How to WORLD BUILD (Like a Boss!)

You asked for it!! Today's episode of WritersLife Wednesdays is all about WORLD-BUILDING: how to avoid info-dumping and instead IMMERSE your reader into your awesome fictional world.

In this video I share THE ONE QUESTION you can ask yourself about ANY aspect of world building and immediately know whether or not you should spend time on it. Also I give good (and bad) story examples of world building.

Comment below and tell me: what is the ONE aspect of your world that has the BIGGEST IMPACT on your main character's journey?

________________________________

Subscribe for weekly episodes of #WritersLifeWednesdays !!

✨R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ HOW TO WRITE DUAL POVS

→ SHOWING VS TELLING INTERNAL CONFLICT

→ HOW TO WRITE POWERFUL SIDE CHARACTERS

→ HOW TO WRITE THEME INTO YOUR STORY

✨F O L L O W ✨

[syberyah]

DON'T delete your really cool but irrelevant worldbuilding. That's not something you want to ever lose. Yes, delete it from your book, but hang on to it in some behind-the-scenes document or something, and then YOU still have it and YOU can still appreciate it, and hey, maybe you'll even come up with another story, a novel or even a short story or something, that uses some of that worldbuilding. So yeah, delete irrelevant worldbuilding and infodumping from your NOVEL, but not from your computer.

[rhett-says-hullo]

any other writer: breathes
Abbie: WHY DOES IT MATTER

[whiskeyblack]

Yes! Please do plot-driven VS character-driven stories!

[senditthemoon]

You're pretty much the only authortuber I trust anymore. Thank you for making these videos!

[misfitcreates]

You can include bits of the world building that isn't necessary to the story, but merely adds to it because it makes the world more real.

[bookishwriter]

You talking about Narnia for several hours? I'd watch it!
Just like I would definitely watch a video on plot-driven stories vs character-driven stories!

[BMarie]

One suggestion I got in school was when you have an idea about a story, make up a super minor character of the world. This is just for yourself to use and read. Now, decide that that character is going to go on a trip throughout the land or world. Keep a travel diary for that character and write down about their day and the world around them. Once you finish, go through, and highlight only the most important things. This will allow for that information dump to happen but keeps it from the reader. You get to let’s regurgitate everything and all the ideas you have into something then clean it up later and us all that info as a org of outline of the world and society, etc.

[oliviagiordano]

Oh wow this video is GOLD. Thank you for the amazing advice.


And yes please, a video about character driven vs plot driven stories would be epic. I'd love that, especially considering that that's something I'm wrestling through with my current novel.

[bpoullos]

Divergent... the first and only book I've thrown across the room, so far.

[asmaabdulah]

Best world building goes to avatar the last airbender. Hands down one of my favorite worlds.

[Nayirg]

Every time I get stuck on one point of my writing I wonder if Abbie has covered this specific topic I'm struggling with, and the answer is usually 'yes'. THANK. YOU.

[MykkiOnTheCusp]

I think world-building is one of my favorite pre-writing activities. I love to go "top down" and imagine elaborate worlds with cultures, languages, and emerging government bodies. Then I dig down into the nitty-gritty details (something my brain is less equipped at doing, but clearly needs to be done.)


I'm realizing I might be the odd one out here, haha!

[natseritt]

My problem isn’t info dumping, it’s being so afraid of it I don’t show any of my world at all. 😰

[TheDcraft]

Even stories set in the real world still requires worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is essentially setting. No story exists in a vacuum. The setting always matters.

[eugenia]

I had an info-dump in my first chapter, and then my classmates in advanced creative writing class told me I was telling, rather than showing. So I definitely agree that it has to show throughout the story's actions, scenes and characters.

[citrusoda]

I've been putting off writing my fantasy story because I didn't want to world build. Your video made it so much less overwhelming and I'm gonna try and start small. Thank you!

[meganmccullough]

I can't thank you enough for making videos that are actually HELPFUL and to the point!
Thank you so much for showing us how to actually world-build with relevance! I always skip over parts in books with long descriptions/mostly irrelevant content, so it's awesome to know how to execute this in my own books! Thanks for another great video, Abbie!

[stevefritz]

I wrote a scene of a shopping mall to place my reader there before introducing my character. Following your advice I can better see where I can describe the mall from the protagonist's eyes because she will see what she likes about a mall instead of the sterile environment I described. You are brilliant Abbie!

[newtoatheism]

That’s why I’m doing a comic book so I can visually show some of the world

[spiritstig]

My WIP is a soft sci fi set in the future on another planet. My MC works on a farm so the only thing the reader gets to know about the world for the first few chapters, are things that happens to the MC due to the environmental circumstances. Meanwhile I, the author, just wants to tell the reader every cool little detail about my world from the get-go. Stuff I love and think is so cool, that will probably never make it to the book lol. At least I get to tell my CPs about it.