How to set up a world without slowing down the pace?

[junkodudeturkey835]

As i am getting closer to the point i will start drafting my novel, there is one thing thats bothering me a great deal. How to set up the world without affecting the pacing or distracting from the story?

The world in my novel is actually rather simple, mainly because its only really a backdrop for a much more epic story. But the problem is, how do i set this world up without leaving too little detail or too much?

My novel is going to be at least 250-400 pages at max (at least thats how i predict it will be), its going to be fairly fast paced with an epic story that spans multiple locations and two epic battle scenes (with the main character and a powerful adversary). And to spoil some of the story, most of the established world is destroyed in the first and second act of the story. The third act is the main character setting out for revenge against an evil man, the fourth is where the main character fights the main antagonist and saves the human race. It may have an ending that may leave the door open for a sequel, but i want to ensure the book works as a standalone piece.

So anyway, should this kind of story involve a lot of world building? Or should it focus more on the main character with only a little world building. Sometimes i believe leaving some things unclear for the reader might spark their imagination, get them to think about whats going on and making up their own minds on how the world is.

And to end this off, it is our world in the future. At this point it isn't post apocalyptic.

And i want to apologize for messing up my critique posts on that board, i think its best i just look for advice and show my work in other places, especially since i seem to want to show way too much for most people.

 

[sknox]

Write only the bits you need to tell the story. Next question?

Honestly, it's difficult to be any more precise than that, especially since you've not begun. As a general rule, I think a great deal about world building and back story, but when it comes to writing, I try to leave out as much as I possibly can, including just what's needed by the story itself. I've been told my early efforts were too spare, so I'm trying to add bits of color here and there. Mostly there.

Still, you will inevitably encounter situations where you need to do setup. A common one is entry into a new place--city, castle, dungeon. The temptation is to stop and describe and even give a history lesson. The challenge is to weave it into the story rather than drop it on the reader's head in a paragraph bomb. One approach I've tried is to succumb to the temptation, write the description in all its detail, then use that as a reference as I write actual story. I might get one bit in a line of description but get another bit via dialog.

hth!

-= Skip =-

 

[Glisterspeck]

It will depend on how closely your world mirrors our own. The closer to reality you tread, the less you need to draw out. I personally prefer "just in time" world building, where information is mixed in with the action. It can be a bit ambiguous at times, or at least, that's how my writing can be, but it allows for you to get on with things.

 

[tinkerdan]

Hi RyanJ1996,

I suggest that you look up

The Rat and the Serpent by Stephen Palmer.

Stephen built a whole world with a whole set of mythology and class structure without overpowering or overshadowing the story he was telling. There was a lot that he left to the readers imagination while keeping it richly descriptive in other areas. Well worth checking out and it's free.

A writers most powerful tool is reading other writers work.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

It's free?

 

[junkodudeturkey835]

Write only the bits you need to tell the story. Next question?

Honestly, it's difficult to be any more precise than that, especially since you've not begun. As a general rule, I think a great deal about world building and back story, but when it comes to writing, I try to leave out as much as I possibly can, including just what's needed by the story itself. I've been told my early efforts were too spare, so I'm trying to add bits of color here and there. Mostly there.

Still, you will inevitably encounter situations where you need to do setup. A common one is entry into a new place--city, castle, dungeon. The temptation is to stop and describe and even give a history lesson. The challenge is to weave it into the story rather than drop it on the reader's head in a paragraph bomb. One approach I've tried is to succumb to the temptation, write the description in all its detail, then use that as a reference as I write actual story. I might get one bit in a line of description but get another bit via dialog.

hth!

-= Skip =-

Thanks. I just needed some advice before i ever start writing it.

If i had more courage and was in a better mood, i would probably do it so that you discover this world along side the main character. He himself only knows little about it himself due to his sheltered life. That way i can keep the pacing even without rushing the story or making it drag.

 

[Colbey Frost]

Try to mix in the world building with atmosphere of the the book. What feelings are you going for with your world? Dark? Hopeless? Misery? (Maybe your themes are lighter than those, but you get my meaning) And you build your world around these themes, so when you're describing your world, building it up in bits in the readers' minds, you're actually adding character and atmosphere to the situation. A bit like weather, some people do that to reflect the mood and scene, but you can use world building like this also. This is what I do anyway. Maybe some of my beta readers can clarify if it works or not, haha.

 

[Tecdavid]

A good method can be through the use of a characters' PoV. If your narrative is close 3rd-person, you can detail your world and its locations through your characters’ eyes and internal comments. A character visiting his hometown after having been gone for years, for example; the narrative can give voice to his thoughts, and have him remember what life was like here. This lets you convey details smoothly and naturally, although of course, there's still limit on how long any character's musings can go on for.
Another solution is through dialogue. If the aforementioned character revisits his hometown with a friend who's never been there before, the friend can ask a few questions about it, and the answers they receive will provide the reader relevant information, too.

 

[Toby Frost]

First, almost everything that goes on in your story is building up your world. Your hero loses a duel and decides to commit suicide in shame - that's hinting at the world he inhabits. "He drew his .45 Civiliser and checked that it was fully loaded". You don't need to say that a Civiliser is a make of gun: the fact that it seems to be one, and that its name carries implications of its own - that violence and civilising are closely linked - tell the reader more about your setting. Everything that happens is building the setting: the characters don't act independently of the world they are in, even if they are visitors there. What it does to them, and their reactions to it, tell you as much about the setting as any lump of description.

If you do need to drop information into the story, I'd suggest doing it from one point of view and in bursts of no more than, say 5-10 lines or so:

"The walls seemed higher than she remembered; now the streets beside them were almost permanently in shadow. Men in black hoods walked the walls, reminding her of executioners. Every thirty yards, the barrel of a cannon jutted out of a little fort. She wondered if the cannons could be turned to fire back into the city itself. Yet she found the tiny shop on Market Street as if drawn in on a rope..."

Or something like that. I'm not holding it out as great prose!

The point is that information is being given from one point of view (the character's), but is hinting at things that are of importance to her and the reader. The character thinks that the town has become more fortified and more menacing to her, and wonders if the cannons can be directed at its own citizens. The reader learns that: the walls are high and defended well, and may not have been in the past; there is a hint that the fortifications could be turned on the citizenry; there are cannons here; the character is slightly troubled by this and that something may be "up" in the town.

All of this is world-building - the useful sort, rather than pages of background that never make it into the story. Also, you're not breaking the flow of the story to tell the reader a bunch of stuff that may well be fairly familiar from other SFF. It's a matter of dripping it in where necessary, not dropping big chunks of exposition on the reader.