A way with worlds: 44 - The Drought

In addition, there is the chance your fanfic will be read by someone not steeped in the original continuity. Writing for them also means that you will write for all audiences - an excellent skill to develop especially if you want to be a professional or original writer.

PEOPLE KNOW MY WORLD!
The fanfic problem also applies to people who write their own worlds and eventually assume all readers are equally up to speed. This is not the case - even an individual reader may not be "up to speed" on one day, and fully aware of your world another.

Your world is probably quite complicated and detailed. Your readers are not you - they don't know it as well. They forget things because they didn't know they should remember them. Good description of your world and its elements helps keep them up to speed.

Don't treat your readers like idiots or psychics - treat them like people. People need communication.

When I edit fanfics and original worlds, I like coming into a story ignorant of the continuity (or putting myself in a state like that), unless its part of a series sequence I'd probably have read. This way I see it as a story, not as a part of something I supposedly am intimate with.

THE STORY IS THE THING!
Sacrificing detail for the story - whether to get to the action, compress the size, etc. isn't really gaining anything. What you are doing is loosing the overall coherence of your work. Detail, pace, clarity, etc. all work together in harmony to make a good story.

You need detail just as much as you need properly-sized paragraphs or a pace that doesn't put your readers to sleep.

THAT'S THE OLD WAY!
Those of us who've read early writing, classic novels and Penny Dreadfuls, have seen some stories with pretty excessive description. Let's face it, some classic writers read like they were possessed by Thesauri.

However some styles may vary, the need to describe things to your readers and to inform them about important world elements did not go out of style. There may be different ways to do it, more precise ways, timely ways. But some way of communicating the world and its elements to the reader must be followed.

I'M BEING MYSTERIOUS!
In letting people in on your world and its elements, if you tell everything, you probably ruin the story (and risk TMI mentioned in last column). However, you can easily go far in the other direction and leave the reader completely lost. A mystery isn't fun unless there's a chance to solve it.

This isn't an easy call. You have to provide just enough information, plus maybe a bit extra just in case. This is more of an art - so make sure your beta readers pay attention and are on the lookout for when you're not so artsy.