"mercuryfoam;c-17793766" wrote:
@ThePlumbob It could be spoilery, but I quite like the self-reflection it brings. It makes me understand myself and my story better. And I think even if it gives insight to how a story is structured, personally I find it equally intriguing to see how another writer take these elements and spin it with their own interpretation :)
@mercuryfoam It is interesting to think about, and I've never given it much thought before. To be honest, I have no idea if my answer would still be the same for whatever I might write after BC, I kind of just looked at similarities between my previous stories.
Also, I like what you say about consequences! There's always a temptation to give characters plot armour, and I don't know if I'm a hundred percent guilt-free in that regard, but I try not to - seeing the affects of characters actions like a domino is always interesting to me.
"SnuffyBucket;c-17793713" wrote:
5) Myself. Specifically, there is always a character who represents me as I am at the time of writing/telling the story. This character usually gets the roughest ride. Make of that what you will.
@SnuffyBucket The roughest ride... considering almost everyone in AE is more or less living variations of their worst nightmares, I call this a trick comment - you are all of them :mrgreen:
Ooh, new subject! Thanks @_sims_Yimi ! I guess we briefly touched on this the other day, so it's probably not much of a surprise that my thoughts are quite similar to yours.
How much worldbuilding do you do? How detailed are your locations, cultures, historical events, story lore?I agree with what you said - I tend to start off with fairly little and add what I need. Whether "what I need" necessarily has to fully appear in the story is another matter. I think it's helpful to give yourself some lore/rules to act as anchors for you when you are writing your story, but that does not necessarily mean is something the readers need to see unless it becomes plot-relevant. But I'm with with the gradual adding onto the ball of yarn, so to speak; I think if I tried to figure everything out right off the bat I'd just end up overwhelming myself. I like a bit of breathing space, in spite of what I said about anchors.
What bits of lore/worldbuilding do you get excited about, and what do you not care for (for writing and reading both)?I don't know if I have a preference, I think if it is something that adds to the characters or relates to the plot, I could be into all kinds of extra information - especially when I'm invested.
What do you think about stories that require some (for lack of a better term) “homework” to understand?I think a story should be understandable without additional "required pre-reading." That's not to say I am completely disinterested in bonus information for stories I like, but that should be a cherry on top, not a prerequisite. I don't think it's realistic for the author to ask the readers to read background lore before they have any investment in the story, because from a reader point of view, I would not really have a reason to be curious about the lore yet. As the story unfolds, I will likely grow more curious about additional details.
It's a tricky thing, because equally, you don't want characters spouting exposition at each other solely for the reader's benefit, that would be quite jarring to read. But like I said earlier, just because you as the writer have certain information does not mean you need to give it to the readers all at once; if anything, drip-feeding it will probably make the reader take it in more rather than it's dumped at them.
All that said I'll still be sharing my elven aging chart at the end of season 1, so maybe that makes me a hypocrite :joy: But again, this is only intended as a bonus for those who wanted it, not really something that's critical to understand or enjoy the story. Let's face it, there's nobody who is as bothered about L Faba's precise age during every single BC event as I am. :D
Which is exactly of the problem with oversharing world building, as a writer it's something you think about a lot, so of course you want to share it, but there's not much value in it before getting buy-in from readers. How can you expect readers to care before you show them why they should care?
Disclaimer - the above is my personal preference only, nothing against people who have different preferences from me.