Still running the #shareyourworld game on Twitter. You get to tell me, in a tweet (if possible), what your world is about. I’m noticing two trends:
- We confuse story with world.
- We don’t know why we’re building.
Sometimes I’ll get replies that tell me plot. “Scott the magical dog goes on an adventure to Doom Mountain” is a plot (can someone write that please?). “Set in the modern day where magic infuses the land and gives animals powers,” is a world description. If you’re in the Oatley Academy, you probably know this as the One Big Lie. The one over-arching point of your world.
I think we find it hard to summarize our worlds because we haven’t spent time building them, just time on making the narrative. Your world is a living organism. Your world is telling its own story. That’s where the story you’re telling came from. Every time you write an establishing shot, your world is telling a story.
So take some time to listen to your world and give it some life. Then comment on this post or on social media with #shareyourworld and tell me what it’s all about.