How much you went all out to create your story?

[Ram5]

I understand that if you create a story that takes place on Earth, naturally you can just create things based on available resources, but what about any Isekai or Fantasy story that took place was not on Earth? How far that you would create that world? Maybe the sun called the moon and moon called the sun instead? Maybe the planet was not round but flat instead? How about 1 day only 20 hours instead of 24?

 

[NotaNuffian]

I just stick to google and try to leave my location vague, because I really don't want people to question about my geography.

It is the economics of things that fuck with me.

 

[Ram5]

I just stick to google and try to leave my location vague, because I really don't want people to question about my geography.

It is the economics of things that fuck with me.

Is it Isekai or fantasy theme?

 

[gaylolis]

I'm too lazy for worldbuilding. I just make the Fantasy world similar to Earth, changed the names, add some races and magic, and there you have it.

 

[AliceShiki]

I'm too lazy for worldbuilding. I just make the Fantasy world similar to Earth, changed the names, add some races and magic, and there you have it.

I do the same. I use as much material from Earth as I can get.

Geography? Look up how geography works in Earth.
Economy? Look up how medieval economy worked.
Child Raising? Look up how Medieval child raising worked and cross reference it with modern child raising.

I develop my world as little as I can tbh. I instead try focusing on the other characters and let my reader infer that "Oh, this is just a standard medi-fantasy world" instead of trying to develop a complex world with lots of quirks and what not.

 

[Paril]

World-building and character development goes hand-in-hand; to explore a character is to inspect their environment, with which are connected by history.

You may introduce broad details regarding about the geography, but in the end, they're useless information if it does not affect the character themselves. What matters are the specifics in which they could interact, and thus, expand upon their personality.

This is something I think many author fails to realize or put into practice, which is why their character either turn bland or generic. They follow a pattern that does not necessarily put them out of place, but neither does fit in to the world in question.

I always applaud the way Overlord structures, and in extension, it present itself. You look forward to learn more about the setting because it feels consequential, alluding to a potential scenario as a possibility in the future - or foreshadowing, so to speak.

--Why does a ruler of a powerful army have to be so dignified?

Overlord answer this by giving the details to the mentality of Ainz, and it becomes relatable as his background and relationships are gradually expounded. In that sense, the world grows along with you.

EDIT: People are often misguided to think that world-building is strictly centered about the actual "world", but this is not true. Part of the world are the history, culture, and the people themselves.

To put this more into perspective: a setting centered around an on-going war would be simply irrational if there's no reason behind it. Thus, we provide broad concepts such as prejudice as the object of precursor to that war. Still it would be unrelatable if there wasn't any motive to fuel that objective. That is when we reason the history behind the concerning characters why they developed that prejudice in the first place.

So, for me, I focus on the characters and their relationships as means to world-building.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

I understand that if you create a story that takes place on Earth, naturally you can just create things based on available resources, but what about any Isekai or Fantasy story that took place was not on Earth? How far that you would create that world? Maybe the sun called the moon and moon called the sun instead? Maybe the planet was not round but flat instead? How about 1 day only 20 hours instead of 24?

I dont gotta explain shit that has been done a thousand times already. Im not going for a very unique setting as that wasnt the nature of the story, so for now the world building is ghreadbare but that worls for the story itself.

Medieval fantasy world. There. Most people know what that stuff entails just by that alone, any stuff that doesnt match fhe mediaval part, things that you just bring out with little or no explanation, is rationalized away as just that world being fantasy and anything goes. Its a comedy, so really who cares anyway?

I mainly get high while writing stuff. Aorks well for me. I do get a bit more anal with little and unimportant details tho, for some reason

 

[binarysoap]

People above me have already stated something similar, but essentially, going too overboard and calling the sun the moon, or making 1 day 20 hours is unnecessary and can even be detrimental. Calling the sun the moon and vice versa doesn't add anything to the story, but will only serve to confuse the reader, as a few chapters later, they probably forgot you decided to invert the names.

As for changing the number of hours in a day, I mean sure, another world is unlikely to have the exact same time system as us, but people associate the length of a day as 24 hours, and shrinking that will cause a disconnect between what you mean and what the reader thinks, since no one's really going to remember your modified day length. You can always use some other word for hour to prevent this, but too much made up vocab also will make it harder to understand your story.

That being said, this assumes the average reader has the attention span of a goldfish, so if you want to be creative with time or naming, go for it. Just don't make a custom version for everything.

The option of making the world flat instead of round can be important to the story, since there would be an "edge of the world" which could have plot significance. Maybe some country punishes criminals by throwing them off the world or something, but there's another world beneath the first one, where the criminals all gather, prepared to get revenge or something.

 

[skillet]

I have a story in the making right now that I started world-building for precisely because I suddenly found all convenient alter universes annoying. I have like three notebook pages just filled with inconvenient world stuff, including stuff like having no true water cycle or any modern electric refrigerators, and different ways of making cloth.

But if you want to write a story and focus on the story rather than the world (i.e. you came up with your plot before your world), then by all means make your world conveniently alike to Earth; it will make for a cleaner reading for your audience, probably. Since my story is actually more focused on exploration of a world that is as unlike Earth as possible and all the inconveniences + conveniences that come with it, I get to focus more on it. In fact, I came up with my plot *through* my world-building details: the world came first.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

I actually prefer to do new worlds. There is slight and obvious change too, of the population of people in my books being mostly that of big clumps and not spread out so much.
One reason why one story had clumps of humans was based upon the story, so I sort of got away with it there, but when it comes to other 'fantasy' worlds, I really tend to forget about distance and having smaller towns and the worlds feel small after rereading the story.
I have placed in a different amount of time of a planet going around the sun in one of my books and have gotten that far in at least two of my novels that I had made dodgy maps to show people.
I like to be different though, to a prospect, for example: In a book I do have a 'universal' type bag or ring, but it is someone using their own skin (more complex way of explaining that is in Doomed and Blessed). I came up with a completely different way of using the 'elements' against people by using 'love and hate' in (Loralle). In a cultivation novel, I explained how the 'beasts' originated, (Doomed and Blessed). I've used the galaxy and how it looks like (Having arms) for a reason, (Spirituous). Made up my own type of cultivation (Anonym and Switch). A whole new world with magic, lephricorns, dragons and witches and made it work (Again Anonym and Switch). I've come up with a god, that in my opinion would be one of the worst insufferable undying existences, yet used that to bring a relationship closer (Mahnu). In the near future, (Spirituous) will have a made up 'reason' upon why ghosts exists, another reason how (spoiler) zombies came into being and also 'spirits'. Again in Spirituous, I have even come up with a way to explain the bible (No I am not religious). In a human-creature world (Phoenix) I have looked up creatures and made a world where it would all fit, (For example, humans with Mosquito creatures like to drink blood and are a terrible 'pest' that you just can't get rid off, actually I'm currently trying to figure out a way to go into a fight with them! lol. Another example is: I had to look up the Phoenix to a somewhat great extend to come up with a way for the Phoenix to come into being, so I've used 'myths', information and then tried to use my own ideas to bring it to life.) Then, I have also come up with another 'reason' why one would be 'reborn' over and over again and her respective partner is 'immortal' with his own reason why he is Immortal. (Duplicate!!) On top of that, I've also come up with a reverse type of Cinderalla, (Cid Rellah)
I think there's more but still, at the end of the day I'm not really coming up with anything 'new'. I'm using what is already there to make my worlds and stories different by rummaging it around in my head and coming up with ideas. But still, it's fun writing and I know there's a few people that have enjoyed reading them!

 

[keitaro-sempai]

I go with the Dark Souls approach. I worked out a very complex world, but since MC isn't from there, but is pretending he is, doesn't dig too deep. So he and the reader learn about the world step by step. After connecting the dots you see the big picture (the reader has the advantage thanks to the different POV's).
I don't want to spoil it, but something you can notice easily after a few chapters is about a weird peace/war cycle between the two countries most relevant to the first two arcs, in which one is clearly stated as more powerful. At some point you surely figure out there is a special cirscunstance about that, wich is facing the issue of a General that wants to just conquer the weaker country.
Or sometimes MC makes a mistake about common sense in the culture, and he and the reader aren't aware of it until that particular custom is made clear by someone else. A funny one is when he meets a green-haired girl and doesn't bat an eye about it since no one else does. but like 40 chapters later, someone else makes a polite greeting to the girl, cause is a custom for anyone that's more than a commoner to do the first time you meet a green-haired person, since the deity in that region is supposedly green-haired. By not doing so, MC unintentionally made clear to others that he don't believe in the deity. (Actually, that's the only deity mentioned, so as far as the MC knows, may be the only one in the world).
There's also mention of a desert a couple of times, and there is a mountain range with a sea in the opposite side (most relevant to the first arc) here I took into account the effect of a mountain range in the rains. To make and example about how geographical logic is present in the world.

 

[Ral]

Come on. Fantasy is about the setting, the fantastical world. It is why we love Fantasy. It's the magic, the monsters, the lore and everything else. If you don't work on your world building, then your story would be uninteresting or a mess.

Take it like this. In Mystery Novels it is about the mystery, in Romance Novels its about the romance (each genres has specific elements as its centerpiece). Now, are you really going to work as little as possible on the mystery when writing Mystery Novels or not bother with the romance in Romance Novels? You won't right? It would be those things you would work at the most.

Then why don't you do the same thing with world building when writing Fantasy?

Most of the fantasy stories here are so bland, generic and forgettable or is a complete mess. We are supposed to have adventures in a new world only to discover that there is nothing new or different at all, or the world barely existed, or the world don't make sense. There goes your enjoyment.

I don't mean that the other elements like character and plot are not important, but the setting is the centerpiece of Fantasy stories. Just look at these titles: Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Full Metal Alchemist. All have its set of interesting characters and plots but what makes them most memorable and differentiate them from others is the setting. If there is no work done on the setting, then these stories would not have been praised highly.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Is it Isekai or fantasy theme?

Fantasy with missions in isekai, though to be blunt, most scenes are supposed to be in our world, where our beloved MC gets fucked by his "teammates", his enemies and enemies of his "teammates" because they lack balls to go after the original perpetrator and attack MC cuz he is weaker.

Basically MC has system, that is the inferior version compared to his "teammates", so he tried to learn stuff the old fashion way and use his system to grind for levels.

Also, MC wins most of his fights by outlasting the enemies, so no clean fights unless he is against weaker foes.

 

[Ram5]

Fantasy with missions in isekai, though to be blunt, most scenes are supposed to be in our world, where our beloved MC gets fucked by his "teammates", his enemies and enemies of his "teammates" because they lack balls to go after the original perpetrator and attack MC cuz he is weaker.

Basically MC has system, that is the inferior version compared to his "teammates", so he tried to learn stuff the old fashion way and use his system to grind for levels.

Also, MC wins most of his fights by outlasting the enemies, so no clean fights unless he is against weaker foes.

so your story took place in both Earth and Other world? Sounds cool!

 

[AliceShiki]

Come on. Fantasy is about the setting, the fantastical world. It is why we love Fantasy. It's the magic, the monsters, the lore and everything else. If you don't work on your world building, then your story would be uninteresting or a mess.

Take it like this. In Mystery Novels it is about the mystery, in Romance Novels its about the romance (each genres has specific elements as its centerpiece). Now, are you really going to work as little as possible on the mystery when writing Mystery Novels or not bother with the romance in Romance Novels? You won't right? It would be those things you would work at the most.

Then why don't you do the same thing with world building when writing Fantasy?

Most of the fantasy stories here are so bland, generic and forgettable or is a complete mess. We are supposed to have adventures in a new world only to discover that there is nothing new or different at all, or the world barely existed, or the world don't make sense. There goes your enjoyment.

I don't mean that the other elements like character and plot are not important, but the setting is the centerpiece of Fantasy stories. Just look at these titles: Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Full Metal Alchemist. All have its set of interesting characters and plots but what makes them most memorable and differentiate them from others is the setting. If there is no work done on the setting, then these stories would not have been praised highly.

Well, the problem is that you're assuming everyone that makes a story in a medi-fantasy world is trying to make a story that is about the adventure/exploration of the new world and what not... Which more often than not, is not the case.

My first novel is a romance novel that happens to be set in a medi-fantasy world. I don't care about setting the details of the world except the bare minimum necessary, because... Well, it's a romance novel, I want to focus on developing the romance.

In a similar vein, my next novel is a Slice of Life novel... That also happens to be in a medi-fantasy world. Will I spend much time developing the world? Not really, I'll focus on the Slice of Life aspect instead.

The world to me is a tool to tell my story in, not the focus of the story itself.

 

[Ral]

Well, the problem is that you're assuming everyone that makes a story in a medi-fantasy world is trying to make a story that is about the adventure/exploration of the new world and what not... Which more often than not, is not the case.

This isn't really true. Most fantasy stories are adventure/exploration and it doesn't really matter if it is or not adventure/exploration stories. If story is fantasy then you need to would build properly. If not, then why bother with the fantasy element at all? Why not make your life easier and not have Fantasy elements?

My first novel is a romance novel that happens to be set in a medi-fantasy world. I don't care about setting the details of the world except the bare minimum necessary, because... Well, it's a romance novel, I want to focus on developing the romance.

Then ask: Do you really need the fantasy element at all? Did the magic really makes an impact in your story? Can't you set it in regular non-fantasy medieval setting?

In a similar vein, my next novel is a Slice of Life novel... That also happens to be in a medi-fantasy world. Will I spend much time developing the world? Not really, I'll focus on the Slice of Life aspect instead.

Then set it in a medi-fantasy world if you would not bother with it? Why make your story more complicated than it should be?

The world to me is a tool to tell my story in, not the focus of the story itself.

And you can misuse your tools. Do you really need the Fantasy elements to tell your story? You can write Romance and Slice-of-Life without any Fantasy elements at all.

If you add Fantasy elements, then it has to do something with story. You need to put effort to world building or else why is it there?

Or is it because you think that a simple Romance or Slice-of-Life story is not interesting enough hence you add Fantasy elements to pick up the slack? Really, I can't see other reasons for adding fantasy, even though it is not needed, other than as a gimmick.

 

[AliceShiki]

This isn't really true. Most fantasy stories are adventure/exploration and it doesn't really matter if it is or not adventure/exploration stories. If story is fantasy then you need to would build properly. If not, then why bother with the fantasy element at all? Why not make your life easier and not have Fantasy elements?

I don't get this question, why do you think it would be harder to write a story with fantasy elements than one without? It's not like they add complexity to the story just by existing.

Then ask: Do you really need the fantasy element at all? Did the magic really makes an impact in your story? Can't you set it in regular non-fantasy medieval setting?

Fantasy is convenient. It's easier to play with different races if you have fantasy, for example, in my romance novel I wanted there to be practical issues that made the romance between the protagonist and her fairy companion harder, issues that wouldn't exist if they were both humans.

Magic also allows you to skip over some processes that might take longer otherwise, like... Rather than researching the efficacy of oils that people used in their hairs in place of shampoo/conditioner back in medieval times, you can just say "Oh, they use magical oils, so it makes the hair shiny and glossy.", and you can also say the hair is dried with a spell, so you don't need to worry about rather they'd let it dry naturally or wrap a rag around it... And yes, those details can matter, and being able to find simple solutions for them is nice~

You can also use fantasy to set up differences between social classes, like saying that the royal family is blessed by the gods, so their rule is divine (thought that was also done IRL, it's nicer when you can say it and it's true). Or how you can set up that magic depends on bloodlines and someone might get jealous of someone else because they were simply born with better magical capacity... And other similar stuff.

You can find equivalents to those things in non-fantasy if you try, but fantasy gives you an array of tools you can use as you please. It's practical, and also helps control my own need of wanting to make things as historically accurate as I can. I can have some leeway of inaccuracy if I have magic compensating for it after all~

And lastly, I just like fantasy. As simple as that. I want to write fantasy because I like fantasy, I don't have any desire to write non-fantasy novels in the first place, so there is no point in me writing them.

And you can misuse your tools. Do you really need the Fantasy elements to tell your story? You can write Romance and Slice-of-Life without any Fantasy elements at all.

If you add Fantasy elements, then it has to do something with story. You need to put effort to world building or else why is it there?

Mostly answered above, but again, adding fantasy elements just means that I'm adding something I like to the story. It doesn't need a greater purpose of existence or anything along those lines.

Like uhn... Let me use an example of another genre to illustrate my point.

If I want to make a Girl's Love Story, I don't need to have a greater reason for it to be Girl's Love. I don't need to play with the fact they'll be unable to have children, nor do I need to deal with the prejudice that two girls loving one another might go through... Sometimes you can just make a Girl's Love Story because you want it to be Girl's Love.

Could it also work if it was a Heterosexual Romance? Probably. Does it need to be? Not really. And if it doesn't need to be Heterosexual, why can't I just make it Girl's Love instead? Maybe it's just a representation issue, or maybe it's just because I feel like doing it, maybe because I just like female characters more than I like male characters and I want to revolve my story around those. There really doesn't need to have a bigger reason behind it.

The same applies to fantasy, I don't need to put a lot of effort into making it unique or making a carefully crafted world with specific rules for how magic works and the whole fantasy aspect... I just want to write fantasy, so I just put the things I want and let the reader's common sense fill in the rest. Not everything in the story needs to have a purpose of existence. Some elements can be there just because you like them there, they can add a nice charm to the story even if they aren't very relevant.

Or is it because you think that a simple Romance or Slice-of-Life story is not interesting enough hence you add Fantasy elements to pick up the slack? Really, I can't see other reasons for adding fantasy, even though it is not needed, other than as a gimmick.

Naaaaaaaaaah, I write what I like and I like what I write. I don't care about how interesting it feels to others, I'm sure there are people out there that have a similar taste to mine, so they'll like my story if they read it. I just appeal to my own tastes and make sure I have fun doing it~

Trying to add new things to your story just to see if more people will give it a shot just feels weird, that's not for me~

The problem with your argument, is that you think of adding fantasy as something that is actively strenuous and that puts a burden on the writer and makes the writing process harder than normal... But fantasy elements can just be ingrained at the story from the start, from the moment of its conception, sometimes they are just there because the story was thought of as a fantasy story from the beginning, there is no need to change that and go through the hurdle of substituting the fantasy elements for real world equivalents when you can just... Keep them there.

Rather, medi-fantasy gives you access to more tools than a medieval world story... You can play with everything that makes a medieval setting work, but you can also play with everything that makes a fantasy setting work. I really can't see how fantasy elements could actively make your life harder when you can just use them as an extra layer of tools that help make your story function.

 

[ohko]

I agree with Alice, in the sense that I usually let the setting take a back seat in my stories.

Usually the objective of my story is to convey something else, and many readers get bored/lost if there is too much worldbuilding done at once.

I am kind of a believer in minimalism -- as in, if there isn't something that isn't important for plot or theme, perhaps it shouldn't be included. For example, if I have no reason to make days 20 hours long instead of 24 hours, then I probably shouldn't include it. Perhaps you're better off not even mentioning the number of hours in a day at all.

There's sort of this magic thing where you can leave things up to reader's imagination. The lack of explaining something can often be more effective than attempting to make a massive infodump.

 

[ohko]

Come on. Fantasy is about the setting, the fantastical world. It is why we love Fantasy. It's the magic, the monsters, the lore and everything else. If you don't work on your world building, then your story would be uninteresting or a mess.

Take it like this. In Mystery Novels it is about the mystery, in Romance Novels its about the romance (each genres has specific elements as its centerpiece). Now, are you really going to work as little as possible on the mystery when writing Mystery Novels or not bother with the romance in Romance Novels? You won't right? It would be those things you would work at the most.

Then why don't you do the same thing with world building when writing Fantasy?

Most of the fantasy stories here are so bland, generic and forgettable or is a complete mess. We are supposed to have adventures in a new world only to discover that there is nothing new or different at all, or the world barely existed, or the world don't make sense. There goes your enjoyment.

I don't mean that the other elements like character and plot are not important, but the setting is the centerpiece of Fantasy stories. Just look at these titles: Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Full Metal Alchemist. All have its set of interesting characters and plots but what makes them most memorable and differentiate them from others is the setting. If there is no work done on the setting, then these stories would not have been praised highly.

This isn't really true. Most fantasy stories are adventure/exploration and it doesn't really matter if it is or not adventure/exploration stories. If story is fantasy then you need to would build properly. If not, then why bother with the fantasy element at all? Why not make your life easier and not have Fantasy elements?


Then ask: Do you really need the fantasy element at all? Did the magic really makes an impact in your story? Can't you set it in regular non-fantasy medieval setting?


Then set it in a medi-fantasy world if you would not bother with it? Why make your story more complicated than it should be?

And you can misuse your tools. Do you really need the Fantasy elements to tell your story? You can write Romance and Slice-of-Life without any Fantasy elements at all.

If you add Fantasy elements, then it has to do something with story. You need to put effort to world building or else why is it there?

Or is it because you think that a simple Romance or Slice-of-Life story is not interesting enough hence you add Fantasy elements to pick up the slack? Really, I can't see other reasons for adding fantasy, even though it is not needed, other than as a gimmick.

I think we possibly have a difference in perspective. Readers can generally like stories for many different reasons, and it's not necessarily only the setting that attracts people.

I also think that fantasy is a much broader genre than the way you have described it. Anything magical is automatically fantasy, regardless of the amount of detail in the setting. In contrast, I feel like your comparison to the Lord of the Rings is more comparable to a genre known as "High Fantasy".

For instance, if you take my profile picture as an example -- I like shapeshifters.

If I have a story with shapeshifters, then it's fantasy.

Then a common trick that is employed is to insert the fantasy element into something that is familiar with readers. Commonly, authors will take an Earth-like world even though it may not be explicitly stated as Earth. For example, many anime do not explicitly state what kind of world they are in, but the school setting is immediately recognizable no matter what universe you use.

In this sense, Harry Potter requires very little world building in the "High Fantasy" sense -- because J.K. Rowling leverages the readers familiarity with school settings to tell a story about witches and wizards in a school / family setting.

Notably, the magic doesn't even have to be explained. Just because it is fantasy does not necessarily mean that including a complicated description about mana and whatever magic-science is necessary.

 

[Ral]

I don't get this question, why do you think it would be harder to write a story with fantasy elements than one without? It's not like they add complexity to the story just by existing.

Because you have additional details to work with.

Fantasy is convenient. It's easier to play with different races if you have fantasy, for example, in my romance novel I wanted there to be practical issues that made the romance between the protagonist and her fairy companion harder, issues that wouldn't exist if they were both humans.

And you need world buidling to explain these things. The culture, the society, the history and whatever.

Magic also allows you to skip over some processes that might take longer otherwise, like... Rather than researching the efficacy of oils that people used in their hairs in place of shampoo/conditioner back in medieval times, you can just say "Oh, they use magical oils, so it makes the hair shiny and glossy.", and you can also say the hair is dried with a spell, so you don't need to worry about rather they'd let it dry naturally or wrap a rag around it... And yes, those details can matter, and being able to find simple solutions for them is nice~

And this is unintersting. The details are essentially "magic did it."

And of course, these additional details you need to keep track of and keep straight. This is where world building in fantasy quickly becomes a mess. The authors tend to forget stuff.

You can also use fantasy to set up differences between social classes, like saying that the royal family is blessed by the gods, so their rule is divine (thought that was also done IRL, it's nicer when you can say it and it's true). Or how you can set up that magic depends on bloodlines and someone might get jealous of someone else because they were simply born with better magical capacity... And other similar stuff.

And again, more details to keep track of and keep straight. And with details like this, you need to show how these things affect the people.

You can find equivalents to those things in non-fantasy if you try, but fantasy gives you an array of tools you can use as you please. It's practical, and also helps control my own need of wanting to make things as historically accurate as I can. I can have some leeway of inaccuracy if I have magic compensating for it after all~

And now you need to keep track of your made up things and keep them from contradictingeach other.

And lastly, I just like fantasy. As simple as that. I want to write fantasy because I like fantasy, I don't have any desire to write non-fantasy novels in the first place, so there is no point in me writing them.

Then why are you work as little as possible on the fantasy elements.

Mostly answered above, but again, adding fantasy elements just means that I'm adding something I like to the story. It doesn't need a greater purpose of existence or anything along those lines.

And you are adding unnecessary things. If it has no purpose, why is it there?

If I want to make a Girl's Love Story, I don't need to have a greater reason for it to be Girl's Love. I don't need to play with the fact they'll be unable to have children, nor do I need to deal with the prejudice that two girls loving one another might go through... Sometimes you can just make a Girl's Love Story because you want it to be Girl's Love.

If you want to write Girl's Love Story then you work the most with the love aspect. I mean, why would you want to write a Girl's Love Story then develop it as little as possible?

The same applies to fantasy, I don't need to put a lot of effort into making it unique or making a carefully crafted world with specific rules for how magic works and the whole fantasy aspect... I just want to write fantasy, so I just put the things I want and let the reader's common sense fill in the rest. Not everything in the story needs to have a purpose of existence. Some elements can be there just because you like them there, they can add a nice charm to the story even if they aren't very relevant.

Okay. I already made a point of this before. If you want to write other things like romance or mystery or girl's love, you would work on the most on their respective centerpiece. But if you want to write fantasy you would work the least on the fantasy elements? How is that the same thing? Isn't it the complete opposite?

Naaaaaaaaaah, I write what I like and I like what I write. I don't care about how interesting it feels to others, I'm sure there are people out there that have a similar taste to mine, so they'll like my story if they read it. I just appeal to my own tastes and make sure I have fun doing it~

And that could result to your story being boring or uninteresting or just a plain mess. Just because you don't care about it doesn't make it not so.

The problem with your argument, is that you think of adding fantasy as something that is actively strenuous and that puts a burden on the writer and makes the writing process harder than normal... But fantasy elements can just be ingrained at the story from the start, from the moment of its conception, sometimes they are just there because the story was thought of as a fantasy story from the beginning, there is no need to change that and go through the hurdle of substituting the fantasy elements for real world equivalents when you can just... Keep them there.

Of course it does make it harder than normal. You essentially working with two genres at once. What is easier writing a slice of life story based on your real life set in your familiar real world or write a slice-of-life story in a historical fantasy setting? It is obvious isn't it?

And as I said, you need to keep track of the made up things you made.

Rather, medi-fantasy gives you access to more tools than a medieval world story... You can play with everything that makes a medieval setting work, but you can also play with everything that makes a fantasy setting work. I really can't see how fantasy elements could actively make your life harder when you can just use them as an extra layer of tools that help make your story function.

I noticed that you also kinda adding historical fiction to the pool, which also requires a lot of world building and reasearch, but let us ignore that since we are talking fantasy.

As I said, you need to keep track of your made up things. This is where authors here often fucked up because they can't keep their details straight.

I agree with Alice, in the sense that I usually let the setting take a back seat in my stories.


Usually the objective of my story is to convey something else, and many readers get bored/lost if there is too much worldbuilding done at once.


I am kind of a believer in minimalism -- as in, if there isn't something that isn't important for plot or theme, perhaps it shouldn't be included. For example, if I have no reason to make days 20 hours long instead of 24 hours, then I probably shouldn't include it. Perhaps you're better off not even mentioning the number of hours in a day at all.


There's sort of this magic thing where you can leave things up to reader's imagination. The lack of explaining something can often be more effective than attempting to make a massive infodump.

If your world building is a bore or your readers got lost, it is not world buidling's fault. It is your writing that is boring or failed to keep your readers from getting lost.

If somthing isn't important for plot or them then perhaps it shouldn't be included? Why not tell Alice that? She added fantasy element to her story for no reason other than research is hard.

It is also not about explaining thing it is also also about keeping track of things, keeping your details straight.

I think we possibly have a difference in perspective. Readers can generally like stories for many different reasons, and it's not necessarily only the setting that attracts people.

True. It is what we called preference. But when it comes to Fantasy, it is the setting that makes people interested in fantasy. Why we like fantasy? Because of the magic and mosters and magic races and such. The fantastical world.

If as person isn't interested in the setting (in Fantasy this would be magic and magic beast and what not) then they would not like to read fantasy stories or other setting centric stories like science fiction or historical fiction.

I also think that fantasy is a much broader genre than the way you have described it. Anything magical is automatically fantasy, regardless of the amount of detail in the setting. In contrast, I feel like your comparison to the Lord of the Rings is more comparable to a genre known as "High Fantasy".

True again but that is what I was thinking of when I wrote my comment. Fatasy can be as little as: there are talking animals (like in a lot of fairy tales and children's fiction). But even then world building is still important. You can't just suddenly forget that animals can talk, or that certain animals has this culture or this animal can't eat this thing.

Notably, the magic doesn't even have to be explained. Just because it is fantasy does not necessarily mean that including a complicated description about mana and whatever magic-science is necessary.

It doesn't need to be explained but you need keep to keep track of them. You especially have to keep tract of how the fantastical elements affect your story. This is where most stories here f up.

And as you said if it isn't important to the story, then perhaps it shouldn't be included?