There's a story I'm working on and I'm realizing that in order to tell it, I need to come up with a set of rules that govern how the 'universe' it's set in works and how the pieces of the narrative fit together under those self- imposed guidelines. It's an element or dimension to writing I don't think I've consciously considered before, on top of or along side of the usual basics- plot, characters, setting, theme, etc- and it makes the thing all the more more challenging editorially (I love this scene, this bit of dialogue, this character, but I can't use it/ them because they don't fit, much as I'd like it/ them to, and I can't bend the rules for it/ them because the whole thing would fall apart) while simultaneously adding a fairly rigid framework to build on that once it's put in place should make the telling easier while still constituting a challenge. This is what I love about writing, whether it's a short piece of humorous fiction, a 'journal entry', or a gag achieved through dialog, it's a puzzle I design for myself and if- and- when I solve it, it's one of the most satisfying things ever, even if the listener/ reader is oblivious to the process.
This is the same thought process I go through when designing adventures for role playing games.
ReplyDeleteThe world building part is one of the most satisfying parts when you're doing it, and one of the most disappointing parts when you present it to your audience.
You want the players or readers to see all the intricate webs you've woven....
But, ultimately, they just want to kill things and take their stuff.
But you know that if you don't have that stuff in there it'll feel like a hollow shell...
So you do it, because you can't NOT do it.