I thought you were talking about the last airbender (which also has great worldbuilding). I couldn't believe that you were praising the movie version though
I've had an idea of a fantasy novel for a while but I was a bit reluctant to put it down on paper until I stumbled onto one of your videos. Since then I've been binge watching them and you've addressed so many things that were quite a problem and I'm honestly enjoying writing my story now. This will most likely get lost in the thousands of comments you receive but thank you so much, your content is amazing!
@Carlos Renato Hertel there were 80 volumes at the time i binge read it. took only 2 weeks, but it was during holiday so was able to read all day. trust me, it's worth it. so much fun, adventure, humor, and life. you can get access to the official translation/scans via Shonen Jump app. it's less than $20/year for a ton of series. btw, i would NOT recommend watching. they stretch out scenes, way too many filler and flashbacks, humor delivery isnt as good, neither is the art. Manga is the way to go for it.
Omg I have mind reading in my book (wasn't the original plan when I first world built things). I never even considered that it could be illegal. Of course it could be, I feel like I fool. Thank you for bringing that point up. I was lucky to watch this
My world has everything expect that gods are same coz I personally find it cool like I really love the "pantheon co existing" trope just imagine zeus, Odin and shiva chillin in Dionysus's cafe
Your last tip is especially useful to me. I'm working on a fantasy story set on a moon that takes six of our days (or wake/sleep cycles for the people living there) to orbit its parent planet. But I'm seriously thinking of just going with a normal day/night setup because it's so much less complicated. Imagine a place where some days are all dark and some are all light. And some are in-between. Trying to keep track of it all and not being able to have dialogue like "Let's try again tomorrow", or "It'll take us three days to get there" is just murder. I feel like if you're going to bring that level of complexity to your world building then it needs to be a main focal point for the entire story.
You could put the moon's actual day/night cycle in perspective relative to the people's wake/sleep cycle using a short mini-plot as you're getting into the hook. For example, it could be something like this: "He woke up at sunrise and made himself start the task he'd been putting off. It took him three wakes and three sleeps, but felt so much longer as the sun crept along overhead like a snail, beating down on him the whole time. He slept after finally completing his task and woke up at sunset." And If you want the moon's 6 day rotation period to be important in the story, that is also possible if you put your characters in a situation where it is important. Say, for example, that they need to bring an item to a place but it needs to be constantly exposed to sunlight for the journey. If the journey takes multiple waking periods to accomplish, you could have dialogue where the characters account for the time they will take sleeping when planning the journey. Ultimately, if you are leaning toward realism in your setting, giving your moon a 24 hour orbital/rotation period would have its own set of consequences you would need to account for. Assuming you are writing the trope of a habitable moon (almost certainly tidally locked) around a gas giant, a 24 hour orbital/rotation period would subject your moon to massive tidal heating (think worse than on Jupiter's moon Io) and would likely place it deep inside the planet's powerful radiation belt, which could strip your moon's atmosphere.
I’ve been creating a “supernatural universe” for years now with many many different worlds so vids like this will be very useful. Thank you for the knowledge!
I'm about to put "The Other World" (a fanatsy world that has been in my mind for years) to paper. It's going to be a text that is pretty much all about world building and I don't even know if it will contain people. It'll be challenging, but you helped me a great deal! Thank you so much!!!
Super cool video! I think one world that really helps benefit it’s story is 1984. It just seems like the setting fits in so well with the message. Might not be as grandiose as Tolkien but the story still benefits so much from it.
Hi! I really love your videos and I always find myself coming back to this channel to know how improve my writing. I really appreciate your work in these videos. I have a question, where do you find maps? Like , i know google is a thing but i dont know what im spouse to search.
Fantasy all the way. I have written some things in non fiction, but I find I am always better in fantasy. I am trying to write paranormal as well, hope it goes well!
Yes, fantasy can be seen as difficult because you have to go into more detail. On the other hand, since it's fantasy, you can basically do whatever you want.
My 2 go-to Movies/TV Shows to help in World Building are Blade Runner for the mood behind every scenes and Game of Thrones (surprise!) for the expansive World in itself. Hunger Games, book or movie, becomes tedious, repetitive and boring after the second book.
Her brown wavy hair's slight movements distracted me from the titles I was trying to read in the background. I wondered if those were her titles or if they were just used as props. Maybe both. Sitting on those white shelves, the books brought about many questions to my mind with their variety of colored spines. A slight jingle of a sound awoke me from my stupor as I noticed long lines metal flowing from the space between her cheekbones and wavy hair. The blue gray-eyes spoke to me as I realized... I'm here to listen to world building tips!
Its impossible to write show technique during writing. Write tell first (you can write show, but if you want to make it easier and faster, just use tell-show technique). Then you can unleash your perfectionist and showing on editing.
My current technique on the “Show don't tell” is to have scenes constructed around locations so you actually use them (so there's a story constructed behind every scene). Now, not all settings need major explaining, and just need to follow what's necessary for the story to progress; that should always be the focus-on the character-so it sticks to storytelling without breaking that cycle. Rather than “telling too much or showing too much”, I advocate the idea “Show so you can tell”; what is necessary of course. Whatever isn't relevant to advancing the plot, character arcs, and serves no purpose can be axed away or integrated elsewhere. That's how I'm approaching a “soft fantasy/sci-fi” on a surface level, but as the story progresses, the reader begins to understand the concepts and its more of a “hard fantasy/sci-fi” world building. Tricky to pull off, but you have successful animes like One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto that do it farely well as some examples.
I’m not sure if you’ll see this but I would like advice. Can you recommended any detective or psychological books if you know any? If you see this comment, I will be thankful.
Not Shaelin here, obvs, but check out Alexa Donne's videos. She's got some where she recommends and reviews thrillers, which are almost always psychological in nature.
brandon sanderson is the worst lmao, his worldbuilding doesnt serve any point in the story like he tries to cover his bad character and plotting work with endless pointless exposition. There is just no soul to his work
Yo just a tip for your thumbnail, I'd you want to make your clothes look black on camera while still being able to have some structure/definition of what is what ie not making it seem that you are wearing something coated in vantablack. I would recommend you to wear something dark blue this is a very old trick that works in monochrome definitely but probably also I'm colour (you might have to mess around with hue settings a bit, IDK I don't shoot colour). Or something else you could do is to overexpose you face just a bit so you still have definition in your shirt and then to dodge your face in lightroom to make it look as exposed as before, while still having definition in your shirt
What are the unbreakable rules of magic in Lord of the Rings? A book known for world building does not abide by this tip. And, having finally read one, Sandersonian magi-tech is boring. Toss this one out and kill it, please. If your magic is physics, you don't have magic.
The magic in Lord of the Rings is considered very soft, meaning it barely has rules and is more there for its mystical quality. This approach can work if its what you want from your story, but its not as popular in modern fantasy. None of these are tips are rules after all, just tips!
@@Reedsy What are the unbreakable rules of the Force? There are none. What are the limits of magic in Harry Potter? Despite all the rules, there really aren't any as the rules are constantly broken, sometimes even intentionally by the author. Fullmetal Alchemist had so many rules it called its magic "science," but the entire plot revolved around the rules not being rules. I am honestly struggling to think of a single property that really broke into the mainstream that had unbreakable rules for magic. What can't magic do in the Marvel universe? It's in lots of books, because Sanderson, but I'm laying down a marker: Sanderson's rules create boring magic systems. Magic must be mystical. It must have unpredictability. If you look too closely at it, it must have danger. It is calling upon the unknown and thus its true effect should be unknown. And if you omit that you are leaving an entire mountain range of tension on the table and why in the world would anyone do that? Call it a tip, call it a rule, I call it bad advice.
@Elizabeth Bennet When most people hear "Avatar," they think of a James Cameron movie. It's nowhere near Harry Potter, it's nowhere near Marvel. It's nowhere near Star Wars. And even then, it's not a hard rule. "Unless you're the avatar" is an exception. All that does is prove there can be exceptions. It's just like how you cannot bend metal; that was a rule at one point. Until they could ben metal.
@Elizabeth Bennet OK, that's wrong. First, George is an original author. He is not the original author. Star Wars was a team. Second, it doesn't hold up. KotOR is a thing. Expanded Universe is a thing. These things were officially canon before Disney, as much as canon existed. Canon itself was a matter of debate, likened to Obi Wan's "from a certain point of view." Exactly as I say magic should be; uncertain. Disney completely decononized them. Dark Side was not evil in the Expanded Universe. Light Side was not good in the Expanded Universe.
@Elizabeth Bennet The first Full Metal Alchemist story revolves around the rules not being the rules. And it is brilliant for it. It took the very first suspension of disbelief chit I handed it, and threw it back in my face in the finale as the point of the series. And it is one of the most tightly plotted anime series out there. There is precious little filler, and every element pulls double duty. It's a master class in how to structure a story. The second is superior only in scope. It is more epic, yes, but it's also looser with its elements. The homunculi have little connection with the alchemists. There's been some attempt to show that the alchemists that defeat them have that sin they must overcome (Armstrong:Sloth, Edward:Pride), but that falls apart when you throw Mustang at Lust and Envy and not Wrath. And yet the second still has the exact same flaw in its rules that the first did. But the first addressed them. The second ignores them.
There is no deal, it's just how I talk and what my voice sounds like. Being rude about it certainly doesn't make me feel better about something I can't change though!
@@Reedsy Don’t pay such people any mind. You have a beautiful voice and you’re a very helpful person, making the world a better place and helping people become writers
