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Why Worldbuilding is Bad
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 3485163" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>But, why would you want to? If you can remove an element completely from a story, that element shouldn't be there. I know that Celebrim disagrees with me on this, but, from a story writing POV, that's pretty much true. </p><p></p><p>Celebrim insists on bringing up Tolkien's intentions time and again. Author intentions don't matter. They never do. It doesn't matter what the author intends, it only matters how the text is interpreted. If you can use the text to back up a given interpretation, then that interpretation is equally as valid as the author's. If, as my second year poetry prof did, you interpret The Red Wheelbarrow as a poem about sex and can tie that into the text, it's every bit as valid as any other interpretation.</p><p></p><p>Granted, you can disagree with the interpretation. But that doesn't make it invalid.</p><p></p><p>I have repeatedly stated that I consider world building to be an attempt to create an entire functioning world distinct and separate from the plot. I don't see how I have really been inconsistent in that.</p><p></p><p>I find Celebrim's and RC's interpretation far too broad to be useful. All stories require a setting. That's a given. Many stories will have a rich setting that draws the reader into the story. None of that is world building. World building is when you go beyond what is required by the plot and begin detailing extraneous elements like Hobbit Toast songs. </p><p></p><p>I mentioned looking at a map of Chicago to fact check the story I'm writing that's set in Chicago and was told that that is world building. I disagree. Adding in factual information to the story is not world building. It's no different than heading to a museum to find the actual weights of swords and including that information in the story, when it actually adds to the plot. In Rob Roy, there was a great line about how one sword was so much better than another due to weight. Is that world building? IMO, no. That's simply getting things right.</p><p></p><p>It would be world building to spend significant time discussing the various weights of swords that don't actually appear in the story.</p><p></p><p>In The Thirteenth Warrior, when one of the Viking's offers the main character a drink of mead, the main guy (I'm so good with names) says that he can't drink the product of grapes. The viking replies that it's made with honey. Is that detail world building? No, it directly links to plot and character. If the viking character had gone into detail about the process of how mead is made, THAT would be world building.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 3485163, member: 22779"] But, why would you want to? If you can remove an element completely from a story, that element shouldn't be there. I know that Celebrim disagrees with me on this, but, from a story writing POV, that's pretty much true. Celebrim insists on bringing up Tolkien's intentions time and again. Author intentions don't matter. They never do. It doesn't matter what the author intends, it only matters how the text is interpreted. If you can use the text to back up a given interpretation, then that interpretation is equally as valid as the author's. If, as my second year poetry prof did, you interpret The Red Wheelbarrow as a poem about sex and can tie that into the text, it's every bit as valid as any other interpretation. Granted, you can disagree with the interpretation. But that doesn't make it invalid. I have repeatedly stated that I consider world building to be an attempt to create an entire functioning world distinct and separate from the plot. I don't see how I have really been inconsistent in that. I find Celebrim's and RC's interpretation far too broad to be useful. All stories require a setting. That's a given. Many stories will have a rich setting that draws the reader into the story. None of that is world building. World building is when you go beyond what is required by the plot and begin detailing extraneous elements like Hobbit Toast songs. I mentioned looking at a map of Chicago to fact check the story I'm writing that's set in Chicago and was told that that is world building. I disagree. Adding in factual information to the story is not world building. It's no different than heading to a museum to find the actual weights of swords and including that information in the story, when it actually adds to the plot. In Rob Roy, there was a great line about how one sword was so much better than another due to weight. Is that world building? IMO, no. That's simply getting things right. It would be world building to spend significant time discussing the various weights of swords that don't actually appear in the story. In The Thirteenth Warrior, when one of the Viking's offers the main character a drink of mead, the main guy (I'm so good with names) says that he can't drink the product of grapes. The viking replies that it's made with honey. Is that detail world building? No, it directly links to plot and character. If the viking character had gone into detail about the process of how mead is made, THAT would be world building. [/QUOTE]
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