Thursday, May 24, 2012

I Interrupt This Blog Silence With An Announcement...

I am World-building.

 
Here is a picture of my world. Sort of.

Why is the most exciting and fun and can't-stop-thinking-about-it thing also the most exhausting and crazy difficult?

I feel like I need a Panem movie to tell my world-building for me. I mean, seriously, Suzanne Collins with the mandatory clarifying movie before the reaping: brilliant. I have no way in my WIP to have a propagandist movie to explain my world. So...I guess I have to do it the old fashioned way: a little bit at a time, but smooth and flawless. Information that my readers don't even realize is information.

Why is this so hard?

Another thing I learned from The Hunger Games: Ms. Collins uses the even chapters in the first part of the book to world-build. The odd chapters are more action. Don't believe me, go read it again. It's quite a pattern and, pretty brilliant. Every time I started an even chapter and realized it was more world-building I whooped with excitement. I love patterns.


Tell me, what ingenious ways have you read or written to build your worlds?

6 comments:

  1. I wish I were a builder... I'm more of an explorer. I walk with my characters into the world, and learn about it as they learn about it.

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    1. Ooo. I like this. My MC is discovering the world as the readers are, and that definitely makes it a little easier, still, I wish I could be smoother.

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  2. That's crazy about the even/odd chapters thing in Hunger Games. Did you figure that out, Miss Em? Good luck with naturally weaving in worldbuilding. My method? Overwrite it to death, then go back and hack most of it way. :-)

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    1. Yes, Kathryn, I figured that out all by myself. On our trip to DL, we listened in the car and I was getting all excited and squeeing about it and taking notes and my husband thought I was nuts.

      Also, I know your method and while it obviously works for you, it scares the crap out of me!

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  3. My chapter two is admittedly kind of a big world-building dump. So sue me. Smooth and flawless may not be my style. I tend to care more about the characters and plot. Maybe I should go back through my book just analyzing world building. Crap. Thanks a lot, Em.

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    1. I don't know Ilima, I think that's what chapter twos are for. Read any book, you'll see, all chapter twos are building worlds.

      Also, I think you do it amazingly well, so I wouldn't worry about it.

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