and I think mechanics is what really makes it fun, at least if your in for the worldbuilding for worldbuilding’s sake.
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
Hi! Yeah wow, it has! It’s been really good, actually. We started school back in May. My WIP Healer is now above 50,000 words, too! Also I’m getting ready to do an online writing summit tomorrow and Tuesday, so that should be really cool!
Yes, definitely! There’s a lot of different sides to it, and while it can be weird to think about, I think it’s really fun, too! XD
Yep, worldbuilding is amazing! I can’t decide which I like more- worldbuilding or character building. They’re both fun! Characters and worlds are a lot more fun to work with when they’re developed, too.
Follow your heart, but take your brain with you.
@thesrcaneaxiom I LOVE THIS!!!! As a person who really loves templates, using templates (and then throwing them out and using new ones, and then repeating the process, creating my own, etc XD) this is so true!
I do love getting all of the basics down, and the more…technical aspects of it all down, where I can look at it and remember it all, or change it if need be, but also good to just brain dump sometimes to get you started.
I’m gonna be creating my own templates for things (maybe I’ll share them if anyone’s interested?) using a variety of things I PERSONALLY use/find helpful when building characters, worlds, creatures, etc, and in that are the technical aspects, but also your own imagination and yes, mechanics.
For instance give yourself a brain dump section first off.
Brain dump EVERYTHING you know about your character, world, species, etc onto a page, paragraph, whatever. Just let it be! Then it’ll be there so you can go through and place it into it’s own little nooks and areas!
Also-aesthetics!!! Pictures, oh my gosh!!! If you’re an aesthetic person, (like me) find pictures! Make Pinterest boards or just collect pics to save. Add them to your templates, files, or print them out if you do physical character/worldbuilding!
But yessss!!! Love this!
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSebOH AND MUSIC!!! Totally write down your favorite song or songs that make you think of whatever you’re creating! Honestly anything that inspires you about what you’re making-quotes, scriptures, music, pictures, unique words, etc.
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb
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