But on the whole worldbuilding is a massive timesink and can be the writing equivalent of junk food if you're not careful. I don't necessarily know your situation with writing but if I had to guess you're probably in a good position to Write Your Damn Novel as it is, right now. You should at least try to see how much you can write if only to test out what does and doesn't work about your worldbuilding, because you never really know until you actually start Writing Your Damn Novel
That is fair, but that's less of an issue with worldbuilding itself than the writer not actually writing. After all, Tolkien's stories emerged out of worldbuilding inasmuch as the world sprang from the stories, if not more so; and while inconsistency in some areas can make a world seem larger by implying divergent interpretations of information, lost histories, and people making mistakes or lying, if this is not kept track of it can seem lazy. Inconsistency should be consistent.
legit i wanted to ask the ravers for 5-meo-dipt, but like they're gonna hve some obscure nerd drug
Coil were apparently fans of 5-MeO-DMT, which is a very different chemical in terms of effect but I think similar in composition?
well, they're the same except DiPT has isopropyls where DMT has methyls ("ip", "m"), yeah. but that doesn't mean much in biology, where one carbon atom changes which steroid it is
Write Your Damn Novel is clearly good advice but i find i get stuck on the worldbuilding a lot
i worry a lot about really blatant inconsistencies, the kind that are so obvious to the reader that they stick out a mile, and not catching those
worldbuilding from the ground up seems like it might be a way to avoid that? i dunno, though, even with that i'm still liable to write stuff that doesn't make any sense, like the time i wrote an action scene which required a character to stretch to her full height in a space where there clearly wasn't room; i didn't catch this without it being pointed out to me
really at where i'm at right now any writing at all is difficult, so if what i can write at a given moment in time is worldbuilding, i consider that preferable to not writing at all
Setting *is*, however, an important part of writing that should not be neglected
but there's a difference between building a story-world that the reader can get lost in, and "worldbuilding" as the term is often used which tends to entail a lot of focus on minutiae that may never be relevant to the story
I would say that whether one prioritises character, world, or plot, and in what order, can tell a prospective reader a lot about how someone writes before they even see a paragraph.
I write a lot of... inaction scenes, if I'm being honest.
Also: i see nothing wrong with this
writing is better than not writing; writing that doesn't contribute to the story might be better off cut from the finished novel, but was not a waste of time
I write a lot of... inaction scenes, if I'm being honest.
Also: i see nothing wrong with this
writing is better than not writing; writing that doesn't contribute to the story might be better off cut from the finished novel, but was not a waste of time
I guess I mean that I don't write a lot of scenes where characters are Doing Things—let alone violent things, like what is generally implied by the phrase "action scene," which is ironic given that one of the plots in the long thing I'm writing is about a bunch of hitmen en route to murder a magician.
Characters can't exist in the absence of setting, that's what trips me up, and before i know it i've been drawn into wordbuilding just so i can figure out how the character sees the world and what experiences they had growing up
another problem i have is that i tend to want my own characters to be static, while the best characters in other people's writing are dynamic. like i'll start with a concept and flesh it out into a fully-formed character, and then i'll want to keep them that way, when a story has to have developments and must end eventually
My best friend and I kinda did the collaborative world building thing with Stuck and honestly doing so made the point where I was most invested in the 'verse (2012-13ish, I guess) significantly more enjoyable than it would have been on my own
(and honestly one of the reasons I haven't done as much with it recently is because I've been holding onto the core ideas of the series for a decade and the inspiration's kind of faded as time went by)
The doctor wanted to get an x-ray of it just to be sure, but it is incredibly sore and I can't put any weight on it. The rest of my arm in just sprained and bruised.
Going to skip the rest of this lecture that I'm supposed to be, go to the pharmacist to get an antibiotic cream for my chin spot and get a wrist support and get it sorted out tomorrow morning.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Bad news: my therapist cancelled on me today
Good news: my psychiatrist had a cancellation so I can get in to see him today
If anyone's curious as to what the thing I'm writing is about or wants to ask any questions, I've posted an excessively long synopsis in my writing thread. It would really make me feel validated as a human being of worth and meaning in this world.
My doctor has requested an x-ray just to make sure that it's not broken. I don't think it is, but just to be on the safe side, I'm getting it x-rayed tomorrow.
As well as getting a blood test done to check that I don't have any underlying problems which could explain my moodswings.
Comments
i worry a lot about really blatant inconsistencies, the kind that are so obvious to the reader that they stick out a mile, and not catching those
worldbuilding from the ground up seems like it might be a way to avoid that? i dunno, though, even with that i'm still liable to write stuff that doesn't make any sense, like the time i wrote an action scene which required a character to stretch to her full height in a space where there clearly wasn't room; i didn't catch this without it being pointed out to me
really at where i'm at right now any writing at all is difficult, so if what i can write at a given moment in time is worldbuilding, i consider that preferable to not writing at all
that holds true in nearly all cases, at any rate
but there's a difference between building a story-world that the reader can get lost in, and "worldbuilding" as the term is often used which tends to entail a lot of focus on minutiae that may never be relevant to the story
writing is better than not writing; writing that doesn't contribute to the story might be better off cut from the finished novel, but was not a waste of time
all 4 are important
conversational scenes and descriptive passages are much easier
that is an intriguing premise, by the way
although i can't stick around right now, i should be interested to hear you elaborate on it, if you are willing
another problem i have is that i tend to want my own characters to be static, while the best characters in other people's writing are dynamic. like i'll start with a concept and flesh it out into a fully-formed character, and then i'll want to keep them that way, when a story has to have developments and must end eventually
Fun times
I'm sorry
How long will it take to heal?
Good news: my psychiatrist had a cancellation so I can get in to see him today
It works out