It's Their World: World Building From the Ground Up

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

One of the traps a writer can fall into is spending so much time developing a world they feel the need to put as much of that world into the story as possible. While it's good to know a lot about your world, the reader usually doesn't need to know everything you came up with. They just want to know what's relevant to the story. It's your job to find that balance.

Understanding your protagonist's place in that world can go a long way to figuring how much to share. How your protagonist moves through this world is how you're going to describe it to the reader. It's also a good way to avoid "world builders disease," or the urge to put it all in there.

World-Building Week: Building Out the Rooms

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

If you've been playing the world-building home game this week, you should have a good idea of your world and your character's place in it. What you want to do next is tailor your world to better suit your story. If you're an outliner, this will be a little easier, as you'll have something to reference. If you're a pantser, then just think about the possibilities and make notes or whatever works for your process. This is a great time to brainstorm and see what you can come up with.

Start by looking at your core conflict. 

Are there any world building factors that could affect this? 

Would things be more compelling if you shifted your protag from one social class to another? Or gave them a relationship with someone in a different social class? What you want to look for are ways the world itself can cause hardships for your protag. You should have figured out what their normal day was like, so now think about ways to cause problems in that day, compounded with the story problem you've thrown in their lap.