The World-Building Trap

Are you stuck in the World-Building Trap? I've got some thoughts about what it is, what causes it, and how to take your first steps to get out of it! I made it for me more than anyone else because this is something I genuinely struggle with as a creator. I hope you enjoy it and the message some how helps you too!

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Music by Epidemic Sound

[oneanotherstudios]

Almost as troublesome as the "Spend too much time watching art videos on YouTube" trap

[dibujantedemierda]

This seems to be something that happens more and more lately, specially to younger artists. There's a young YouTube (and Discord) community that does this a lot, every single character they create is a new one with lots of background, super deep story, amazing powers and all, but in the end they do nothing at all with them. It's like having an IMDb page for a movie that will never release.

[mbi]

Honestly had a "woah" moment with this video... I've been stuck in the trap for years and only now am I seeing my pile of rocks. I started a story just for fun in 8th grade. Since then, the world I built has had millennia worth of history the rise and fall of empires, even major geological events. I'm in college now and the main character of that story is still hammering down in his forge.

[FITZFACTOR]

"I want your stories to be out in the world, and for you to be finding an audience who genuinely loves your work, not just passively 'likes' your posts. "

This hits home man, thanks for the video and the time taken to make it.

I think the difficult thing I'm hearing a lot of creators talk about is how to use social media correctly. I don't think dropping it entirely is the solution, since it's what's enabling us to reach people in the first place. At the same time, using it too much can easily lead to optimizing your work for the platform rather than for the project itself. It's a strange dance of using it and yet ignoring it, one that I have yet to learn.

[CharacterDesignForge]

It's definitely a really easy thing to fall into! I've talked a bit before about how no matter what, the stories, especially first stories, are almost always too ambitious. Takes a lot of discipline to reign it in and work on something feasible.

[Zedrinbot]

This honestly is a huge reason why I hated moving to Twitter after Tumblr imploded on itself. Tumblr had issues, but being on Twitter I can feel there is significantly more pressure to produce digestible content, and completed work isn't as valued.

I also feel like the idea of "Always be drawing, every day" has been corrupted by this trend too. It's no longer a statement about improving, it's "If you don't constantly draw [and post content] you will be forgotten to obscurity."

On a more positive note, I can see how the trap's been causing me grief, but I'm also able to see that I'm not fully in its clutches. Despite the struggles, i'm still releasing my webcomic bi-weekly, and it's hit one of the most intense points in the story so far.

[the_magicas]

"Reference diving" is a big problem that I didn't consider until now. When I was younger I use to create many original ideas. But nowadays I spend so much time on Pinterest or Instagram saving other people's ideas! I'll definitely change that bad habit. Thanks for the enlightening video!

[artisfire]

The trap, so true! That's why I have the Rabindranath quote above my drawing table-'I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung'. Thanks!

[unLUCKY]

Thank you for this video. When I was 14 I started writing a story, it wasn't great but I was putting the words down. A couple of months into it I decided I should start world building, I created characters, creatures, places, history and lore. I'm still going back every couple of months and world building for this story, and a lot of it has helped to improve on the original part of the story I initially wrote at 14... But I haven't developed it any more than those first couple of pages. I don't even know if it's going to be a comic/graphic novel, a book, an illustrated book like James Gurney's Dinotopia or anything. I just turned 25, which means I've spent 11 years piling up stones - I know I have enough ideas to really get into the story, but I just keep world building, and I didn't even realise it was just me avoiding the hard part. After watching this, once I've finished my current projects and have time to go back to working on this world, I'm gonna sit down and write.

[weirdomosquito]

What you said about actually experiencing things and not only relying on other artists' creations, really spoke to me! I was designing a character for a comic and for almost FIVE MONTHS I could not come up with a good design! But one day, I actually looked up photos of real people, similiar to the character in my head and almost instantly drew the character's design the way I had pictured it! Experiencing real things, instead of an artist's filtered version is imperative in creating!

[spiritofgivings]

This video is one of the most introspective and important truths that everyone needs to realize and how it applies to anything people are creating in life. It has clarified a lot and put things into the light for me. Thank you so much for this therapeutic information, Jake.

[TheJungaBoon]

Do what Akira Toriyama did and just come up with the story and character designs as he finishes each chapter. And then promptly forget key characters several chapters in haha

[evanwooten]

You know it’s going to be a good day when it starts with a NEW JAKE PARKER VIDEO 🙌🏼

[shinobix]

Just spent a solid hour and a half pacing about my room thinking about a cool character I want in a story I want in a story I may or may not write after several years and just happened to come to this video. I really needed this, thank you.

[theartofdereklaufman]

I'm right there with you. In the past year I've shifted away from fan art to focus on creating. It's much more full filling. Fan art brought my audience and now the ones who want to stick around for what I can create... awesome.

[dianeo]

Well said. 13:37 "...over reliance on indirect experiences..." This is me! So important to find a balance. Hard to do in this easy-access, binge-world.
Also, "If you never make it, it'll never have the chance to be criticized." Wow, so true. That fear of criticism and disappointment often holds me back.
Looking forward to more of your videos!

[alexandruoprea.]

Thank you for the video. Helps put things in perspective and question a few things, so im glad i found it, as well as the rest of the playlist. Im sorry to hear about your mom.

[saultoons]

So true, I've stepped away from social media to focus more on myself and personal goals. I always felt the burn of needing to post to social media for likes and it was not productive in the sense that I wasnt producing anything long lasting or meaningful, as youve said!

[TWVGH]

Welcome back Jake and thank you for this video. Creating something to just throw up on social media so that we can stay within the right algorithms is such a problem and I feel for every artist that is caught in this loop and wants out.

[VizardnVongola]

I struggle so much with input overload and reference diving, I get so caught up on not drawing something right I look for how others have done it and real life reference but then I just don't stop and stay hours looking for every image, saving it to some random folder but not really using any as actual learning tools.

Great video Jake, and amazing intro🙌🙌