: Re: How can I strike a balance between setting and plot? I'm not a fan of Tolkien's work, but it's relevant to my question, so take it as a reference point. I love linguistics, culture, and worldbuilding,

@Barnes643

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Some of the problems with world building is that none of the characters in the story care about it. It's the only world they know, so they don't look at the zebras with antlers pulling sleds any more than we comment on every car that drives by. If we do comment on a car, it's because the car is different in our world view. An alien coming here might shrug at our interest in a cool, hot rod, but from his POV it's just another noisy, polluting mode of transportation.

What you need to emphasise in your story is what the characters see as unusual. It makes it rather difficult to let the readers know what the characters just accept and not notice. What would you think of a story that starts off with the main character getting out of bed, putting his slippers, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, rinsing his mouth...etc. It's all true, but who cares? Only touch on the items that really make a difference in the story...to the characters, not the readers.

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