As an aspiring author, lemme just say YES, this series helped me grow SOOO MUCH, there's an extremely drastic difference between manuscripts I write before and after/while I listened to Dear Authors and it is AMAZING, like readers are helping me improve as I write and it's great
@@junjunjamore7735 Dear Authors, yes it is. Sincerely, a nerd who gets distracted thinking about how the magic system works whenever reading anything with a soft magic system.
@@AaronRotenberg I see your point, but I've found that this doesn't happen for me when a soft magic system is done *well*. If a magic system leaves you with more questions than answers, then the author just didn't flesh it out as much (and it's probably not a good magic system lol). But to each their own. For me, I feel like a hard magic system is more like science than magic, so I prefer softer magic systems. Anyway, not trying to start a fight or something. Have a good day.
Strap in because she isn't kidding. You just get names thrown at you with zero exposition whether by dialogue or exposition. It probably took me twice as long to get through the initial chapters as later ones while I tried to piece it together.
Glen Cook use that kind of writing in The Black Company series as well. Unlike Steven Erikson where he does that on purpose, Cook's writing is very straightforward and doesn't have any "flowery" writing or does massive info dumps on buildings or what a character would look like. A lot of it leaves up to your imagination of what they look like, which I really like.
Yep malazan is just like a cake given by the author to taste but before you can scoop a piece he throws it on your face and you have to guess how it tastes. I had to put the first book on hold to return later once I get better a reading, I’m still a noob reading books and it was hard to read for me. Is still a interesting world to read
So after I watched some of Brandon Sanderson's lectures I was thinking about how he mentioned that he hadn't gotten published until he had written twelve or thirteen books. Realizing that I would probably have a similar experience and it would be a good idea to write some "throwaway" material before I really had a go at the important series I had in mind, I came to a realization. Instead of just making throwaway stories to start out, I could write stories that take place in the historical past of the big novel series I was working on. This would serve to flesh out those events so they could strengthen the main story better. As a result, my worldbuilding has taken a huge leap forward. For new authors, that initial period where getting published will probably take a while could be a good opportunity to flesh out your world while increasing your craft at the same time.
@Green Gobby I don't mind sharing it but I have very little prose actually written for any of those things yet. As I come up with story ideas for the various events and concepts I need to explore I find other events and concepts that they depend on and I have to flesh out even more. Throw in a time rift that I came up with early on and getting everything set up to actually write prose for it may take a while. I plan on eventually setting up a website with snippets of the historical stories, but I'm not fully organized yet. I have some unrelated fanfic that I shared on Tumblr, although I forget the account name because I haven't used it for so long. The longest stretch of prose I have is for the first of these stories involving a dryad protagonist. I'll have to figure out how to share some of that.
I am guessing your no longer in middle school, but my literature teachers assigned us short stories to write (I think one was a Katabasis), and I would suggest writing those like a novel or some form of a book.
To be fair, he does it really well cuz at first you're like, "why is he telling me all of this?" But once you read deeper into the story all of a sudden that "useless" info plays a crucial part in the story, and gives you a better appreciation for the author.
I'm thinking about writing (for the first time ever) about a sci-fi world where earths inhabitants have left the planet centuries ago because the planet was dying. After several centuries each planet have established their own, separate societies and cultures based on the stories they've heard about earth. After some centuries one planet discovers instant intergalactic travel and the worlds are suddenly connected again after they all thought they were the only humans left in the galaxy. It's only the backdrop for the story, but it's an important part of it.
Ursula LeGuin's 'Earthsea' books are a master class in efficient worldbuilding and storytelling. The initial trilogy is shorter than a single 'Harry Potter' book but we get to experience more than seven different cultures and three completely distinct adventures (with overlapping characters). The reason it works is that LeGuin trusts her readers to intuit things. She'll use a word and not define it, but you can tell from context that it is a flower, or a type of grain, or a kind of fabric. Awesome.
I'm so glad that someone mentioned her and her work. I have imprssion that she's so understimated and maybe even forgotten nowadays. Maybe it's just in my country, but I rarely can hear someone talking about Le Guin, like she just desappeard from the reading scene.
@@elentari_22 It's sad that I don't hear about her as much anymore. She even wrote in one of her many essays about the "terminal inattention" that many authors (especially female) suffer from after they die. I try to tell people about her books. There's a beautiful bind-up of her Earthsea books available right now! Don't have to buy from Amazon (I got it from my local bookseller!), but this is what it looks like: www.amazon.com/Books-Earthsea-Complete-Illustrated-Cycle/dp/1481465589
@@kathleenbrashier2579 This book looks so well. Fortunately one of publishing house in my country re-published her works with beautiful covers. What cheers me up is, that she got some of important awards, like Nebula or Hugo.
I was just commenting the same thing before I saw yours. These books didn't make an immediate impression on me when I read them, but 3 years later they're still floating around my mind. Maybe it's time for a re-read. I think one of the reasons they don't get much focus now is that they use that "older" fantasy tone in the writing style that can take a while do adapt to if you're used to reading modern fantasy. A bit like lord of the rings, but they don't have blockbuster feature films helping them stay popular.
I like when authors have their characters off-handedly reference other places. It also tells us about the place: "You think this is hot? Wait 'til yo've been to Arizona." P.S I stole the example from one of the replies.
But that's clunky and cheesy dialog. Put it this way: in real life, is it witty when someone says, for instance, 'It's hot as Arizona!' or is that just dully and uninventive?
IggyTthunders Have you never heard someone go "you think this is cold? Wait till you go to Maine" or some other variation? It's not clunky and in fact actually quite realistic. It only becomes cheesy when characters overdo it and even then, there are people in real life who overdo it as well.
@@azarolizxa8579 Yes, I've heard that kind of dialog, and it's dull and uninventive. Look, there are good regional jokes and bad ones. I'll give an example from where I'm from: "In AZ, we have two seasons: summer and practice." See? that's snappy dialog. Another example, one of my favorites, is from 'King Arthur', complaining about England: "Gods, I can't wait to leave this bloody country; if it's not rainy, it's snowy, if it's not snow it's foggy, and *that's* in the summer time!" See? That's how you talk about a region, you make fun of it, you exaggerate. 'Have you ever been to Maine?' is mmmaybe funny if you're from Maine, if you're the rest of the planet it's not funny, because it's an inside joke. It's not evocative or descriptive so the joke falls flat; whereas the two jokes I gave are visceral and silly. You don't have to live or have to visit Arizona or England to laugh at those jokes.
I really like how Scott Lynch takes a brief aside between different sections of his books to expand his world building. The story of the handball player and judge or how the prostitutes formed guilds in Camorr don't add anything to the story proper, but it makes the city feel alive.
Tolkien was the KING of world building. He got you invested in the world AND the characters at the same time. I take my time reading LOTR and STILL find something new. It's why he's one of my favorite authors.
I think a big part of it is that he created the world first, and wrote stories in it second (plus his ludicrous attention to detail, e.g. ensuring the moon was in the right phase every time it was mentioned). There's just no substitute for spending a few decades doodling scraps of a mythology on the backs of exam papers before you actually write your book. A lot of other authors set out to write "a fantasy book with a big world like Tolkien's" and end up with something very derivative and paper-thin, because they didn't have enough of a driving reason to create this non-earth world besides "fantasy."
@@imperium3556 Oh, I totally agree. But he also never seemed satisfied with the story. There was always a new prolouge to his stories. It is his world building that makes the reader slow down and read what he built. None of it ever seems out of place. You feel that every character and race he put in his books; his stories had a reason to be there and added to the story; that every thing affected everybody and every race. And because of the fast stories of today, every story that attempts to be like Tolkien's do fail. Tolkien was never satisfied and always attempted to better his stories and so few today do that.
Oh yeah big time. "History is written by the victors" is best when the victors have ulterior motives or there are scenarios without clear victors, like apocalyptic events.
@@DaedalusShard What I loved most about the worldbuilding there went far beyond those tropes about history and victors. But that diefic entity... Not to spoil anything, but what could actually be trusted? Less to do with will of the victors, but will and history of simply another group entirely, in combat with another, outside of most people even noticing how their own histories and narratives would be changing to fit another's goal over centuries. That is something I haven't really seen in another world's lorebuilding that much, even when there are such entities that should/could have been doing the same thing to as great an effect, but just never realized such potentials.
I personally love it when the main character is new to the world and we discover it with them. It really puts you in the story and makes you feel like you’re part of their world!
The comment about magic systems affecting how people and societies behave was spot on. It's something that has always annoyed me about Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series - it's a society where some types of magic are specific to gender or else affect men and women differently, to the point where one particular ruler who is required to have a particular magic, MUST be a woman because that magic corrupts any men who have it - and yet women in general in that society are treated like second class citizens. The ruler HAS to be a woman but women are looked down on by society?? I don't think so...
Exactly! And, even if the society historically treats women in unfair and sexist ways, you'd think that a newly anointed female leader would make it one of her first priorities to reform or reverse that, especially in a monarchical society!
Well.... you won't have to worry about that anymore. Also, yeah, he inserted a lot of his own political beliefs and ideals into his works. he didn't even consider his books fantasy, iirc.
@@TheDemonCurupira Oh he absolutely liked to put his political philosophy into the books, reasonably subtly at first but eventually in the form of long lectures that I just ended up skipping to get back to the plot. I gave up on his newer books years back but still occasionally have the urge to reread the first few.
@@khango6138 To be fair, in real history there are any number of women who became rulers in a patriarchy without trying much to improve the lives of other women. However they generally became monarchs *despite* being women and knew it (and knew how easily they could be challenged and maybe overthrown) - not *because* they were women!
@@TheDemonCurupira Ah... after reading your first line, I've just Googled Terry Goodkind. I hadn't heard that he had died, let alone just this week. Seems inappropriate to have criticised his writing now. While I had issues with his books, I did adore the early ones, and they were a major part of my becoming a fantasy fan after picking them up in the library as a teenager.
One reason why info dumps are some of the greatest moments in One Piece is because of how invested everyone is in the story, the characters, the world, and the mystery of the true history of the world that the government hides. I don't think I've ever seen a fan base be so excited for info dumps before lol. This is, of course, a manga/anime and not an actual book, but it's still storytelling and I think I great example of info dumps done right.
It also helps that the author actually relegates some of the world building to the pictures themselves. Instead of leaving it all to the text. An example being the city of Zou, on the back of the giant elephant, after the city was destroyed, the Minks now live inside the giant fruits hanging from the trees, nowhere is this mentioned to the readers, instead, it's shown in the background of some panels, some fruits in the distance with windows, balconies, etc. That makes it more interesting/satisfying to discover, because it's sort of "hidden", and it's up to each reader to actually pay attention and investigate the pages of the manga for themselves to discover small details like this.
I think the problem is, and I learned this the hard way, the main focus, at least at first, should be on characters and most of us wanting to write fantasy and sci fi don't realize that. We're eager to get into the world we want to build. But it's a critical error. Another common beginning mistake is writing extravagant words and over doing it. It's much more important to be focused on what the character is about and who they are as people with problems and dreams, like all of us. Connection is vital.
@@johnblessing1165 True, sadly though, not everyone can be Tolkien. Don't get me wrong, it's okay to focus on creating your universe, but many young authors tend to fall into a trap of endless worldbuilding, that effectively prevents them from getting the actual story done. I mean, I'm enjoying the hell out of creating my own world, but I don't think I'm ever going to actually write anything original - but if your main goal is to write a book and have it published, you should be really careful about the amount of time you spend on crafting your universe.
I think the important thing to remember is that human beings are social creatures. Many people who are rich and successful can be terribly unhappy because of lack of good family, consistent values and certain ineffables which are missing. Essentially, you need to construct a world as a foundation or a part of the "source code" but the face of the app needs to be social/emotional in nature and pay very careful attention to aesthetics and the viscera.
Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal talked about how they did the worldbuilding of The Original in a livestream two days ago! It's the Live Signing Session #18 at 1h31 Edit: it's on his channel, forgot to say that
maybe this sounds obvious, but i think it helps a lot to write your own "information dump" but don't put that in the book, use it as a guide for yourself. not just words, draw maps and sketches of creatures/places too! it's fun and a good way to add to your story when you're too scared to start writing the actual story. merphy kinda mentioned this but tolkein puts a glossary/index at the end of return of the king with maps and family trees and an elvish dictionary, i think that's okay and cool to have! as long as readers can follow your story without it
I have seen it done badly if you lay it on too thick I can easily figure out exactly how and why the narrotor lied. If the big twist is the narrator is unreliable it has to be discreet and subtle.
I'm a teenage author and I just want to say thank you for this series! It's helped me a lot, especially with avoiding tropes. I'm a reader too, but for some reason when I write, it's like I don't think about that anymore. So thank you!! PS: I love writing dystopian fantasy, so this is great for me!!
It usually makes total sense in your head, so you forget to see it through the reader's perspective. Getting a second person's opinion is the best you can do
If you want a lesson on world building, take a leap and start the adventure of a lifetime with the One Piece manga. It's getting a Netflix adaption soon and has moments that fit almost any category you could think of. Truly a classic in the making.
Imho, One Piece is the best anime/manga ever written/drawn/animated. It is the funniest, the truest, and has the best depiction of what true friendship is I've seen anywhere. And the worldbuilding is phenomenal. The anime is showing on Netflix now. I haven't heard anything about an adaptation of it though. A live-action version would be prohibitively expensive unless it was a one-off movie. Japanese studios tend to capitalize on the idea of theaters and produce movies with the characters of different franchises whenever they find it convenient.
@@jchinckley the Netflix adaption is 10 episodes and they have stated they are throwing whatever at it in terms of money. I do think One piece is great, but not the greatest ever. It just hits so many check marks that it's hard not to have it in the top. Recently it has been a struggle because it feels like Oda is skipping things due to constraints, which isn't a problem in most cases, but when it's every other chapter, it gets hard. All that said, I personally put attack on titan above it as an example of the long game. But, to each their own because there will never truly be an undisputed number 1 when everyone likes different things.
@@keenangant982 I agree that people like different things, but for me, AoT is missing the humor and friendship elements so stressed in One Piece. Perhaps I need to go back and watch the whole anime to find these things, but so far there isn't much humor and the whole premise is too dark when compared with OP for me to enjoy it as much as you do. Perhaps watching it again and all the way through would change my mind, but I'm unconvinced at this point.
I've just read Warbreaker (my first Sanderson book, based on your recommendation, thank you!) and it did such a great job of giving us different perspectives on history and showing how the different cultures remembered events differently or how the 'truth' had got lost to time.
This was SOO interesting!!! I am writing my own dystopian/post apocalyptic sci fi series and most of my energy is spent on world-building/planning the story and this video helped a lot.
While listening I thought of your fav. P.P. and the Wizard of Oz. They went out the window, blew into a dif world . It wasn't suddenly our world had these strange occurrences .
Now I'm thinking more about the world building for my current writing. I feel like I've done well enough throwing in magic and some locations, but cultural/social aspects haven't really been thoroughly figured out thus far. Thankfully I'm barely 40k words in, and once I'm done I'll be doing a thorough re-write.
Something interesting I find about Medieval fantasy is that it is done a lot, but often not even accurately. I feel like a lot of the time Medieval England rip offs often just have a basic King-Lords-Knight-Peasant hierarchy’s , when in truth feudalism was 10x as complex. Plus, there is so much of medieval European culture that isn’t known. I am constantly studying Medieval Eurasian history for my book to learn more about the cultures that existed. There is so much that is surprising that is never included in many Medieval fantasy worlds. I think if authors did more historical research, they would make better worlds that would be really unique
Do you have any tips or interesting tidbits? I’m making a comic, mostly so that I can practice drawing poses, but I still want it be fun in some way. Even if I’m going to look back on it and despair at me lack of skill. And I get it if not! Aaaaanyway, have a nice day.
@@erinyes3943 Go on r/askhistorians. Can't go wrong there. Herei is a fun fact, though: in the early middle ages many villages didn't get priests come around for months on end, if not years, so to be considered married a couple just had to state that they were married in front of God, so...anywhere. And then as longa s they act married they were married.
Yeah, for example, I found out about the system of government of Friesland and other northern dutch/german lands wich due to their marshy terrain were never conquered by the feudal nobility of the Holy Roman Empire. As a direct consequence, they never adopted feudalism and they instead developed into a unique form of government with a peasant oligarchy which is very similar to how the Roman Republic counted the wealth of its citizens by the amount of land they had. By combining this system with the Italian communes, and giving some "ideology" touch to it I created a form of government for my world, an ideology and the culture of a people. That's efficient worldbuilding if you ask me xD
True, but because of the way the story was written, the ending just doesn't stick in the way all the other episodes did. It's great but could have been better
Have Wissmart yeah the ending was a bit abrupt and had a... well I’ll avoid spoilers but y’all know (not that it’s bad per say but less than the perfection the rest of the show was)... butttt see with a book instead of a show this is so much easier to correct :p
Really? "unobtainium", "Pandora" = some of the laziest Just yanking your chain. I know you're talking about Avatar: The Last Airbender and not James Cameron's blue cat people movie.
@paula the ending was lowkey ass. azula became a mad woman trope out of nowhere (really, her friends betraying her is what made her unhinged when we've seen her get back up every time she was betrayed or lost previously) , whereas katara became the typical token "saccirfice myself for the girl (zuko)" / "the boy gets the girl in the end (aang)" when katara was so much more than that. she had barely 5 lines in the FOUR episode finale!!!! underdeveloped writing of azula and katara who were used as props for the development of zuko and aang pissed me off. also the lack of dynamic between aang/ozai made their fight seem very low stakes cause we knew aang was oging to win and half that fight was ltierally a chase with aang coming after ozai! 2D good guy, 2D bad guy. Thats why azula/zuko fight is much more revered. The finale was lowkey ass.
@@havewissmart9602 That's because they actually wanted to make a 4th season - Book 4: Air - but the producers cancelled it. Azula was supposed to get a redemption arc and her and Zuko were gonna look for their mother. A lot of that material got adopted in the comics.
I usually worldbuild and tell stories for pure fun and excitement. In my opinion, not everything has to have a reason to exist, but atleast have where the things you create can work together or go hand in hand.
If you want some of the best world building that is done by exploring it with the character One Piece is KING. BE WARNED it is a wheel of time level EPIC that is still on going. It is also a manga, and just as with all manga it is going to have tropes, running gags, and themes that are popular in Japan.
Side note: If you decide to read Go in Blind The easiest way to give an "update" on were your at is by what "arc" you finished. And Keep in mind this is a VERY popular series, It's within spitting distance of Harry F-ing Potter, and that's all without a popular US release or a multi-billion dollar movie franchise.
@Hans Hanzo To second the weird I will say that aside from Terry Pratchett no other author can make the weird feel so real. Everyone else feels like they are trying to hard.
@@ender4344 the non spoiler answer is a pirate adventure were if you eat a curse fruit you can't swim but you gain a superpower unique to you. The manga is the best, but if you don't like manga the anime is good enough to get the basic idea and the first few arcs are on netflix. The manga can be read at viz.com for 2.00 a mouth and you get their entire library of translated work. Again this a LONG store that has 990 chapter as of this comment but it has so much to offer.
Great thoughts! This series is so helpful. I have a really hard time with world building that either ignores, condemns, or shrinks down religion. I get that many writers aren't religious these days, which is cool, but culture without religion simply isn't real, and fantasy cultures without it generally aren't believable or immersive. Religion isn't like a small thing that just sort of happens in ignorant corners of society; for literally all of human history people understand and explain their world through through the lens of religion. It's second nature in human experience. It informs politics, morals, medical and scientific approaches, social hierarchies, intercultural relations, marriage and sexual policies, fashion, architecture, calendars, values and functions of natural resources, legal and judicial codes, personal goals, social expectations, magic systems, etc. Most intercultural conflict is inextricably religious and ideological in nature. Everybody believes in something. There is so much about people that is inherently religious (even as a departure from it), that to leave it out of a world entirely feels either lazy, ignorant, or irresponsible on the part of the writer. At best, it's a missed opportunity to explore the depth and non-binary worldbuilding we're all after! Believable cultures need believable world views, which *must* at some point be expressed through a believable religious ideology. It obviously doesn't have to be in your face, but it has to be present somewhere. I want to see how people in this world have assumptions about the universe and "leak" those beliefs in their normal life. Religion is absolutely central to developing realistic human civilizations, and when it's nowhere to be found in the world and character building process I lose trust in the author.
@@Fang_Zheng who says you're not allowed to offend people? Besides, fantasy religions are distinctly *not* real world religions, so I doubt complaints about them would hold any weight. And again, there is no world or culture that doesn't have a religious worldview, so as annoying as it might be to write, it's exceptionally more annoying to *read* about worlds without it.
@@Fang_Zheng Brandon Sanderson does a good job in the Stormlight Archives. I recommend that series as a great example of religions done unoffensively. :)
This is why my beginning info dump is going to probably be only five sentences in my final product. “Long ago. __ Kingdom ruled world. Killed everyone that wasn’t them. Their leader gone. World split up.”
I am so glad I found this series of videos!! As an author, it is so helpful, and makes it possible to grow as a writer, to know what readers like and dislike!
What are those pinkish books at her right right next to the jane austen collection? They look beautiful and I don't know if she's made a video on them already
All of this also applies super well to things like Dungeons & Dragons and already existing worlds that you add to (ex: fanfic). Definitely saved this in a playlist 💕
i'm so happy to have found this channel. there's this lovely community of writers and reading, all happy to learn and rant and enjoy this hobby we all hold so dearly. thank you merphy and others. - an aspiring writer
Thank you very much! This is helpful, especially in my current rut of an urban fantasy novel which is completely character focused: Think Violet Evergarden.
Regarding the part where the reader is thrown into the world, yes, that's overwhelming. It's one of the reasons why I prefer sequels. I know the characters and the world so I can enjoy the plot more than when I'm questioning everything.
I love the A Song of Ice and Fire world building. It places the character in there everyday but we piece together everything that we Need to know. If we dont Need that information, se forget, but If it's needed, the author brings back briefily to remember us. Man i love that series...
All cultures have a dark side, even the elves in Tolkien's world engaged in kinslaying. If it weren't for the elves Sauron wouldn't have been able to pull of his ring scheme nearly as well, even the "perfect" species made mistakes
David weber for all his faults has a great way of making a world feel bigger and more expansive, that I haven't really seen done anywhere else. Whenever there is a big battle coming up, or some intense action, he will write a whole bunch of vignettes for small characters, created just for that scene and describe the action from their pov, making the reader feel more empathy for what is happening to everyone. Hero swings sword at enemy - switch to enemy pov - please don't kill me, I'm a conscript I just wanted to play baseball, dead. War is tragic.
I like when an author's outside interests are channeled through the world building. For example, Tolkien's love of language led to the creation of Sindarin, Quenya, Khuzdul and other constructed languages. This is just one example that comes to mind. It's cool to see a writer incorporate something they're passionate about.
My favorite series in regards to worldbuilding has the be the Books of Raksura by Martha Wells(same author as murderbot!!) Everything is so original and unique and it’s never dumped on you. The world is introduced so naturally, with a main character who is being introduced to everything along with us.
Historical fiction can also require a fair amount of "world-building" even though it takes place in our world. Someone once gave me the example of Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin series as one of the best examples of world-building. He did so much research and packed in a bonkers amount of detail concerning naval life aboard a Napoleonic-era warship to fully flesh out the "world" of his novels.
For me, it was Words of Radiance in the background. "Lies" was just too easy to see but I couldn't quite make out WoR until I maximized the video and even then it was too blurry.
Wow.. That actually helped a lot!! I'm so so greatful I found this channel. It really helps alot, cause I'm trying to write my own books, but I'm not sure how to do that, so thank you alot!!
It’s pretty interesting how often Daniel’s and your videos of the day go hand-in-hand. So much great info in today’s videos from both of you, and lots to think about for writers or prospective writers.
It's cool that authors have found your series to learn from. I love this series so much because it gives me an insight too. I don't want my story to fall into the numerous pitfalls.
Barbie said the whole thing about “women are treated exactly the same but there’s magic now” best in the 2012 masterpiece Barbie and the Three Musketeers with the line “how is it that you can imagine a man flying through the air but not a girl as a musketeer?” Truly an always relevant icon.
I am writing my first book right now, and I love your videos! And one of my greatest motivations are all the books that annoyed me, I just want to write what I'd love to read. And these insights here help me flesh out my preferences even more, I love these new insghts!
Thank you for this series! I'm an author as well and it not only helps me know how readers think and feel on different topics, but it's also a great encouragement to keep going. As for another world building thing not touched on in this video, I really like when characters have sayings that aren't from this world. It's just an extra dash of flavor that can go a long way, so long as the sayings make sense.
Great comments. I'm currently writing a fantasy novel of my own and gleaned a lot of good things form this video that I will definitely be applying and using to tweak my manuscript so far.
Absolutely loved this video. There's SO much to world-building, and SO many ways to go about it. Seeing it from so many readers' perspectives helps me as an aspiring author. As always, thank you for your community, your knowledge, and sharing this information with us.
I really enjoy when a characters interests show in how their POV shows the world. Ex. if they are an artist or a photographer - i recall merphy mentioning this in an old video - that should show in how that character looks at the world around them. One of my favourite examples of this is Shallan from the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.
Merphy Napier, your gestures and expressions are really expressive and really neat. I didn't pick up on it so much while watching the video. But when I was pausing the video and skipping through it with the arrow keys to find and write down some of the quotes, it jumped out at me. I was blown away by the variety and impact of personality in freeze frame after freeze frame. Cool stuff. I'll probably post another, separate comment specifically on the topic of world building. It's a topic that I've delved into for long time. But I didn't want to post this observation and that together. Thanks for the vid.
Merphy this is completely unrelated to the video, but are you interested in Indian mythology? If you are I highly recommend reading The Immortals of Meluha trilogy by Amish Tripathi. You might find it a little bit difficult with the pronunciation of names and certain things in the plot in general. I would love to see you talk about it since I haven't really seen you discussing about historical / mythological books in general. Also there are also other series by the same author like Sita: the warrior of Mithila, the legend of Suheldev etc. if you want to try that. Also try reading Indian epics like Mahabharata or Ramayana. They are pretty lengthy and detailed. It would certainly interest you if you want to know about the origins and basically everything about Indian culture.
I love Lia Gardner's idea, even though I don't know why everyone hates textbooks - they're very interesting! I love the idea of including a charismatic professor in the series, who teaches things in a certain odd way. In fact, I began a story (that I have not yet finished because I'm not sure where it's going) with a teacher describing details about my conlang Lohong to a tired, unwilling, and bored student (who I, therefore, would dislike if he were real. But it's a story.), and I have him describe things in such a weird and unique and tangential way.
This is a video I'll be refering back to very often. I am starting to draft a really expansive sci-fi world (kinda like Asimov's Robots to Foundation verse in scope) and want to really flesh it out to feel as real as possible. Giving other perspectives will surely help me avoid tunneling in some aspects and forgeting about others. Great video as always!
I love a collection of stories that take place in the same world MCU style. Little details dropped in books that give us hints of this aspect are so satisfying when the penny drops.
I'm planning on creating my first computer game and I don't know how to write/tell stories which I thought I really need, then I saw this video. Even the very first screenshot is helpful enough to start, so thank you! :)
Really great video. I like the fact that this video was based on how to make worlds which are not real 'feel real'. As in instructing authors as how to make something which is essentially contrived feel less contrived and also to weave aspects or deeply principled ways that the real world behaves into it.
This trips me up so I appreciate a video like this. Making a world from scratch is difficult and I end up thinking that I need to put in alot of details in every little thing, nowadays I stop myself and ask 'when is that going to be relevant?' If it isnt going to add something to the plot then maybe make an off handed remark if you really want it in there.
As I’m piecing together my story, I’m finding that if the plot and the world have a lot to do with each other, it could be a breeze for me to write and for the audience to read, since every detail comes back, or pertains to a plot point, or has thematic significance. So the advice that ya’ll have been giving was hella helpful. Thank you!
Hands down this is my favorite series. As a writer, it’s very hard to get people to read and provide feedback on your story. So this maybe broad and more generalized, but it’s still wonderful to listen to readers giving their viewpoints on how they like to experience a story. It’s very helpful, even if it’s not specific to MY story. Thanks for creating this. I think I’ve watched every single one 😅
I'm 16 years old and an aspiring author. Watching you're videos makes me determined to write a good book. I tried to write something but I don't think it's good enough. I've a got a world with several kingdoms in it and I want it to be better.
POV: You're a writer taking notes on how to improve your own worldbuilding.
lol
"That's why I'm here."
That hits home
Lol
@@Magus_Union me too
Merphy: makes a series named Dear Authors....
Also Merphy: gets surprised when they watch it.
My favorite comment from an author was, "Dear Readers, Hard magic system isn't inherently better."
As an aspiring author, lemme just say YES, this series helped me grow SOOO MUCH, there's an extremely drastic difference between manuscripts I write before and after/while I listened to Dear Authors and it is AMAZING, like readers are helping me improve as I write and it's great
@@junjunjamore7735 Dear Authors, yes it is. Sincerely, a nerd who gets distracted thinking about how the magic system works whenever reading anything with a soft magic system.
@@junjunjamore7735 which author said that?
@@AaronRotenberg I see your point, but I've found that this doesn't happen for me when a soft magic system is done *well*. If a magic system leaves you with more questions than answers, then the author just didn't flesh it out as much (and it's probably not a good magic system lol). But to each their own. For me, I feel like a hard magic system is more like science than magic, so I prefer softer magic systems. Anyway, not trying to start a fight or something. Have a good day.
“Here’s a massive world, I’m gonna tell you nothing. Start running, sucker.” Well, I guess I need to check out Malazan
Strap in because she isn't kidding. You just get names thrown at you with zero exposition whether by dialogue or exposition. It probably took me twice as long to get through the initial chapters as later ones while I tried to piece it together.
same lmao 😆
Fair warning, I'm using it as a writing prompt.
Glen Cook use that kind of writing in The Black Company series as well. Unlike Steven Erikson where he does that on purpose, Cook's writing is very straightforward and doesn't have any "flowery" writing or does massive info dumps on buildings or what a character would look like. A lot of it leaves up to your imagination of what they look like, which I really like.
Yep malazan is just like a cake given by the author to taste but before you can scoop a piece he throws it on your face and you have to guess how it tastes. I had to put the first book on hold to return later once I get better a reading, I’m still a noob reading books and it was hard to read for me. Is still a interesting world to read
So after I watched some of Brandon Sanderson's lectures I was thinking about how he mentioned that he hadn't gotten published until he had written twelve or thirteen books. Realizing that I would probably have a similar experience and it would be a good idea to write some "throwaway" material before I really had a go at the important series I had in mind, I came to a realization. Instead of just making throwaway stories to start out, I could write stories that take place in the historical past of the big novel series I was working on. This would serve to flesh out those events so they could strengthen the main story better. As a result, my worldbuilding has taken a huge leap forward. For new authors, that initial period where getting published will probably take a while could be a good opportunity to flesh out your world while increasing your craft at the same time.
Oooo that would be good!! I'll try that out while I'm planning my story :)
Thank you for sharing your experience
I'm doing this with short stories set in my world!
@Green Gobby I don't mind sharing it but I have very little prose actually written for any of those things yet. As I come up with story ideas for the various events and concepts I need to explore I find other events and concepts that they depend on and I have to flesh out even more. Throw in a time rift that I came up with early on and getting everything set up to actually write prose for it may take a while. I plan on eventually setting up a website with snippets of the historical stories, but I'm not fully organized yet. I have some unrelated fanfic that I shared on Tumblr, although I forget the account name because I haven't used it for so long.
The longest stretch of prose I have is for the first of these stories involving a dryad protagonist. I'll have to figure out how to share some of that.
I am guessing your no longer in middle school, but my literature teachers assigned us short stories to write (I think one was a Katabasis), and I would suggest writing those like a novel or some form of a book.
One of the best things ASOIAF does is giving historical events new perspectives based on who is recounting them, imo at least
I agree, but what does IMO mean?
@@justarandomgirlvx3578 'in my opinion'
@@tarajay773 ah okay thank you!
Lmao
Oh it means laugh my ass off. Fyi
readers: we don't like infodumps
victor hugo: *sweats nervously*
To be fair, he does it really well cuz at first you're like, "why is he telling me all of this?" But once you read deeper into the story all of a sudden that "useless" info plays a crucial part in the story, and gives you a better appreciation for the author.
@@killer92173 is partly why i love the wheel of time, but hugo was a big fav during childhood, never mde this connection before, thanks
ben butler Victor Hugo...? A childhood favorite??? What, did you read les mis when you were 10?
hobbit read to me at 5 reading hugo and dumas at 12, dickens and doyle about 10.
To be fair, this is the reason why adaptations of Victor Hugo's works are far more popular than the original books themselves.
I’m in the middle of world building a story rn, so this came out at the right time.
What's your story about?
Same here!
me too :)
Yep
Same hehe
I'm thinking about writing (for the first time ever) about a sci-fi world where earths inhabitants have left the planet centuries ago because the planet was dying. After several centuries each planet have established their own, separate societies and cultures based on the stories they've heard about earth. After some centuries one planet discovers instant intergalactic travel and the worlds are suddenly connected again after they all thought they were the only humans left in the galaxy.
It's only the backdrop for the story, but it's an important part of it.
That sounds like a very good start.
I would like to read this story, please!
Ursula LeGuin's 'Earthsea' books are a master class in efficient worldbuilding and storytelling. The initial trilogy is shorter than a single 'Harry Potter' book but we get to experience more than seven different cultures and three completely distinct adventures (with overlapping characters). The reason it works is that LeGuin trusts her readers to intuit things. She'll use a word and not define it, but you can tell from context that it is a flower, or a type of grain, or a kind of fabric. Awesome.
I'm so glad that someone mentioned her and her work. I have imprssion that she's so understimated and maybe even forgotten nowadays. Maybe it's just in my country, but I rarely can hear someone talking about Le Guin, like she just desappeard from the reading scene.
@@elentari_22 It's sad that I don't hear about her as much anymore. She even wrote in one of her many essays about the "terminal inattention" that many authors (especially female) suffer from after they die. I try to tell people about her books. There's a beautiful bind-up of her Earthsea books available right now! Don't have to buy from Amazon (I got it from my local bookseller!), but this is what it looks like: www.amazon.com/Books-Earthsea-Complete-Illustrated-Cycle/dp/1481465589
@@kathleenbrashier2579 This book looks so well. Fortunately one of publishing house in my country re-published her works with beautiful covers. What cheers me up is, that she got some of important awards, like Nebula or Hugo.
i'm really new to fantasy fiction, so i'll def check this out
I was just commenting the same thing before I saw yours. These books didn't make an immediate impression on me when I read them, but 3 years later they're still floating around my mind. Maybe it's time for a re-read.
I think one of the reasons they don't get much focus now is that they use that "older" fantasy tone in the writing style that can take a while do adapt to if you're used to reading modern fantasy. A bit like lord of the rings, but they don't have blockbuster feature films helping them stay popular.
I like when authors have their characters off-handedly reference other places. It also tells us about the place: "You think this is hot? Wait 'til yo've been to Arizona."
P.S I stole the example from one of the replies.
Some authors go a little overboard with it imo
Have you heard of the high elves?
But that's clunky and cheesy dialog. Put it this way: in real life, is it witty when someone says, for instance, 'It's hot as Arizona!' or is that just dully and uninventive?
IggyTthunders Have you never heard someone go "you think this is cold? Wait till you go to Maine" or some other variation? It's not clunky and in fact actually quite realistic. It only becomes cheesy when characters overdo it and even then, there are people in real life who overdo it as well.
@@azarolizxa8579 Yes, I've heard that kind of dialog, and it's dull and uninventive. Look, there are good regional jokes and bad ones.
I'll give an example from where I'm from:
"In AZ, we have two seasons: summer and practice."
See? that's snappy dialog.
Another example, one of my favorites, is from 'King Arthur', complaining about England:
"Gods, I can't wait to leave this bloody country; if it's not rainy, it's snowy, if it's not snow it's foggy, and *that's* in the summer time!"
See? That's how you talk about a region, you make fun of it, you exaggerate. 'Have you ever been to Maine?' is mmmaybe funny if you're from Maine, if you're the rest of the planet it's not funny, because it's an inside joke. It's not evocative or descriptive so the joke falls flat; whereas the two jokes I gave are visceral and silly. You don't have to live or have to visit Arizona or England to laugh at those jokes.
I really like how Scott Lynch takes a brief aside between different sections of his books to expand his world building. The story of the handball player and judge or how the prostitutes formed guilds in Camorr don't add anything to the story proper, but it makes the city feel alive.
Yeah, I like that too. I think the story with Markos the handball player adds to the story because it shows how brutal people from the Cauldron are.
Tolkien was the KING of world building. He got you invested in the world AND the characters at the same time. I take my time reading LOTR and STILL find something new. It's why he's one of my favorite authors.
The Silmarillion is unmatched.
I think a big part of it is that he created the world first, and wrote stories in it second (plus his ludicrous attention to detail, e.g. ensuring the moon was in the right phase every time it was mentioned). There's just no substitute for spending a few decades doodling scraps of a mythology on the backs of exam papers before you actually write your book. A lot of other authors set out to write "a fantasy book with a big world like Tolkien's" and end up with something very derivative and paper-thin, because they didn't have enough of a driving reason to create this non-earth world besides "fantasy."
@@imperium3556 Oh, I totally agree. But he also never seemed satisfied with the story. There was always a new prolouge to his stories. It is his world building that makes the reader slow down and read what he built. None of it ever seems out of place. You feel that every character and race he put in his books; his stories had a reason to be there and added to the story; that every thing affected everybody and every race. And because of the fast stories of today, every story that attempts to be like Tolkien's do fail. Tolkien was never satisfied and always attempted to better his stories and so few today do that.
@@brooksboy78 Absolutely.
Here comes another scary LOTR fan run!!!
I don’t mean to be mean but come on you are a little intense
I love it when there’s gaps and mistakes in “the history of the world” Mistborn did this really well.
Oh yeah big time. "History is written by the victors" is best when the victors have ulterior motives or there are scenarios without clear victors, like apocalyptic events.
i just finishes mistborn and i love it sm omg
@@DaedalusShard What I loved most about the worldbuilding there went far beyond those tropes about history and victors. But that diefic entity... Not to spoil anything, but what could actually be trusted? Less to do with will of the victors, but will and history of simply another group entirely, in combat with another, outside of most people even noticing how their own histories and narratives would be changing to fit another's goal over centuries.
That is something I haven't really seen in another world's lorebuilding that much, even when there are such entities that should/could have been doing the same thing to as great an effect, but just never realized such potentials.
“Starting at where to start.”
Impossible.....
Unbelievable, right?
I personally love it when the main character is new to the world and we discover it with them. It really puts you in the story and makes you feel like you’re part of their world!
The comment about magic systems affecting how people and societies behave was spot on.
It's something that has always annoyed me about Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series - it's a society where some types of magic are specific to gender or else affect men and women differently, to the point where one particular ruler who is required to have a particular magic, MUST be a woman because that magic corrupts any men who have it - and yet women in general in that society are treated like second class citizens. The ruler HAS to be a woman but women are looked down on by society?? I don't think so...
Exactly! And, even if the society historically treats women in unfair and sexist ways, you'd think that a newly anointed female leader would make it one of her first priorities to reform or reverse that, especially in a monarchical society!
Well.... you won't have to worry about that anymore. Also, yeah, he inserted a lot of his own political beliefs and ideals into his works. he didn't even consider his books fantasy, iirc.
@@TheDemonCurupira Oh he absolutely liked to put his political philosophy into the books, reasonably subtly at first but eventually in the form of long lectures that I just ended up skipping to get back to the plot. I gave up on his newer books years back but still occasionally have the urge to reread the first few.
@@khango6138 To be fair, in real history there are any number of women who became rulers in a patriarchy without trying much to improve the lives of other women. However they generally became monarchs *despite* being women and knew it (and knew how easily they could be challenged and maybe overthrown) - not *because* they were women!
@@TheDemonCurupira Ah... after reading your first line, I've just Googled Terry Goodkind. I hadn't heard that he had died, let alone just this week. Seems inappropriate to have criticised his writing now.
While I had issues with his books, I did adore the early ones, and they were a major part of my becoming a fantasy fan after picking them up in the library as a teenager.
One reason why info dumps are some of the greatest moments in One Piece is because of how invested everyone is in the story, the characters, the world, and the mystery of the true history of the world that the government hides. I don't think I've ever seen a fan base be so excited for info dumps before lol.
This is, of course, a manga/anime and not an actual book, but it's still storytelling and I think I great example of info dumps done right.
Yes info dumps fake art to me as long as they are no more then a page I find are super 8ntresring
It also helps that the author actually relegates some of the world building to the pictures themselves. Instead of leaving it all to the text.
An example being the city of Zou, on the back of the giant elephant, after the city was destroyed, the Minks now live inside the giant fruits hanging from the trees, nowhere is this mentioned to the readers, instead, it's shown in the background of some panels, some fruits in the distance with windows, balconies, etc.
That makes it more interesting/satisfying to discover, because it's sort of "hidden", and it's up to each reader to actually pay attention and investigate the pages of the manga for themselves to discover small details like this.
@@SchrollShepard This is one of the reasons why Zou is one of my favourite locations in the One Piece world.
Chapters 956 and 957 come to mind😆
Wano is ending so get ready for info dumps :/
I think the problem is, and I learned this the hard way, the main focus, at least at first, should be on characters and most of us wanting to write fantasy and sci fi don't realize that. We're eager to get into the world we want to build. But it's a critical error. Another common beginning mistake is writing extravagant words and over doing it. It's much more important to be focused on what the character is about and who they are as people with problems and dreams, like all of us. Connection is vital.
@Hexproof Project I'm very interested in magic systems
Tolkien wrote about a world and basically created story and character to serve that world and it works for him.
@@johnblessing1165 True, sadly though, not everyone can be Tolkien. Don't get me wrong, it's okay to focus on creating your universe, but many young authors tend to fall into a trap of endless worldbuilding, that effectively prevents them from getting the actual story done. I mean, I'm enjoying the hell out of creating my own world, but I don't think I'm ever going to actually write anything original - but if your main goal is to write a book and have it published, you should be really careful about the amount of time you spend on crafting your universe.
@@johnblessing1165 yes. FOR HIM. He was the father of fantasy. It was all new.
I think the important thing to remember is that human beings are social creatures. Many people who are rich and successful can be terribly unhappy because of lack of good family, consistent values and certain ineffables which are missing. Essentially, you need to construct a world as a foundation or a part of the "source code" but the face of the app needs to be social/emotional in nature and pay very careful attention to aesthetics and the viscera.
Malazan "Here's a massive world, I'm gonna tell you nothing. Start running, sucker!" YES! Love it!
Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal talked about how they did the worldbuilding of The Original in a livestream two days ago! It's the Live Signing Session #18 at 1h31
Edit: it's on his channel, forgot to say that
Do you remember in what time in the video they talk about it?
@@isabelasantos7049 there is a comment on the livestream listing timestamps
Starts at 1h31
Thank you guys!
Ya they also have podcast Together. It's a good one.
maybe this sounds obvious, but i think it helps a lot to write your own "information dump" but don't put that in the book, use it as a guide for yourself. not just words, draw maps and sketches of creatures/places too! it's fun and a good way to add to your story when you're too scared to start writing the actual story.
merphy kinda mentioned this but tolkein puts a glossary/index at the end of return of the king with maps and family trees and an elvish dictionary, i think that's okay and cool to have! as long as readers can follow your story without it
These videos really help me. I’m writing a book and this helps me see what people want to see. You are truly a savior for making these videos
Oh my word. So much yes to the idea that individuals are unreliable narrators. It always adds reality and mystery and it’s amazing
I have seen it done badly if you lay it on too thick I can easily figure out exactly how and why the narrotor lied. If the big twist is the narrator is unreliable it has to be discreet and subtle.
@@codystork3008 It doesn't have to be a twist, tbf. plus, it's not always lying, it's about perspective and knowledge
I'm a teenage author and I just want to say thank you for this series! It's helped me a lot, especially with avoiding tropes. I'm a reader too, but for some reason when I write, it's like I don't think about that anymore.
So thank you!!
PS: I love writing dystopian fantasy, so this is great for me!!
Same here... it's so weird that I hate some tropes and clichés but while writing I use them. I curse myself each time I revise😂😂
@@arushi8098 Yup, same! Haha
It usually makes total sense in your head, so you forget to see it through the reader's perspective. Getting a second person's opinion is the best you can do
@@VivianAckers Precisely! :)
I'm somehow the opposite in that I doubt everything I come up with. It helps to an extent but sometimes it isn't always a good thing.
If you want a lesson on world building, take a leap and start the adventure of a lifetime with the One Piece manga. It's getting a Netflix adaption soon and has moments that fit almost any category you could think of. Truly a classic in the making.
Imho, One Piece is the best anime/manga ever written/drawn/animated. It is the funniest, the truest, and has the best depiction of what true friendship is I've seen anywhere. And the worldbuilding is phenomenal. The anime is showing on Netflix now. I haven't heard anything about an adaptation of it though. A live-action version would be prohibitively expensive unless it was a one-off movie. Japanese studios tend to capitalize on the idea of theaters and produce movies with the characters of different franchises whenever they find it convenient.
@@jchinckley the Netflix adaption is 10 episodes and they have stated they are throwing whatever at it in terms of money. I do think One piece is great, but not the greatest ever. It just hits so many check marks that it's hard not to have it in the top. Recently it has been a struggle because it feels like Oda is skipping things due to constraints, which isn't a problem in most cases, but when it's every other chapter, it gets hard. All that said, I personally put attack on titan above it as an example of the long game. But, to each their own because there will never truly be an undisputed number 1 when everyone likes different things.
@@keenangant982 I agree that people like different things, but for me, AoT is missing the humor and friendship elements so stressed in One Piece. Perhaps I need to go back and watch the whole anime to find these things, but so far there isn't much humor and the whole premise is too dark when compared with OP for me to enjoy it as much as you do. Perhaps watching it again and all the way through would change my mind, but I'm unconvinced at this point.
The wizarding world ❤⚡❤ see I know it isnt perfect and all but it holds a very special place in my heart so ❤⚡❤⚡
I've just read Warbreaker (my first Sanderson book, based on your recommendation, thank you!) and it did such a great job of giving us different perspectives on history and showing how the different cultures remembered events differently or how the 'truth' had got lost to time.
@Warriorkiller666 Thanks, I will check those out!
This was SOO interesting!!! I am writing my own dystopian/post apocalyptic sci fi series and most of my energy is spent on world-building/planning the story and this video helped a lot.
While listening I thought of your fav. P.P. and the Wizard of Oz. They went out the window, blew into a dif world . It wasn't suddenly our world had these strange occurrences .
Now I'm thinking more about the world building for my current writing.
I feel like I've done well enough throwing in magic and some locations, but cultural/social aspects haven't really been thoroughly figured out thus far.
Thankfully I'm barely 40k words in, and once I'm done I'll be doing a thorough re-write.
Something interesting I find about Medieval fantasy is that it is done a lot, but often not even accurately. I feel like a lot of the time Medieval England rip offs often just have a basic King-Lords-Knight-Peasant hierarchy’s , when in truth feudalism was 10x as complex. Plus, there is so much of medieval European culture that isn’t known. I am constantly studying Medieval Eurasian history for my book to learn more about the cultures that existed. There is so much that is surprising that is never included in many Medieval fantasy worlds. I think if authors did more historical research, they would make better worlds that would be really unique
Do you have any tips or interesting tidbits? I’m making a comic, mostly so that I can practice drawing poses, but I still want it be fun in some way. Even if I’m going to look back on it and despair at me lack of skill.
And I get it if not!
Aaaaanyway, have a nice day.
Tolkien certainly knew his medieval history. He was one of the world’s leading experts.
@@erinyes3943 Go on r/askhistorians. Can't go wrong there. Herei is a fun fact, though: in the early middle ages many villages didn't get priests come around for months on end, if not years, so to be considered married a couple just had to state that they were married in front of God, so...anywhere. And then as longa s they act married they were married.
Yeah, for example, I found out about the system of government of Friesland and other northern dutch/german lands wich due to their marshy terrain were never conquered by the feudal nobility of the Holy Roman Empire. As a direct consequence, they never adopted feudalism and they instead developed into a unique form of government with a peasant oligarchy which is very similar to how the Roman Republic counted the wealth of its citizens by the amount of land they had. By combining this system with the Italian communes, and giving some "ideology" touch to it I created a form of government for my world, an ideology and the culture of a people. That's efficient worldbuilding if you ask me xD
Dear Authors: just watch Avatar and boom, you have your perfect story.
no copying though.
True, but because of the way the story was written, the ending just doesn't stick in the way all the other episodes did. It's great but could have been better
Have Wissmart yeah the ending was a bit abrupt and had a... well I’ll avoid spoilers but y’all know (not that it’s bad per say but less than the perfection the rest of the show was)...
butttt see with a book instead of a show this is so much easier to correct :p
Really? "unobtainium", "Pandora" = some of the laziest
Just yanking your chain. I know you're talking about Avatar: The Last Airbender and not James Cameron's blue cat people movie.
@paula the ending was lowkey ass. azula became a mad woman trope out of nowhere (really, her friends betraying her is what made her unhinged when we've seen her get back up every time she was betrayed or lost previously) , whereas katara became the typical token "saccirfice myself for the girl (zuko)" / "the boy gets the girl in the end (aang)" when katara was so much more than that. she had barely 5 lines in the FOUR episode finale!!!! underdeveloped writing of azula and katara who were used as props for the development of zuko and aang pissed me off. also the lack of dynamic between aang/ozai made their fight seem very low stakes cause we knew aang was oging to win and half that fight was ltierally a chase with aang coming after ozai! 2D good guy, 2D bad guy. Thats why azula/zuko fight is much more revered. The finale was lowkey ass.
@@havewissmart9602 That's because they actually wanted to make a 4th season - Book 4: Air - but the producers cancelled it. Azula was supposed to get a redemption arc and her and Zuko were gonna look for their mother. A lot of that material got adopted in the comics.
thank you so much for this!!! I absolutely love world building!!
"The great divide" episode in Avatar is a great example of how 2 different cultures see the same historical event.
I usually worldbuild and tell stories for pure fun and excitement. In my opinion, not everything has to have a reason to exist, but atleast have where the things you create can work together or go hand in hand.
If you want some of the best world building that is done by exploring it with the character One Piece is KING.
BE WARNED it is a wheel of time level EPIC that is still on going.
It is also a manga, and just as with all manga it is going to have tropes, running gags, and themes that are popular in Japan.
Side note: If you decide to read
Go in Blind
The easiest way to give an "update" on were your at is by what "arc" you finished.
And Keep in mind this is a VERY popular series, It's within spitting distance of Harry F-ing Potter, and that's all without a popular US release or a multi-billion dollar movie franchise.
those damn straw hats
@Hans Hanzo To second the weird I will say that aside from Terry Pratchett no other author can make the weird feel so real.
Everyone else feels like they are trying to hard.
What's it about? I haven't watched any animes in my lifetime soo idk what I'm getting into
@@ender4344 the non spoiler answer is a pirate adventure were if you eat a curse fruit you can't swim but you gain a superpower unique to you.
The manga is the best, but if you don't like manga the anime is good enough to get the basic idea and the first few arcs are on netflix.
The manga can be read at viz.com for 2.00 a mouth and you get their entire library of translated work.
Again this a LONG store that has 990 chapter as of this comment but it has so much to offer.
Great thoughts! This series is so helpful.
I have a really hard time with world building that either ignores, condemns, or shrinks down religion. I get that many writers aren't religious these days, which is cool, but culture without religion simply isn't real, and fantasy cultures without it generally aren't believable or immersive. Religion isn't like a small thing that just sort of happens in ignorant corners of society; for literally all of human history people understand and explain their world through through the lens of religion. It's second nature in human experience. It informs politics, morals, medical and scientific approaches, social hierarchies, intercultural relations, marriage and sexual policies, fashion, architecture, calendars, values and functions of natural resources, legal and judicial codes, personal goals, social expectations, magic systems, etc. Most intercultural conflict is inextricably religious and ideological in nature. Everybody believes in something. There is so much about people that is inherently religious (even as a departure from it), that to leave it out of a world entirely feels either lazy, ignorant, or irresponsible on the part of the writer. At best, it's a missed opportunity to explore the depth and non-binary worldbuilding we're all after!
Believable cultures need believable world views, which *must* at some point be expressed through a believable religious ideology. It obviously doesn't have to be in your face, but it has to be present somewhere. I want to see how people in this world have assumptions about the universe and "leak" those beliefs in their normal life.
Religion is absolutely central to developing realistic human civilizations, and when it's nowhere to be found in the world and character building process I lose trust in the author.
I never even thought of this but you are so right!
Writing about religions is annoying
Since you are not allowed to offend any of the real world religions
@@Fang_Zheng who says you're not allowed to offend people? Besides, fantasy religions are distinctly *not* real world religions, so I doubt complaints about them would hold any weight. And again, there is no world or culture that doesn't have a religious worldview, so as annoying as it might be to write, it's exceptionally more annoying to *read* about worlds without it.
@@Fang_Zheng Brandon Sanderson does a good job in the Stormlight Archives. I recommend that series as a great example of religions done unoffensively. :)
@@Dragonfan39 thanks 😊🙏
This is why my beginning info dump is going to probably be only five sentences in my final product.
“Long ago. __ Kingdom ruled world. Killed everyone that wasn’t them. Their leader gone. World split up.”
I am so glad I found this series of videos!! As an author, it is so helpful, and makes it possible to grow as a writer, to know what readers like and dislike!
You can't talk about World Building without talking about One Piece.
Or Tolkien
Or atla
Im currently preparing to write my novel, so im binge watching all your dear-authors vids 🥺
What are those pinkish books at her right right next to the jane austen collection? They look beautiful and I don't know if she's made a video on them already
How did I miss this one!? World building is my favourite part of writing
All of this also applies super well to things like Dungeons & Dragons and already existing worlds that you add to (ex: fanfic). Definitely saved this in a playlist 💕
i'm so happy to have found this channel. there's this lovely community of writers and reading, all happy to learn and rant and enjoy this hobby we all hold so dearly. thank you merphy and others.
- an aspiring writer
These dear authors videos are simply awesome
Thank you very much! This is helpful, especially in my current rut of an urban fantasy novel which is completely character focused: Think Violet Evergarden.
Regarding the part where the reader is thrown into the world, yes, that's overwhelming. It's one of the reasons why I prefer sequels. I know the characters and the world so I can enjoy the plot more than when I'm questioning everything.
I love the A Song of Ice and Fire world building. It places the character in there everyday but we piece together everything that we Need to know. If we dont Need that information, se forget, but If it's needed, the author brings back briefily to remember us. Man i love that series...
All cultures have a dark side, even the elves in Tolkien's world engaged in kinslaying. If it weren't for the elves Sauron wouldn't have been able to pull of his ring scheme nearly as well, even the "perfect" species made mistakes
David weber for all his faults has a great way of making a world feel bigger and more expansive, that I haven't really seen done anywhere else.
Whenever there is a big battle coming up, or some intense action, he will write a whole bunch of vignettes for small characters, created just for that scene and describe the action from their pov, making the reader feel more empathy for what is happening to everyone.
Hero swings sword at enemy - switch to enemy pov - please don't kill me, I'm a conscript I just wanted to play baseball, dead. War is tragic.
I just want to say that I enjoy all your videos and they're an incredible resource to improve my writing❤️
I like when an author's outside interests are channeled through the world building. For example, Tolkien's love of language led to the creation of Sindarin, Quenya, Khuzdul and other constructed languages. This is just one example that comes to mind. It's cool to see a writer incorporate something they're passionate about.
Can you use any Rick Riordan books as examples for world building? Specificaly Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles
Yesss! I have been wanting this one for a while now. Thanks Merphy
My favorite series in regards to worldbuilding has the be the Books of Raksura by Martha Wells(same author as murderbot!!) Everything is so original and unique and it’s never dumped on you. The world is introduced so naturally, with a main character who is being introduced to everything along with us.
Historical fiction can also require a fair amount of "world-building" even though it takes place in our world. Someone once gave me the example of Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin series as one of the best examples of world-building. He did so much research and packed in a bonkers amount of detail concerning naval life aboard a Napoleonic-era warship to fully flesh out the "world" of his novels.
merphy: talks about world-building
me: *stares intensely at the lies of locke lamora in the background*l
For me, it was Words of Radiance in the background. "Lies" was just too easy to see but I couldn't quite make out WoR until I maximized the video and even then it was too blurry.
Wow..
That actually helped a lot!! I'm so so greatful I found this channel. It really helps alot, cause I'm trying to write my own books, but I'm not sure how to do that, so thank you alot!!
It’s pretty interesting how often Daniel’s and your videos of the day go hand-in-hand. So much great info in today’s videos from both of you, and lots to think about for writers or prospective writers.
Oh dear! I have been waiting for this one. Everything has just been building up to it
discord gang lol
Rienne? 👀
@@writingoncactusjuice3421 👀👀
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I'm an aspiring author and this series is so helpful! Please never stop making these videos lol
It's cool that authors have found your series to learn from. I love this series so much because it gives me an insight too. I don't want my story to fall into the numerous pitfalls.
Wow, lots of great information here. Thank you for posting.
Barbie said the whole thing about “women are treated exactly the same but there’s magic now” best in the 2012 masterpiece Barbie and the Three Musketeers with the line “how is it that you can imagine a man flying through the air but not a girl as a musketeer?” Truly an always relevant icon.
I am writing my first book right now, and I love your videos! And one of my greatest motivations are all the books that annoyed me, I just want to write what I'd love to read. And these insights here help me flesh out my preferences even more, I love these new insghts!
Thank you for this series! I'm an author as well and it not only helps me know how readers think and feel on different topics, but it's also a great encouragement to keep going.
As for another world building thing not touched on in this video, I really like when characters have sayings that aren't from this world. It's just an extra dash of flavor that can go a long way, so long as the sayings make sense.
I'm discovering those videos just now and they are sooo helpful thank you !
What a timely vid, my brother and I were just discussing this topic. Thanks for your insights!
These videos literally open my mind to endless possibilities that i can do in my story with the world I'm setting. Thank Merph!
Great comments. I'm currently writing a fantasy novel of my own and gleaned a lot of good things form this video that I will definitely be applying and using to tweak my manuscript so far.
Absolutely loved this video. There's SO much to world-building, and SO many ways to go about it. Seeing it from so many readers' perspectives helps me as an aspiring author. As always, thank you for your community, your knowledge, and sharing this information with us.
I needed this right now, I am going to introduce world building to my character, helped me a lot
btw I agree the points as a reader and a writer
I really enjoy when a characters interests show in how their POV shows the world. Ex. if they are an artist or a photographer - i recall merphy mentioning this in an old video - that should show in how that character looks at the world around them. One of my favourite examples of this is Shallan from the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.
Thank you for making this video. I need good worldbuilding advice at the moment
this came up to me just at the right time! currently trying to build a world for my book:)
thank you
p.s love your videos so much
Merphy Napier, your gestures and expressions are really expressive and really neat. I didn't pick up on it so much while watching the video. But when I was pausing the video and skipping through it with the arrow keys to find and write down some of the quotes, it jumped out at me. I was blown away by the variety and impact of personality in freeze frame after freeze frame. Cool stuff.
I'll probably post another, separate comment specifically on the topic of world building. It's a topic that I've delved into for long time. But I didn't want to post this observation and that together. Thanks for the vid.
Merphy this is completely unrelated to the video, but are you interested in Indian mythology? If you are I highly recommend reading The Immortals of Meluha trilogy by Amish Tripathi. You might find it a little bit difficult with the pronunciation of names and certain things in the plot in general. I would love to see you talk about it since I haven't really seen you discussing about historical / mythological books in general.
Also there are also other series by the same author like Sita: the warrior of Mithila, the legend of Suheldev etc. if you want to try that. Also try reading Indian epics like Mahabharata or Ramayana. They are pretty lengthy and detailed. It would certainly interest you if you want to know about the origins and basically everything about Indian culture.
I love these videos. So helpful as a writer
I love Lia Gardner's idea, even though I don't know why everyone hates textbooks - they're very interesting! I love the idea of including a charismatic professor in the series, who teaches things in a certain odd way. In fact, I began a story (that I have not yet finished because I'm not sure where it's going) with a teacher describing details about my conlang Lohong to a tired, unwilling, and bored student (who I, therefore, would dislike if he were real. But it's a story.), and I have him describe things in such a weird and unique and tangential way.
This is a video I'll be refering back to very often. I am starting to draft a really expansive sci-fi world (kinda like Asimov's Robots to Foundation verse in scope) and want to really flesh it out to feel as real as possible. Giving other perspectives will surely help me avoid tunneling in some aspects and forgeting about others.
Great video as always!
Merphy, I love your dear author videos, but this one in particular!
I love a collection of stories that take place in the same world MCU style. Little details dropped in books that give us hints of this aspect are so satisfying when the penny drops.
Great video! Really liked todays topic :)
One Pieeeeece now you know the work of the KING share your throne Tolkien Oda is here
I'm planning on creating my first computer game and I don't know how to write/tell stories which I thought I really need, then I saw this video. Even the very first screenshot is helpful enough to start, so thank you! :)
Excellent video. The YT comments shown express a thought I never knew how to express. Thanks for this!
Really great video. I like the fact that this video was based on how to make worlds which are not real 'feel real'. As in instructing authors as how to make something which is essentially contrived feel less contrived and also to weave aspects or deeply principled ways that the real world behaves into it.
This trips me up so I appreciate a video like this. Making a world from scratch is difficult and I end up thinking that I need to put in alot of details in every little thing, nowadays I stop myself and ask 'when is that going to be relevant?' If it isnt going to add something to the plot then maybe make an off handed remark if you really want it in there.
This is super helpful for me as a beginner fantasy writer. Thank you!
This helped me SOOO MUCH!
14:02 Like when Logen is going off about those "fooking flatheads!" Lol
As I’m piecing together my story, I’m finding that if the plot and the world have a lot to do with each other, it could be a breeze for me to write and for the audience to read, since every detail comes back, or pertains to a plot point, or has thematic significance. So the advice that ya’ll have been giving was hella helpful. Thank you!
Hands down this is my favorite series. As a writer, it’s very hard to get people to read and provide feedback on your story. So this maybe broad and more generalized, but it’s still wonderful to listen to readers giving their viewpoints on how they like to experience a story. It’s very helpful, even if it’s not specific to MY story. Thanks for creating this. I think I’ve watched every single one 😅
I love your voice. It's really relaxing
I love how she had to remind herself we don’t have magic.
I love this series because it helps me write my own stories and learn what people like and don't like!
I'm 16 years old and an aspiring author. Watching you're videos makes me determined to write a good book. I tried to write something but I don't think it's good enough. I've a got a world with several kingdoms in it and I want it to be better.
I love this series so much
Great information!!