Just Do It! – World Building 1: Concepts, Reality & Scope

Don’t panic.

You’re sitting somewhere either looking at a blank document on a screen or for you traditional types, a blank sheet of paper. You want to do this right and make something that not only do you enjoy creating but that other will enjoy viewing. You take a deep breath, close your eyes and begin to imagine scenarios, characters, environments and any and everything possible to create a rich selection of material.  After a few moments you realize there is more trying to spill out of your mind than your hands will allow you to commit to form. You’re trying not to think about it but it’s growing into an inconvenience.

Guess what, too much is good; too little is good too. Strange isn’t it?

Get it in writing!

Forget organizing for now, just get as much of it down as you can. I’ve learned from design that often too much material is just enough material. You can whittle it down to something clear easier than it would be to add to something that didn’t start out as robust but either way, you’ll end up with something worth while as long as you allow the creativity to flow unfettered. Keep this material where you can access it later, treat it as the road map to the finished product.

Time is on your side; yes it is.

Unless you’ve made it and work a studio job and you’re on the clock, you’ve got time whether you believe it or not. Take your time, and write what comes to you even if it isn’t a fully realized idea. Hopefully you’ll have accumulated everything you need to finish the project. Again, don’t panic this is one of those areas where it’s easy to get caught up. Creativity blocks are the enemy!

Now that you’re under way…

We can begin to sort a few things, let’s start with overall concepts. Let me start by saying something that no matter how old it gets it remains relevant: There aren’t many originals ideas left. Let me say it again: THERE AREN’T MANY ORIGINAL IDEAS LEFT!

Scratching your head yet?

Think about it, most of the stories you read or write are mash-ups and rehashes of older stories, what makes them all unique and seem original are often how they are presented, not necessarily what the plot consists of. Let’s be honest, Season 1 of Heroes was Watchmen. Doomsday (all 10 of you that saw it…) was escape from Scotland (she was snake, eye patch and all!) The 13th Warrior & the Friday the 13th movies were based off of Beowulf & Grendel. The Matrix was every Anime worth watching + the Shaw brothers’ library + glossed over new age & eastern philosophy. Nothing is new.

Don’t fret; what this does is clear you of the burden of trying to reinvent the wheel.

The wheel is a good design; it works so there’s no need to fix it. You can however either dress it up or invent something that utilizes the wheel. You’re not after the wheel; you’re after the latest Lamborghini. Don’t be afraid to take something you like or hate and chop it to pieces and put it together in a way you see fit. Make sure you take great effort to improve where possible and take a different direction! This is where originality lies; the door they did not open is they very door you should be kicking down.

Keep it real, or not, or keep it really real. What?

Let’s say you’ve got your concept, now you’ve got to do something that is often overlooked. You’ve got to establish authenticity. Now I’m not talking about full on accuracy, if your story is about unicorns and fairies you’re already off the regular path. What I’m talking about is the authenticity you set up within the confines of your concept. If your story is fantasy based, it should contain basic fantasy elements as much as possible. In other words, your magic should be magic; your science should be science unless you can convincingly mash-up genres.

Your wheels do need brakes.

Now I know I said there’s not really such a thing as too much but there is such a thing as veering into the wrong lane. If you begin with a concept and end up expanding it beyond where you can actually build your characters & storylines, you’re pushing the scope & scale for no reason. Pull back but again, keep that material somewhere.

Keep Writing.

In summary: Don’t be afraid if once your creative juices start flowing you end up with way more material than you can handle. Just forget about time and organization long enough to collect the overflowing material. You can always go back to it.

Once you get that and begin to develop your concept, don’t get trapped into thinking you’re going to come up with something new. Instead start with something recognizable and begin to modify it until it is unique.

With your unique concept in place, analyze it and recognize the reality of it in order to maintain authenticity within the bounds of your story. If it doesn’t seem to fit the story it probably has to do with a conflict with the reality of the story.

Finally, trim the fat; if it goes beyond your storyline and does nothing to help the plot, set it aside for something else.