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My Writing Philosophy - Part 3 - World, Lore and all that
7 years ago
One thing to remember, out of all the things in life
Lore and Worldbuilding are very fun, wouldn't you say? Making history of this one village or telling a story about a sword that slayed hundreds of monsters and villains. It really makes your world feel alive and lived in.
Well let me tell you, that despite it being fun, and on the contrary to what every person believes, Lore and World building are not the most important factors of a story, let me explain in a very simple manner.
Story/Narrative = Characters > Setting > Worldbuilding > Lore
The fact is this, your story/narrative and characters are the most important parts, as they are the foundation of your story/fanfiction. Everything else is a compliment to your story and characters. Let me give an example to what I mean in more detail (which I should have done already.)
This is Mike, Mike lives in a village that used to be the home of the legendary Warrior Erdwin. Erdwin had himself a family and one of his children will be the next legendary Warrior to go and defeat the dark lord terrorizing the kingdom for several years now. The Warrior was accompanied by his best friend and his eventual wife, going on a grand adventure around the world to gain the weapons needed to defeat the dark lord. It is said that the Warrior's body was buried in his home village, along with his equipment his friend and lover had, deep within a temple the villagers built long ago in gratitude for what the Warrior did for them and the world. Mike isn't that new Warrior, he's the protagonist, but not the hero, he is some person being told this by some guy in a bar, and Mike leaves the village a few days later, as he needed to deliver a message to someone in the neighboring village.
See what I did there? I wasted your time telling you pointless information about this Warrior and about the past of the village, yet none of that affects Mike, who just goes off to tell something to someone else in some other place.
The Lore needs to affect the world, and the world needs to affect the story and characters. Lore compliments the story, characters and the world, the world affects how the characters are and the characters drive the story to progress, while the story in turn, drives the characters to grow, change and head to a goal.
This is Mike, he is a young, 20 year old boy who lived a relatively normal life in his village with his family for quite the long time, and he always wanted to see the outside world. Mike lives in a village that used to be the home of the legendary Warrior Erdwin. Erdwin had himself a family and one of his children will be the next legendary Warrior to go and defeat the dark lord terrorizing the kingdom for several years now. The Warrior was accompanied by his best friend and his eventual wife, going on a grand adventure around the world to gain the weapons needed to defeat the dark lord. It is said that the Warrior's body was buried in his home village, along with his equipment his friend and lover had, deep within a temple the villagers built long ago in gratitude for what the Warrior did for them and the world. Mike, upon hearing this, heads towards the temple, but gathers his friend and crush with him, as he thinks it would be a fun adventure. As soon as they arrive to the temple and where the warrior is said to be burried, the three friends discover that they are the reincarnations/children of the 3 Heroes of the past, thus needing to defeat the dark lord. Mike and his crush rise to the occasion, but his friend is afraid and hesitant to go out into the world. What will happen next, can Mike convince his friend to come along, or will the friend stay behind?
Now tell me, can you tell me the difference between the last one and this one? I know it's rushed but the point is, the lore and history of the village served as a goal and initial push for Mike and his friends to go on an adventure, discover that they are heroes, and gives the friend a chance to grow from his fear, allowing for some kind of potential development. The village is the hometown of the main character, and if something happens to it, it could lead to the main character gaining some development or growth.
When you introduce something like a legendary sword spoken to in a legend, coming from a town that made that sword, if you don't do anything with either of those things, they shouldn't have been mentioned. You won't care about a village all that much going boom if one of your characters isnt linked to it or has some kind of importance. It's the principal of chekhov's gun, if it's shown or told, it should be used even in an insignificant way.
Part 4 will be about something else, I'm not sure, maybe making a magic system or something like that
Sorry if this seems rushed, but hey, hopefully I got my point across
Well let me tell you, that despite it being fun, and on the contrary to what every person believes, Lore and World building are not the most important factors of a story, let me explain in a very simple manner.
Story/Narrative = Characters > Setting > Worldbuilding > Lore
The fact is this, your story/narrative and characters are the most important parts, as they are the foundation of your story/fanfiction. Everything else is a compliment to your story and characters. Let me give an example to what I mean in more detail (which I should have done already.)
This is Mike, Mike lives in a village that used to be the home of the legendary Warrior Erdwin. Erdwin had himself a family and one of his children will be the next legendary Warrior to go and defeat the dark lord terrorizing the kingdom for several years now. The Warrior was accompanied by his best friend and his eventual wife, going on a grand adventure around the world to gain the weapons needed to defeat the dark lord. It is said that the Warrior's body was buried in his home village, along with his equipment his friend and lover had, deep within a temple the villagers built long ago in gratitude for what the Warrior did for them and the world. Mike isn't that new Warrior, he's the protagonist, but not the hero, he is some person being told this by some guy in a bar, and Mike leaves the village a few days later, as he needed to deliver a message to someone in the neighboring village.
See what I did there? I wasted your time telling you pointless information about this Warrior and about the past of the village, yet none of that affects Mike, who just goes off to tell something to someone else in some other place.
The Lore needs to affect the world, and the world needs to affect the story and characters. Lore compliments the story, characters and the world, the world affects how the characters are and the characters drive the story to progress, while the story in turn, drives the characters to grow, change and head to a goal.
This is Mike, he is a young, 20 year old boy who lived a relatively normal life in his village with his family for quite the long time, and he always wanted to see the outside world. Mike lives in a village that used to be the home of the legendary Warrior Erdwin. Erdwin had himself a family and one of his children will be the next legendary Warrior to go and defeat the dark lord terrorizing the kingdom for several years now. The Warrior was accompanied by his best friend and his eventual wife, going on a grand adventure around the world to gain the weapons needed to defeat the dark lord. It is said that the Warrior's body was buried in his home village, along with his equipment his friend and lover had, deep within a temple the villagers built long ago in gratitude for what the Warrior did for them and the world. Mike, upon hearing this, heads towards the temple, but gathers his friend and crush with him, as he thinks it would be a fun adventure. As soon as they arrive to the temple and where the warrior is said to be burried, the three friends discover that they are the reincarnations/children of the 3 Heroes of the past, thus needing to defeat the dark lord. Mike and his crush rise to the occasion, but his friend is afraid and hesitant to go out into the world. What will happen next, can Mike convince his friend to come along, or will the friend stay behind?
Now tell me, can you tell me the difference between the last one and this one? I know it's rushed but the point is, the lore and history of the village served as a goal and initial push for Mike and his friends to go on an adventure, discover that they are heroes, and gives the friend a chance to grow from his fear, allowing for some kind of potential development. The village is the hometown of the main character, and if something happens to it, it could lead to the main character gaining some development or growth.
When you introduce something like a legendary sword spoken to in a legend, coming from a town that made that sword, if you don't do anything with either of those things, they shouldn't have been mentioned. You won't care about a village all that much going boom if one of your characters isnt linked to it or has some kind of importance. It's the principal of chekhov's gun, if it's shown or told, it should be used even in an insignificant way.
Part 4 will be about something else, I'm not sure, maybe making a magic system or something like that
Sorry if this seems rushed, but hey, hopefully I got my point across
