Ask the Bard #34: Does Worldbuilding REALLY Matter?
Haly gives a shocking answer to an age-old question.
Hello, hello, Summer and Winter! 🌞❄️
Yanno, depending on which hemisphere you’re in. (I see you, New Zealand! Hi!)
I began this year facing a move that I knew would be difficult but never imagined how much so. What was intended to be six weeks of weekly newsletters has become inconsistent and odd over a longer time than I have liked.
Thank you, for sticking with me!
The good news is we got the old fridge out, the water line capped, and the new fridge installed. We rearranged the furniture in my office, and I have much more space and comfort. The more comfortable I am in here, the longer I can spend at my desk doing the hours and hours of work involved in all of the various projects that I have going on this summer!
WorldAnvil Summer Camp 2025: June 28-August 2
If you don’t understand the appeal of worldbuilding, Summer Camp is the perfect time to dive in with both feet, and see what you and your imagination can create. It’s free.
Project Franklin, Collection One, Round Two is UNDERWAY!
The eight authors who won promotion in the first round of voting are busy writing stories that features an encounter between a character in their promoted story, and a character in one of the relegated stories.
Yup. I’m stealing EFL terms.
Q: I’ve got an idea for a new book and I’m wondering before I start, is worldbuilding REALLY that important?
TL;DR: Maybe not. As with everything in writing, it all depends on your desired outcome.
Let’s begin by stating the obvious: if you’re writing fantasy or science fiction, then worldbuilding is absolutely critical. How deep that worldbuilding goes is another thing entirely. (BTW,
: How people evacuate shit away from the city might be a very critical point in your plot, read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King for more information.👙)That being said…I want you to think about the stories that you’ve encountered in your life, the ones that have stuck with you, that live inside of you, that have helped to form you and reform you through the years. Books, movies, television shows, and video games.
I’m betting that, if we really look at it, the ones that have impacted your life, your perspective—perhaps even your writing style—have had some level of deep worldbuilding.
Worldbuilding is a huge fucking distraction.
If you are looking for an excellent way to procrastinate from actually writing the fucking book, then I cannot overstate the distracting and highly addictive nature of a worldbuilding project. It’s a Wikipedia rabbit hole, except through your imagination.
The problems come when you get so focused on the meaningless details in your fictional world, that you completely forget to tell the story. This is called worldbuilding disease, and my friend—and WorldAnvil co-founder—Janet Forbes talks about it in her video on 5 Common Worldbuilding Mistakes (and how to fix them).
That being said, let’s go back to your favorite stories.
Let’s start with Dr. Seuss and how all of his books took place in the same universe. The Whos that Horton heard were in the same world as the Whos down in Whoville, from the tall to the small.
Are you a fan of The Simpsons? I’m not, but only because I’m sick to death of them. (I was in junior high when they spun off from The Tracy Ulman Show.) How about Bob’s Burgers? The continued success of these shows is in part because of the steady breath of worldbuilding they have done with characters and relationships.
Bart and Sideshow Bob. Treehouse of Terror. Burobu. Rudy’s magic tricks. Did you notice they added the water main break to the opening credits in all of the seasons since the movie?
The details that come from worldbuilding are what immerse us in a story, what transport us into another world and make it a place where our spirit can experience a new perspective.
Even your favorite songs! Led Zeppelin. Taylor Swift. The Who. How many Disney songs can you sing? From Dolly Parton to Mikey Mason to the Moody fucking Blues. The Beach Boys’ In My Room breaks my heart with yearning and nostalgia every goddamned time!
The worldbuilding within comics is legendary and obvious, so let’s move on to video games. Let’s examine the tidbits that accompany many of the items in EA’s perennial favorite, The Sims. Would you rather focus on the generations of lore involved with The Legend of Zelda or Halo. Anyone ever hear of The Witcher?
I ask again, what do you want to accomplish?
The reason why we are all so angry with George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss is because they haven’t written the books that we so desperately want to read.
The reason why we so desperately want to read them is because they stand out from every other take on fantasy that we have ever read; they are wholly unique, memorable, and alive.
The reason why we are so captivated by them is because of the worldbuilding.
Tell me what you think: is worldbuilding a waste of time, the key to engaging your audience, or something else entirely? What fictional worlds keep you coming back, again and again?
I very much knew the answer for Detective, 26 AD, (for how feces is evacuated) because I'm a research nut for my historical novels. I'm pretty sure it comes up in the novel, too.