I am far more interested in the story than world-building, so I only do what I need to tell the story. I may do some world-building in my mind but I don’t go to extremes. I mainly write short fiction so it isn’t often that necessary.
However, I did write a space sitcom serial for a while and had to create new planets. I did enjoy that, but most of it was in my head. Then I used my mental vision of the planet to describe the planet when necessary. But I don’t like overly descriptive writing. So it was just enough to paint a picture and stir the reader’s imagination.
I appreciate a well-thought out world as a reader far more than I do as a writer (lazy). I like to drop hints at a larger world, casual references to reality off-camera, but I'm only interested in writing the story.
I'm another proponent of the "do just enough" sort of worldbuilding. Often it's just good enough for me to know that something exists in that world without making the details of it--for example, my fantasy world does have a calendar and money, but I don't go into gory details about it. Should I? Well, if it's relevant to the story, I will. Otherwise, there's other things to consider.
I suppose that's one reason why I'm not real wild about those "character building exercises" that some folks are really into (just wait, this will probably jump up and bite me in the rear). I don't really care about some of the questions they ask, in part because my focus is different. What is my character trying to achieve? What are their interactions with the rest of the characters? Why?
I feel the same about general worldbuilding questions. I think it's more important to ask "what is important about this world to character X?" Then figure out details. Additionally, with some worldbuilding and character elements, I've learned that the characters aren't always straightforward with me...
Anyway. As I build my characters, so grows my world and the things I need to know about it.
I am far more interested in the story than world-building, so I only do what I need to tell the story. I may do some world-building in my mind but I don’t go to extremes. I mainly write short fiction so it isn’t often that necessary.
However, I did write a space sitcom serial for a while and had to create new planets. I did enjoy that, but most of it was in my head. Then I used my mental vision of the planet to describe the planet when necessary. But I don’t like overly descriptive writing. So it was just enough to paint a picture and stir the reader’s imagination.
I appreciate a well-thought out world as a reader far more than I do as a writer (lazy). I like to drop hints at a larger world, casual references to reality off-camera, but I'm only interested in writing the story.
I'm another proponent of the "do just enough" sort of worldbuilding. Often it's just good enough for me to know that something exists in that world without making the details of it--for example, my fantasy world does have a calendar and money, but I don't go into gory details about it. Should I? Well, if it's relevant to the story, I will. Otherwise, there's other things to consider.
I suppose that's one reason why I'm not real wild about those "character building exercises" that some folks are really into (just wait, this will probably jump up and bite me in the rear). I don't really care about some of the questions they ask, in part because my focus is different. What is my character trying to achieve? What are their interactions with the rest of the characters? Why?
I feel the same about general worldbuilding questions. I think it's more important to ask "what is important about this world to character X?" Then figure out details. Additionally, with some worldbuilding and character elements, I've learned that the characters aren't always straightforward with me...
Anyway. As I build my characters, so grows my world and the things I need to know about it.