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Something I've Noticed About World-Building
4 years ago
General
In eternity, where there is no time, nothing can grow. Nothing can become. Nothing changes. So death created time to grow the things that it would kill and you are reborn but into the same life that you've always been born into.
This realization start to hit me through my role playing with some very close friends and from reading the works of various authors, including Stephen King and Tolkien. What I have come to realize is that world-building is reliant on a number of much smaller details. By that, I mean let's say that you have a story you're writing where a big war either has happened, is currently going on, or is imminent, and it's a given that wars are massive things that have world-altering impacts so it becomes important to plan out what major things lead to this war and have/will result from it. It can be incredibly overwhelming to try and plan out all those details, but there are other ways to go about it.
One of the more charming things I learned while reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings is that Hobbits LOVE to eat. Actually, that's inaccurate; Hobbits love food. That includes growing and cultivating plants, herbs, etc., preparing and cooking the food, and of course eating the food. The entire process is something they seem to enjoy, down to the last detail. Through that rather small and seemingly inconsequential piece of information, however, we learn that it doesn't take much to make Hobbits uncomfortable, as they do live quite sheltered lives where food is always a guarantee. As the individual Hobbits press on with their journey, discomfort sets in pretty quickly, but they remain determined to see their task through. Through that we learn that these characters, though easily made unhappy, will put much more urgent matters ahead of themselves and continue on. There weren't multiple, long paragraphs dedicated to exposition on how uncomfortable and miserable the Hobbits were through their journey, but instead some pleasantly paced and relaxed storytelling that shows the author knew that he didn't need to hit you over the head with blunt messages.
In short, what I've come to notice is that little details and little, seemingly inconsequential events, matter just as much as, if not more than, major details. How will a fictional war shape the fictional geo-political landscape? How does it affect politicians, generals, warlords, and all the other big wigs? Well...how does a war impact a peoples' day-to-day lives? What little annoyances does Jim have to deal with as an indirect result of the war? Maybe some luxuries he wants are harder to come by because the region where they are made, grown, or whatever is where the war is taking place. This shortage can impact how other things are made as well, like if the commodity in question is a particular spice, it will change the way that certain foods are prepared. Changing an ingredient in some dishes will actually completely change the dish itself. It seems like a small thing, but that small thing can have rather large repercussions.
Of course this is also reflected in real life. Sticking with small details, learning about SOF units in the military is a rather interesting thing because, as much fun as the larger-than-life tools, gadgets, etc. that they might use are, there are several smaller things that make a big difference. One thing that comes to mind is when I found and read the OSS manual on sabotage from WWII. When you think of sabotage, you think about fires being set, bombs being planted, and other rather overt actions to stop the enemy in their tracks. However this particular manual cautions against such actions, unless there is an urgent need to stop everything right at that moment. The manual stresses that those actions will make the operatives' activities come under close scrutiny at the very least, but their entire operation may become compromised. So what does this manual recommend? It's pretty much a guide on how to be the most incompetent, shit-heel employee. The slogan of the Saboteur is "Oops!"
Little things are incredibly important in world building. They can also be much more relatable, easy to describe, and they help to shape larger things!
One of the more charming things I learned while reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings is that Hobbits LOVE to eat. Actually, that's inaccurate; Hobbits love food. That includes growing and cultivating plants, herbs, etc., preparing and cooking the food, and of course eating the food. The entire process is something they seem to enjoy, down to the last detail. Through that rather small and seemingly inconsequential piece of information, however, we learn that it doesn't take much to make Hobbits uncomfortable, as they do live quite sheltered lives where food is always a guarantee. As the individual Hobbits press on with their journey, discomfort sets in pretty quickly, but they remain determined to see their task through. Through that we learn that these characters, though easily made unhappy, will put much more urgent matters ahead of themselves and continue on. There weren't multiple, long paragraphs dedicated to exposition on how uncomfortable and miserable the Hobbits were through their journey, but instead some pleasantly paced and relaxed storytelling that shows the author knew that he didn't need to hit you over the head with blunt messages.
In short, what I've come to notice is that little details and little, seemingly inconsequential events, matter just as much as, if not more than, major details. How will a fictional war shape the fictional geo-political landscape? How does it affect politicians, generals, warlords, and all the other big wigs? Well...how does a war impact a peoples' day-to-day lives? What little annoyances does Jim have to deal with as an indirect result of the war? Maybe some luxuries he wants are harder to come by because the region where they are made, grown, or whatever is where the war is taking place. This shortage can impact how other things are made as well, like if the commodity in question is a particular spice, it will change the way that certain foods are prepared. Changing an ingredient in some dishes will actually completely change the dish itself. It seems like a small thing, but that small thing can have rather large repercussions.
Of course this is also reflected in real life. Sticking with small details, learning about SOF units in the military is a rather interesting thing because, as much fun as the larger-than-life tools, gadgets, etc. that they might use are, there are several smaller things that make a big difference. One thing that comes to mind is when I found and read the OSS manual on sabotage from WWII. When you think of sabotage, you think about fires being set, bombs being planted, and other rather overt actions to stop the enemy in their tracks. However this particular manual cautions against such actions, unless there is an urgent need to stop everything right at that moment. The manual stresses that those actions will make the operatives' activities come under close scrutiny at the very least, but their entire operation may become compromised. So what does this manual recommend? It's pretty much a guide on how to be the most incompetent, shit-heel employee. The slogan of the Saboteur is "Oops!"
Little things are incredibly important in world building. They can also be much more relatable, easy to describe, and they help to shape larger things!
V.