creating

[egypturnash]

I've seen so, so many people who build exhaustively detailed worlds and then can never write stories set in them, because the details take the place of characters.

— Carla Speed McNeil, "Finder: Dream Sequence" (endnotes)

Yeah, I've been there too. I've seen that in other people. I've fallen into it myself.

Comments

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

It's always been my problem too. RPGs too - build giant campaign worlds and then run totally standard adventures in them with off the rack characters.

The secret is to think about the characters first and fill in only the minimum amount of world building needed. But that's easier said than done.

[tracerj.livejournal.com]

That's actually precisely how Kristy and I tend to work. And we get lambasted for being to wholly character-focused we forget about plot. *grin*