9 Worldbuilding Mistakes ALL Writers Make

Setting Vs. Worldbuilding: https://youtu.be/foL28BACxWM How to Write Immersive Settings and Amazing Worlds: https://youtu.be/h8YZsadagCI

"With worldbuilding, they don't need the know every bolt of the plumbing, they just need to know that when they turn on the faucet, it'll work." amazing quote

One thing I think is worth mentioning is that while videos like these are helpful, there is a 10th rule here...stop overthinking and just write. The more we try to micromanage every detail the whole process becomes a slog. No matter what you do, there will always be a thousand 1 star reviews for your book on GoodReads. Just let loose!!

I think there are other 3 important mistakes. Do not know your genre. Do not know your setting. Do not know yourself. First mistake means, worldbuilding for romance looks different than worldbuilding for detective story. Second mistake means detective story from pseudomedieval Europe needs different kind and amount of information than detective story from pseudoprimeval Asia. And last one, every author should know himself. Does author need 1000 pages of every aspect of fictional world to run his imagination? Does author write 1000 pages of novel without worldbuildig? Answer to this and more questions is: Why not? If it is how autor works....

Typically when I come across “writing advice” I prepare to be mostly disappointed but watch anyway looking for one sliver of knowledge . This one is actually good with a lot of great advice! 🎉

I'm going to drop this here have fun: --- Rules of thumb for storytelling --- Rules: 1. Realism is not God, but verisimilitude feeling is God. Meaning: While it's important for stories to feel believable, adhering strictly to realism can sometimes stifle creativity. What truly matters is the sense of authenticity and immersion that the story evokes in the audience. 2. Characters > Setting > Worldbuilding > Lore > etc. Meaning: In storytelling, the focus should primarily be on developing compelling characters, followed by creating immersive settings, building a coherent world, and delving into detailed lore. Characters drive the narrative and engage the audience more effectively than mere world details. 3. Imply > Show > Tell. Meaning: Rather than explicitly stating everything, it's often more effective to imply information through subtle cues, then show it through actions or scenes when it feels normal and tell when it feels normal. This engages the audience by allowing them to interpret and infer meaning themselves. 4. Every character and reader have limited perspective except for deities and the author. Meaning: Characters within the story as well as readers outside of it, can only perceive events from their own limited perspectives. Only omniscient entities like deities or the author have full awareness of the story's events and meanings. 5. Combat should feel hard and have weight rather than feel soft and floating. Meaning: When depicting combat scenes, it's important to convey the physical and emotional weight of the struggle. This makes the action feel more realistic and impactful, enhancing the overall tension and immersion of the story. 6. Description should flow rather than be bullet points. Meaning: Descriptive passages should be integrated smoothly into the narrative, flowing seamlessly from one detail to the next. This allows the reader to visualize the scene without feeling interrupted by a list-like presentation. 7. Internal consistency > external consistency. Meaning: While maintaining consistency with external rules and logic is important, ensuring consistency within the story's own established world and rules takes precedence. This creates a more coherent and immersive experience for the audience. 8. Pacing should be like the serrated edge of a knife rather than a straightforward linear or curved progression. Meaning: The pacing of the story should be dynamic and varied, with moments of intensity followed by periods of calm, akin to the jagged edge of a knife. This keeps the audience engaged and adds depth to the narrative flow. 9. Conflict is not God, but action and reaction are God. Meaning: While conflict drives the story forward, it's the actions and reactions of the characters that truly propel the narrative. How characters respond to conflict and its consequences shapes the direction and depth of the story. 10. Some characters change, others do not. Meaning: Not all characters undergo significant development throughout the story. Some may remain static, while others experience growth or transformation. This diversity adds realism and depth to the character dynamics. 11. The world itself is a character. Meaning: The setting and world of the story should be treated as dynamic entities with their own traits, histories, and influences on the narrative. They should interact with and impact the characters and events in meaningful ways. 12. Imperfection should be the norm, be it characters, perspective, outcomes, etc. Meaning: Embracing imperfection adds depth and realism to storytelling. Characters, perspectives, and outcomes should reflect the flaws and complexities of real life, rather than striving for idealized perfection. 13. Dig deeper with lore rather than wider. Meaning: Instead of superficially expanding the lore with numerous details, focus on delving deeper into specific aspects to enrich the world and enhance its significance to the story. Quality of lore is prioritized over quantity.

That Martin quote always bugs me when it's framed as a criticism of Tolkien (which it often is; I'm not claiming that it was used that way here). It's like reading an Arthurian romance and asking why it wasn't more like a modern spy novel. They're different stories, written in different eras, with different focuses setting out to do different things. Tolkien wasn't interested in Aragorn's tax policy, so of course it doesn't come up. That's not the story being told. Lord of the Rings puts myth and idealism before gritty reality and that is intentional. It's absolutely reasonable to wonder about those details and imagine more political grit and darkness, and take that off into fanfiction or as inspiration for your own works (like Martin did). But a story can't be and shouldn't try to be all things. When an author tries to do that, they just end up with a mush.

I spent days calculating the vectors for a particular jump to figure out if it would truly be possible given all the peculiarities of my world. I had to think through whether gravity was essentially comparable, research limits of human ability if the human form were perfected, consider trajectory, velocity needs, the ideal position of the human body to make the jump, etc. In the end, it boiled down to "The end of the platform was right in front of her, and the chandelier seemed a thousand miles away. Impossible. Why did she think this was possible?" 😂

As an Indie Game Developer, I start by imagining playing my games - then think what parts of the worldbuilding need to be in place for items, lore, locations, enemies and the in-game information for these things. I favor environmental storytelling - a chunk of unnatural metal standing in the middle of a grassy field begs why it looks so out of place, why it is there, and why that mirrored cube piece is floating.

I really appreciate the practical advice you offer and the definitions you use. Very helpful. I’ve subscribed!

I loved this video. I am writing a sci-fi trilogy, absolutely no fantasy, every futuristic element has a possible (sometimes only maybe, but never 'never') way in real physics or speculative physics as to how it could work. But its main purpose is to discuss philosophy, though I think the story is interesting in itself, at least one professional reader said so. Worldbuilding: I had certain basic ideas: The aliens had found a way to make their civilisation last 10s of 1,000s of years in peace without destroying itself; they have certain metabolic dysfunctions that require them to do disgusting things by human standards; they love nature and animals. I just started writng, tellng that story. All the worldbuilding happened only insofar as our human protagonist had to see and experience their world, and all I did was make sure that everything he saw was consistent with my basic concept. I had no other 'backstory', but as I went, I found that the backstory invented itself. Future incidents merely had to not break previous things. The most significant thing in writing it, I llived in the heads of every character. "What would X say or do now?" and the story wrote itself, literally. One character contrived a devious plot that played out over half the story, but I was unaware of it until the 'pounce' moment when the payoff happened. So I agree with your basic concepts of getting the readers' interest before worrying about worldbuilding. I think: don't let the plot dictate your characters' actions, make their actions right for that character, and find a way to keep the story on track by other means, if the characters move you off course. Flexibility in world building gives you one more tool for doing this without forcing unrealistic behaviours on your characters.

You use some brilliant analogies. Thank you for a well thought out and insightful video 👍

Between these videos of yours and Brandon Sandersons lectures on YT gives us new worldbuilders alot to think about. Thank you good sir!

This was helpful! I kinda zoned out and day dreamed about my own setting while listening to this, helped me realise i dont have a way for the audience to learn about the world (a main character etc) and you helped me to brainstorm how i want to approach it :D

I put aside my passion for writing for a long time and this video has really made me think about my passion for writing again, thanks to you I might pick up an old project or start a new one! Thank you, I find the most joy in life when writing a world of my own

Just discovered your channel today. You’re pretty smart with this stuff. While I mostly focus on character driven stories since I’m making comics and that’s what comics are all about. I still liked the video and it did help a bit. I usually always have the characters learn everything for the first time so that it makes sense when people lore dump. Still loved the video keep it up 👍

It is rare to have a personal and useful video on YouTube. Thank you

I think of world-building as the reflection in the puddle that is story. It adds to the puddle but it does not change its depth much. I like to world build in the context of a scene. For example, if the scene is political, expand on the scene by adding a past or present political event to enhance the scene, especially if it reflects or sets up the current scene.

I love the effort you put into this video. I realized that I have been struggling with World Builder’s Disease my whole life. I can’t tell you how many worlds I have built with no story attached at all - just for fun! It has been a unique challenge to build a world to support a story this time around. Wait am I world-building for this comment..? Anyways, great video!

i worldbuild for running ttrpg games, and the number one thing i do while i'm pondering to filter what i'm gonna document or not is ask myself "is something specific here gonna be better than something i can improvise in the moment?" if not, then it doesn't go in my lore notes