The (Potential) Dangers of Worldbuilding

I can’t remember if I’ve talked about this before, but there’s a particular thing that has been a big challenge for me in the past: Worldbuilding.

“But Drew, I thought you love worldbuilding?” you say. And you’re correct. I started my Worldbuilding 101 series because it really is the part of the creative writing process I enjoy most, and it’s a source of great “behind the scenes” content for any project.

Worldbuilding is a useful (and I’d argue “essential”) part of writing. However, it can also become an insurmountable obstacle that derails a project…or even a writing career. I wish that was hyperbole, but it’s true.

One of the best examples — both in terms of popularity as well as the final product — is Patrick Rothfuss. Rothfuss’ first published work, The Name of the Wind, was a #1 New York Times Bestseller and is considered one of TIME’s best fantasy novels of all time.

But Rothfuss’ journey as a writer was far from an overnight success.

The unlikely hero’s journey

Rothfuss has been transparent about the fact that he worked on his first novel for almost 15 years. That’s not like, casually picking up the project every few months; The Name of the Wind consumed his life for over a decade. Writing, reviewing, scrapping, editing, rewriting… It’s not exactly a “vicious cycle,” because there’s no circuitous route. But the creative process is definitely more like one of those pin-and-thread crime boards detectives use; pull out one pin, and you create problems in three other spots.

Now, to be fair, The Name of the Wind is a storytelling masterpiece. I’m not sure I’ve read a novel (outside of Tolkien, or maybe Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time) that crafted such a deep, palpable, lived-in world. And Rothfuss writing style is beautiful and lyrical, almost like a piece of epic poetry.

Rothfuss spent those 11 years well…but questions remains: Could he have written the published the book sooner? How much did a decade of worldbuilding and polish really change? Those are things nobody can say but him and his editor, but it’s hard to believe he needed all of that time.

Yes, worldbuilding is important. Putting together plot chart or a timeline creates the skeleton for a novel. But the small details — the things that make a fictional setting feel believable and organic — only come to light after hours and hours spent imagining, exploring, and developing.

But that process can also be addictive. That’s where the danger lies.

A new year, a new project

I’ve been feeling the itch to write something for awhile now. Over the past few months, an idea has started to take shape. Not so much a clear plot or detailed worldbuilding — just scenes. I’ll find myself imagining a scene, almost like a film director, and suddenly I’m scrambling to either speak it out loud or write it down on my phone. Anything to record the ideas.

Now comes the hard part: Collecting 3 months’ worth of ideas, organizing them, and building something. I don’t know if it’ll be a series of one-shot scenes/shorts or a cohesive novel in the end. Right now I’ve got a random series of plot points with no connections linking them. Maybe they’re inspiration, building characters and relationships and a specific setting. And all of those pieces set me up to write a novel of what comes afterwards.

That brings me to my second issue: Location.

For all my love of worldbuilding, I’m trying to limit myself this time. I don’t want to spend a year crafting a world only to overcomplicate things or lose interest…but I can’t write a novel without some idea of where it takes place.

My goal right now is simple (I think?). I’m going to focus on a specific, tiny piece of one region of this world. I can add detail and expand with ideas as I go, but I want to cut back the creative weight of coming up with a fleshed-out world from the get-go.

Hopefully, by the end of this project, I’m feeling excited and inspired. More importantly, I hope I can reestablish writing as a daily habit. Once that happens, I know that stories — and tons of worldbuilding ideas — will follow soon after.

The comparison dilemma

Now, to be fair, The Name of the Wind is a storytelling masterpiece. I'm not sure I've read a novel (outside of Tolkien, or maybe Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time) that crafted such a deep, palpable, lived-in world. And Rothfuss writing style is beautiful and lyrical, almost like a piece of epic poetry.

Rothfuss spent those 11 years well...but questions remains: Could he have written the published the book sooner? How much did a decade of worldbuilding and polish really change? Those are things nobody can say but him and his editor, but it's hard to believe he needed all of that time.

Yes, worldbuilding is important. Putting together plot chart or a timeline creates the skeleton for a novel. But the small details — the things that make a fictional setting feel believable and organic — only come to light after hours and hours spent imagining, exploring, and developing.

But that process can also be addictive. That's where the danger lies.

A new year, a new project

I've been feeling the itch to write something for awhile now. Over the past few months, an idea has started to take shape. Not so much a clear plot or detailed worldbuilding — just scenes. I'll find myself imagining a scene, almost like a film director, and suddenly I'm scrambling to either speak it out loud or write it down on my phone. Anything to record the ideas.

Now comes the hard part: Collecting 3 months' worth of ideas, organizing them, and building something. I don't know if it'll be a series of one-shot scenes/shorts or a cohesive novel in the end. Right now I've got a random series of plot points with no connections linking them. Maybe they're inspiration, building characters and relationships and a specific setting. And all of those pieces set me up to write a novel of what comes afterwards.

That brings me to my second issue: Location.

For all my love of worldbuilding, I'm trying to limit myself this time. I don't want to spend a year crafting a world only to overcomplicate things or lose interest...but I can't write a novel without some idea of where it takes place.

My goal right now is simple (I think?). I'm going to focus on a specific, tiny piece of one region of this world. I can add detail and expand with ideas as I go, but I want to cut back the creative weight of coming up with a fleshed-out world from the get-go.

Hopefully, by the end of this project, I'm feeling excited and inspired. More importantly, I hope I can reestablish writing as a daily habit. Once that happens, I know that stories — and tons of worldbuilding ideas — will follow soon after.