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<blockquote data-quote="Storm Raven" data-source="post: 3463323" data-attributes="member: 307">I think it is more a difference concerning whether Harrison is saying &quot;worldbuilding is verboten&quot; and &quot;story should trump over worldbuilding&quot;. And what you describe as &quot;good worldbuilding&quot; is something that I don't think Harrison would disagree with. He says &quot;writing must triumph over worldbuilding&quot;. By inserting worldbuilding elements in the narrative in a method that is designed to support and enhance the story, the writing is paramount over worldbuilding. The opposite occurs when &quot;cool&quot; world design elements are slathered on for no good narrative reason, even if they are added in small chunks. There is almost no extraneous worldbuilding material in Dune (the tightest written of all the series), almost every element introduced has a purpose in the story and helpd drive the narrative. The Eye of the World, in contrast, is laden with piled of totally irrelevant material, even when included in small bits (just about every farmhouse they stop at during their journey is described in tedious detail, as is every meal, and every girl's tug of her hair, and so on). Even though it is spread throughout the book in small bits, it adds up to a massive, clomping, tedious level of dullness that detracts from the interesting parts of the story. L.E. Modesitt also does this, describing endless meals of crusty bread, and repeated dinners, stops at inns and other trivial elements of world atmosphere that serve zero purpose in the story other than to show off all the background detail of the world.And as such, the limited level of worldbuilding that takes place in those books supports Harrison's point, because the story takes precedence.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Storm Raven, post: 3463323, member: 307"] I think it is more a difference concerning whether Harrison is saying "worldbuilding is verboten" and "story should trump over worldbuilding". And what you describe as "good worldbuilding" is something that I don't think Harrison would disagree with. He says "writing must triumph over worldbuilding". By inserting worldbuilding elements in the narrative in a method that is designed to support and enhance the story, the writing is paramount over worldbuilding. The opposite occurs when "cool" world design elements are slathered on for no good narrative reason, even if they are added in small chunks. There is almost no extraneous worldbuilding material in [i]Dune[/i] (the tightest written of all the series), almost every element introduced has a purpose in the story and helpd drive the narrative. [i]The Eye of the World[/i], in contrast, is laden with piled of totally irrelevant material, even when included in small bits (just about every farmhouse they stop at during their journey is described in tedious detail, as is every meal, and every girl's tug of her hair, and so on). Even though it is spread throughout the book in small bits, it adds up to a massive, clomping, tedious level of dullness that detracts from the interesting parts of the story. L.E. Modesitt also does this, describing endless meals of crusty bread, and repeated dinners, stops at inns and other trivial elements of world atmosphere that serve zero purpose in the story other than to show off all the background detail of the world. And as such, the limited level of worldbuilding that takes place in those books supports Harrison's point, because the story takes precedence. [/QUOTE]

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