: Re: How to care about the characters more than the world? I have a very well-built up world with politics, religions etc, that I've built up over the course of my writing. But I have recently

@Berumen699

You and your readers will only care about your story if it contains a character who is instrumental in protecting or shaping this world:


Bring a disruptive force to bear down upon on your planet or your character's personal life. (Conflict)
Give your character the primary role in shaping the outcome of this disruption. (Protagonist)
Give another character the purpose of opposing or undermining your character in thought, words, or actions. (Antagonist)
The impact of that outcome can range from personal to global. (Everyday hero vs. superhero)
The outcome can range from success to failure. (Yay hero! vs. tragedy!)


Cutting out the backstory: In early drafts of your story, you might spend a lot of time describing and explaining the world before the conflict. It's frankly difficult for most readers to wade through all this information. In later drafts, cut away almost everything leading up to the moment of conflict. Begin your story about five minutes before the conflict ("in medeas res"). Then, let the conflict, action, and dialog reveal the nature of your world. Letting your readers figure it out is half the fun! Avoid using exposition as a crutch. I know you're in love with your world and cutting like this is hard, but doing so makes for a much better story. To see examples of this, watch the first five minutes of almost any Hollywood movie.

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