Worldbuilding - developing the backstory

[infinitygoddess]

I don't think so. Doing research helps tremendously when you're world-building, because then it makes the world more realistic.

For me, when I had to come up with the world of Mikhailachev Manor, I had to research Russian names (as I didn't want to have to repeat what I did know of Russian names), Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (who is a descendant of the Khrushchev twins, who are brothers who come from medieval Ukraine that the same creators of Mikhailachev vampirism, being Demyan and Daniil Mikhailachev, had enhanced with immortality, strength, and a vampire repellent and they still serve the Mikhailachev family as their primary protectors), and of course, vampires, and what has been done before. Most importantly, I keep up with the news on LGBT happenings and of course, that gets incorporated as well.

It's not just my Sim story that I do this. For one of my graphic novels, I've researched heavily on the life of Jesus Christ and one of his most ardent female followers, Mary Magdalene. Yeah, I've read the Bible, but there are other writings, such as the Gospel of Mary that go into more detail where the Gospels found in the Bible won't go. The reason for this is because I have a celestial godlike character named Me-Non (from whom my online pseudonym derives from as he is called The Patriarch of Infinity), who is saddened by the way some people are using the name of Jesus. A young woman whose soul he desires to see ascended to Heaven upon the end of her mortal life is the reincarnation of a female Biblical figure, but the reason she isn't there yet is because she could only get there if she were to live a full life and die of old age. Otherwise, she is reborn again into a new body for people (particularly of the religious variety) to take full advantage of and murder her while she is still young so that she is reincarnated again, because these folks believe that she is the key to finding the man they believe to be the reincarnation of Jesus.

I have other stories where I've done the research for the world-building. I've done research on Ancient Egyptian culture and Celtic culture, among other things.

[laura]

Honestly, I usually research as needed. But then, I don't really write world-building kind of stories.

Instead, I do a lot of character-building work before I really get started. My whole first draft is really just a big rambling character exploration. My first drafts are horrible wrecks, but that's where I figure out my little imaginary people and what makes them tick and piss each other off. And that's where I'll explore their connections and histories as well.

That's my world-building, I guess. Micro world-building

If there's ever any research I need to do, it will usually be finite and very specific and quite eccentric. Like my novel, for example: Y2K, the habitat of penguins, internet business, and adult onset asthma? lol!

Same goes for writing LH - if I ever need to know something, I just dig into research (in much less depth than my serious writing) at the point I need to know it.

Also, Illandrya, not sure if this is the case in your situation or not, but a lot of people can get so involved in their research that they're spent on the idea before they even get to writing the actual story. You don't need to know everything before you get started, just the basics. You can always look things up as you go as well. Just make sure you have a sound framework, and I'd say you're good to go!

[thelunarfox]

I do the same as Laura, but I agree with inifinitygoddess. I don't think there's a thing as too much. Maybe they'll be stuff that isn't seen, but you know it's there and you never know when it'll come up. Plus the care you put into the world building will show in the story.


Personally, I don't go too in depth behind the scenes. I like to have an idea of the bigger picture and a basic understanding of how things work, and then I go from there as I need it.

I like the way Laura describes it-- macro-world building. Yeah, that's exactly what I do, lol.

[laura]

Just thought I'd clarify that I am also all for doing lots and lots of research to make your world authentic. I just don't think it all has to be done upfront.

Assuming you do more than one draft (and are not one of those rare types that just do one single draft to perfection?), there can be some advantages to leaving your nitpicky research for later. If you've just started with framework kind of research, you might find half-way through your first draft that it suits your story better to have your world be something a little different from what you started with. If you haven't invested too much time already, then your world is still flexible and can adapt to the story in progress.

I find that the space between the first and second drafts is a really good spot for the heavy and nit-picky research. By then, you know all the major workings of your story, so you can really fine tune your research to suit your story and waste nothing. Also, your first draft (if it's like 90% of writers first drafts, mine included!) is probably still really rough and in need of major revisions anyway. So if you do find yourself running into information problems, you'll be reworking a lot anyway.

Just an idea though. Everybody works differently, but I just thought I'd share

[mdpthatsme]

I have never researched for a back story, seriously never, but then again, my stories aren't on this world we call Earth. But research is a good thing. Let's you know a bunch of fun facts.

[dinuriel]

Heh... I've actually never done a true second draft. I've done what might be called "rewrites", but these usually involve the same set of characters with a drastically altered storyline. I don't know if I just find the idea of writing the same story twice off-putting, or maybe it's just because I'm not one of those people who can do the whole "write as fast as you can and don't look back to edit" thing.

That being said, I would not call any of my lone drafts "perfect". But the word "perfect" kind of leaves a vile taste in my mouth anyway, so I guess that's okay

If you feel the research helps, then you should definitely do it. Personally, I'm in Laura's camp of "research as needed", but that's probably just my lazy personality in conjunction with my aversion to research in general. If you find that a lot of careful beforehand research provides both structure and inspiration, and if you don't mind doing the research, then there's no need for a limit

[celebkiriedhel]

Personally - I'd go with broad brushstrokes, and then research down as you need it.

Research is great no matter how much you do - although doing the research rather than writing in 15 years time, may be considered excessive.

[sfe]

Personally, I can't say I'm a big fan of research when it comes to my works (purely because I'm bored, hehe) but I do appreciate reading stories where it's obvious the writer has done a lot of research. For example, I read a book about time travel once, which of course is as sci-fi as it gets, lol, but the writer had done so much research on how this could be achieved (using physics laws to support it), that you could almost be convinced it's already achieved.

/* rambling = on */

I did my first research for my current story, where I studied about ancient Egypt (the location, the pyramids, the history) enough so as to be able to get inspired for the first chapters, but what I found about the location was a bit different from what I had imagined. And not wanting to adjust my story to reality I used 'Al Simhara', as a suburb of Cairo. I'll continue my research about Egyptian tombs in the future where I'm going to need it again.

I also did a lot of research with the names. In my country the names are significantly different from North American names (where I imagine 'Bridgeport' - my characters' city - is located), so I researched about names and surnames, and their origins. In fact, I think I might have taken it a little too far with the origins... it's not that important for the story but still, I was obsessed about the name choices!

/* rambling = off */


I agree that some initial research is needed to give you enough details to start, but what will eventually be needed for the writer to know, usually comes as the story progresses.

[celebkiriedhel]

With the names for the sims in my hood and WA, I went the bureau of statistics, and took the top 100 Aussie Names and Surnames, then did the same for France, Egypt and China.

Because China was much more difficult I went and did it through Wiki, and picked names of the most popular actors, models, etc.

I've ended up with a ROS file for each name-set, that will give me a female name, male name, and surname.

It's not that difficult to do actually. I'm going to do it for my novel next time!

[drew]

Interesting. At some romance blogs I visit, the writers there call it being a 'pantser' or a 'planner'. If I had to chose one, I would say on the whole, I am a pantser. I personally prefer to get it all down on paper first, then go back and fill in the pot holes (or plot holes) and do any research then. Or sometimes, I do research as I go along.
It is what works best for me.

Illandyra you strike me as someone who is meticulously organized, So I can picture you with lots of notes. And since you are doing a future version of earth, I think notes and lots of research are warranted.

All the best with your MS!

[infinitygoddess]

Dec 8, 2010 0:24:17 GMT -5 mdpthatsme said:

I have never researched for a back story, seriously never, but then again, my stories aren't on this world we call Earth. But research is a good thing. Let's you know a bunch of fun facts.

One of my graphic novels has the story take place on another planet, but I still had to do some research on specific ancient cultures, since the cultures there almost mirror what was on Earth a long time ago (and mostly because these extraterrestrials used powerful psychic abilities to transcend time and space in order to visit Earth around the dawn of human civilization - they don't do it anymore, though; bad for the body doing it).