In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Julie Artz identifies three world-building pitfalls you should avoid. “If we know good world-building when we see it, why is it so hard to do it in our own work?” she asks. Artz sees three common mistakes in her clients’ novels, all of which can be avoided with some planning:
- Relying on tired tropes/cliches. Avoid clichés and tired ideas by reading widely in your genre. Identify your genres tropes and how they’ve been used so that you can create a new twist. Use primary sources – such as the original poems, myths, and fairy tales – rather than merely the television versions.
- Random world-building. Sometimes, we can become so immersed in world-building that we create too much, resulting in a world that feels random and disconnected. Instead, consider how aspects of your world work together to support your theme, plot, and characters. As an example, Artz points to the Hunger Games series, in which the main conceit of the games is supported by socio-economic oppression, the near starvation level existence of some characters, and Katniss’ use of the primitive bow and arrow as her weapon of choice.
- Info-dumping. Once you’ve created your unique world, it’s tempting to tell your readers all about it, but you shouldn’t. Weave in details as your character encounters them and as your reader needs to k now them. Even better: be specific. “A platter of meat on the table is so much less evocative then roasted hell-boar basted with clarion berry jam,” Artz writes. “Even better if the main character’s father was gravely injured on a hell-boar hunt years ago or if the seeking out the clarion berries is a right-of-passage that the main character hopes to participate in soon. Then the details become a way to build character, foreshadowing what is to come, recall backstory, and, ultimately, make the world you’re creating on the page come to life.”
