: Re: How do you build a story from a world? I have some material for a "world" (more fantasy than sci-fi at this point). I've noodled around with this world off-and-on for ages but have never

The classic world-exploring story is a journey. Someone goes from one place to another, and along the way, they see a lot of the sights, and meet a lot of the people, and experience a lot of the culture of the world they live in. The key is to find a good reason behind the journey, and then also to make it transformative for the main character. The external changes in place and setting need to be matched by internal changes in maturity and understanding.

There are plenty of great examples. The Hobbit (AKA "There and Back Again") is a famous one. I'm currently reading a fun SF book structured in just this way, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, which, despite a backdrop of space wars and interspecies romance, is really largely about seeing and experiencing the sights in a fully realized interstellar setting.

So, pick a main character, give her a good, high stakes reason to go on a long, difficult and dangerous journey, give her some good companions and some memorable enemies along the way, and make sure she learns something. Then set her loose, and we can all see this exciting new world you've created. Just make sure there's a good storytelling reason for any and all the details you include --it's never a good idea to shoehorn in worldbuilding details just for the sake of showing them off.

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: Characters based on Real People I am interested in writing a story about real life events, but changing it in such a way to make it a fiction novel. Question is, do I need permission from

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: Changing 3rd person limited to 3rd person omniscient POV for a few scenes Is it considered bad form to have a novel where the majority of it is 3rd person limited, then change to omniscient

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: With an introduction by This was originally a part of my question about partnering with a website, but I think it's separate enough to deserve its own post: Many books are published with an

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: What are some bad ways to subvert tropes? I recently came across something I wrote in 4th or 5th grade, where the MCs, a girl and a boy, were superheroes. One wore a blue costume with knives,

: Re: How do you build a story from a world? I have some material for a "world" (more fantasy than sci-fi at this point). I've noodled around with this world off-and-on for ages but have never

More posts by @Kristi637

: Characters based on Real People I am interested in writing a story about real life events, but changing it in such a way to make it a fiction novel. Question is, do I need permission from

: Changing 3rd person limited to 3rd person omniscient POV for a few scenes Is it considered bad form to have a novel where the majority of it is 3rd person limited, then change to omniscient

: With an introduction by This was originally a part of my question about partnering with a website, but I think it's separate enough to deserve its own post: Many books are published with an

: What are some bad ways to subvert tropes? I recently came across something I wrote in 4th or 5th grade, where the MCs, a girl and a boy, were superheroes. One wore a blue costume with knives,

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