A way with worlds: 44 - The Drought

Last column, I further explored the issues of writing about your worlds and communicating them, specifically how some setting-oriented writers could overload their readers with information about their world, and why they do this. Letting people in on your world is one thing - burying them under detail is another.

Personally, I wish this was a more common problem, because when I read fanfic or original work, I see a lot less description than I feel I and other readers need. There is often too little said about the setting and the elements of it relevant to the story – as well as a lack of good solid description period.

As a person whose read literature from various ages, I sometimes feel the amount of description in literature of the last decade or so has decreased. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm getting old, though I'd at least like to assume that's not it.

To put it simple, description is vital in stories. To an extent, a story really only is description (just of a whole lot of different but related things). If you don't have description, you don't have as much of a story. If you don't explain the important whys and hows of your setting or give a reader a visual cue as to what an important character looks like, you haven't really given the reader much to read.

As I've said from the beginning, your world is your main character. If you don't describe it enough, if people don't know enough to understand it, then people don't "get" your main character - and they won't get your story. They may try, they may think they do - but they won't. Writing is communication, so if don't communicate, you've failed.

So, last column we discussed why people have too much information in their stories, especially concerning the setting. Now, let's take a look at why there may be too little . . .

ITS FANFIC!
Now, my column is mainly dedicated to building original worlds - but good world development and handling applies no matter how much of the world is your creation. And when it comes to fanfiction, too often description about the world gets the short end of the stick. Many times I've read a fanfic and wondered "why is this happening" or "is this normal?" or "what happened?" – usually followed by "why am I even taking the time to read this?"

Why? Though there are many fringe reasons, common reasons, but one overwhelming one comes out again and again in my experience:

Because people assume readers already know enough.

Don't assume your readers know enough. They may be fans of the series, true, but that doesn't mean you can't set the stage, remind people, or do a different take on things. Doing so helps set moods and helps explain things that may be going on in your stories.

Also, your knowledge of the world may be more extensive than the readers. Writing only for a person of your level of knowledge may leave others out of the experience of your story.