I really only have two “worlds” that the bulk of my stories exist in. (Three worlds if you count the small number of plonq stories I’ve written or contributed to, but that’s not my world. I just visit.)

The first world I write in is the alternate-here that the hoofer stories are written in. If you’re not familiar with those stories, they’re loose allegories for racism or other types of social injustice. (Two of the published stories in this world have been posted to my FA account.) I have more ideas to set in that world, along with the novel I wrote a few years ago for NaNoWriMo that I’d like to clean up and do something with. I occasionally get frustrated with that world, since the “lesson” is usually so blatant and overwhelmingly in-your-face. But it’s a useful world for venting some of my frustrations about how our own world works, and since moving to Winnipeg I have many more stories that I need to tell (more on that another time, maybe).

The second world is the one that my “Ralya” stories are set in. Now, if ever there was a world that could have benefited from more rigorous world-building, it’s this one. The first (and ooh-laa-laa) Ralya story was supposed to be a one-off. The more I chewed on the setting, the more I realized that there was a story behind the story. I wrote a few more stories, even penned a NaNoWriMo novel in it, and the world behind those stories took shape.

However, now I look back at this world (and the stories in it) and I cringe. There are so many things I hate about it. The name for the magic-user caste sounds suspiciously like a brand of bottled water. (I don’t think the brand was around when I wrote the first stories… But still, the comparison remains.) The use of magic has rules, but they are very ill-defined. There are costs to magic, but those costs change from story to story. There are four races of furry critters that were created by the magic users, but the reason for their creation is not logically consistent. Their actual creation is also a problem, as the story hints at political interference and a societal backlash, but depending on which story you’re reading the problems are either resolved or are about to boil over into a civil war.

It needs fixing. But that means ret conning the existing stories pretty severely. For example, if I end up making one change I’ve been noodling over, the number of furry races will drop from four to three (or maybe even two, although I can see space in the history for three).

I’m pretty ok with that. First of all, none of the stories have been published in any formal sense. Existing works are drafts, and I can change drafts. Second, it will give me a reason and motivation to revise the second NaNoWriMo novel that I finished, which was set in this world. I have a sneaking suspicion that the changes I’ll have to make will almost require rewriting that novel from scratch, with only the bare plot and theme as a guide. I’m ok with that, too, since I can also tune the audience from “whoever’s interested” to “young adult.” That’s who the story felt geared towards after I was finished.

So, sorry in advance if any of you was really attached to that world. It’s about to get rocked.

(X-posted from my LJ if you'd rather respond there.)