Introducing the World

I probably don't explain my world enough. I mention just enough to get by on as characters encounter different aspects of the world, usually. On edits, I always have to add a lot more in.

As I'm not published yet (if I ever will be), I really can't say whether that's a good way to go or not, but I avoid any 'As you know, Bob' conversations where other characters lecture the MC on stuff he already knows.

Ohgodaspider said:

How do you guys introduce the world into your books. Do you describe it, have the characters find out through action, dialogue, etc.

Click to expand...

Well yeah. A nice mix of all of the above. You should probably search the "basic writing questions" and "novel" forums for tips on world building. It's a pretty lofty task, as your world is your book.

You might try reading some of your favorite novels while paying particular attention to how the authors slip in world-building details.

Definitely read, see what others do. It's a difficult task sometimes to build your world and avoid info-dumps. Say what's relevant when it's relevant. How does your world or setting interact with the story? Also, ground your reader for each scene--establish a clear setting--and through that you can start to give a picture of what your world looks like. Imagery, description, interior dialogue, all of that can work toward fleshing out your world. But remember that readers want a story. Avoid superfluous detail that keeps you from moving the story forward.

If you are introducing it to your character and the reader at the same time, I take it this is a world jumping book? Or is the character just incredibly young? Because a young character would have some background and be able to have a bit of give and take with information.

A transplanted character actually makes this very easy. See, they don't know anything, so the reader learns with them. You can have surprises and mishaps galore.

And I agree, read, read, read. Not just YA either. There are some very good transplanted MC books in adult fantasy that could help you out. I'm going to recommend Mirror to Her Dreams. It's a bit gritty (I warn you) but the world building is very good.

In my case, it kind of just comes out.

Since that advice was so blatantly unhelpful, I'd say just go read a bunch. There are so many different ways of world building and I wouldn't say there's really too many wrong ways to go. Pick one that you like and just start practicing it.


-Seth

If you read a good fantasy novel, you see that the world is usually worked in as the characters come across it. Some authors (cough...Tolkien) are fascinated with their worlds and do a little bit in the way of data dumps. But many of the more recent authors introduce a world more slowly.

Also, since your story is set in our world, I don't think you have to spend as much time explaining it. Urban fantasy readers are used to contemporary worlds with supernatural creatures. Just throw in the supernatural creatures and include what the characters would think about them, preferably without "as you know, Bob" conversations.

Ohgodaspider said:

How do you guys introduce the world into your books.

Click to expand...

Very very carefully.

Basically, whatever you do, DO NOT...I REPEAT...DO NOT! NOT! DO NOT! EVER.

Ever.

Write "as you know bob" scenes.

"Well, as you know Bob, this is a fanged deathkiller! It's a flying monster that eats people with it's fangs and stuff."

"Gee, Ted, why are you saying this, I've been a fanged deathkiller as long as you've been alive."

"Well, as you know Bob, LOOK OVER THERE!"

And then Ted jumps out the window to escape the bad writing.

Don't do this.

Word. Between "As you know, Bob" and infodumps, I don't know which is worse.

Seriously, though, avoid infodumps, especially if you're writing in first person POV. Nothing more annoying than an MC who drops everything in the middle of a scene to explain to the reader, at length, how the world functions. Shouldn't the character know this already? That's when the seams in your writing, and the construction of the world, tends to show.

Try to introduce the world slowly, subtly, rather than bludgeoning the reader over the head with it. It will be much more fun for the reader to discover the world slowly, in bits and fascinating pieces, than to try to absorb all the info about everything at once.

Okay, for example. If you were transplanted to this world, and a giant whatsit jumped out and you, what would you do?

Run, scream, grab that giant rock? What?

In the same vein, what would your character do? Throw the world at him/her and let them react. In the midst of this, you'll be describing things as they happen, and the world will build.

I just discovered an entire tumblr devoted to world building. It's pretty well put together

http://makingplaces.tumblr.com/

Thanks for posting that!! Very helpful.

I think the key to good worldbuilding is remembering who your narrator is. If you show the reader the world as the character notices things, you avoid the "As you know Bob" bits and the info dumps. If your MC is a 16 yr old boy, he's going to notice different things than a girl (for the most part).

For example, I have my female MC walking home at dusk, noticing the way the light is playing off the broken glass and rusting steel of the buildings. She thinks the colors are pretty, almost like a painting. That tells the reader that she's living in a city that's falling apart (as well as something about her character). Her male friend, who's walking with her, would probably notice something else, like maybe the animals scuttling through the weeds choking the street or the hawks flying over the crumbling brownstone looking for dinner. Same info on the world, but shown differently because it's filtered through what a person in the world would actually pay attention to. In the case of supernatural creatures, think what your MC would notice. Do they know werewolves exist? Because then they'd notice what's different about a werewolf rather than that a person is a werewolf. If they notice that unlike most, the ww's eyes are blue instead of black, that tells us a lot: one, werewolves are a known entity. Two, we get a quick character description of the wolf without it sounding forced.

I like worldbuilding through dialog as well, but that's a big spot where the "As you know Bob" can show so it's got to be done carefully.

I think one of the most important things in introducing your world is through showng and not telling. We learned a lot about the world of Hunger Games from Katniss, we she did it mainly through just telling the character what the world was like rather than just letting the world unfold itself through the storytelling. t sort of broke the forth wall for me, wondering who she was talking to and if she really does just think about the history of Panem randomly. I myself don't go into a great deal of thinking to the foundng of my city and the social problems facing it while I'm waiting in line at the grocery store.

Like I said, and this is important for things other than introducing worlds, but showing, not telling.

Why not post your opening in SYW - it's far easier to comment on the effectiveness or otherwise of something that's written.

Ohgodaspider said:

My character is discovering the world with the reader, so how should that be approached?

Click to expand...

For whatever you think of Cassandra Clare, the world building she did in Clockwork Angel when Tessa ends up at the London Institute was actually well done. Tessa learns through a combination of observation, being given access to a library and a book that teaches her a lot, and dialogue with characters. We learn *what* a parabatai is, but we learn what it means and what it stands for and the bond through observation, just like Tessa does.

The same thing goes for Fire by Kristin Cashore. Fire has a complicated backstory, and the "sins of the fathers" in the story are crucial to building Fire, Brigan, Nash and Arch (amongst others) as characters. The sins of the fathers also set up the conflict in the story (that the world is on the brink of war). Fire brings the reader into the story through flashbacks, memories, and questions that Fire asks (for instance, she asks Brocker, her adoptive father and father of her first lover, Archer, whether things could have been different, and that leads to stories and dreams that explain things to us). Brigan and Archer's backstories are a subplot that tell us more about the world and characters. There are no info dumps, there are no "as you know Bob" moments.

Same goes for anything by Tamora Pierce and Ursula Le Guin. They are both excellent at worldbuilding without any info-dumping.

That's all fantasy. If you're writing a paranormal or urban fantasy, you may want to have the character stumble over signs but not recognize them (blood, body parts, ritual stone circles, what have you), or see a TV report about mysterious disappearances, etc. Pull a reader in slowly and she won't even realize that you're worldbuilding.

One of my favorite examples of world-building is Sabriel (Garth Nix). Subtle and sweet, in my opinion.

My first world (a facility) in book one is pretty internal to the character's interactions to it. To a certain degree, they know the facility.. but only up to a couple floors. Beyond that, they're still exploring it with the reader. I think (and hope) that I've done a well enough job of introducing the world through small tidbits of info with the character, who laments on things that are permissible in the facility, and what sort of things that have gotten her in trouble with the higher ups.

However, with the second and third books (in mind) I run a bit of a risk in delving into the outside world when they escape... I'm creating a small enough world, mostly just using a nearby mountain range and a city and will be expanding upon that.

I think that with world building, you should really only explore and expand things as the MC sees it. If they're exploring things for the first time, see it through their eyes (even if it is still third person). Try and highlite certain things and dont just info dump all of it for the sake of having an expansive world.