59 - Storying Through Your World

B01_10 === James: Episode Intro --- James: Sure. You've got an airtight magic system, but how does it feel when you actually cast that spell? How does it affect you and those around you? Today, we're going to talk about a technique that can breathe life into the settings you create all while helping you practice your craft as a storyteller. Let's talk about storying Podcast Intro --- James: welcome to the WorldCraft Club, a show for writers, game masters, and anyone else who wants to create rich immersive settings that will bring their audience back time and time again. Reading the Excerpt --- James: Before we get started, we're going to do this episode a little bit different. I'm going to begin with an excerpt from a story written by our guests today. Ulrin was buried in complete darkness. As if you were miles beneath earth and stone. Then slowly. There in the dark. He started to hear. He could feel the deep, slow roar of the earth through his feet planted on the soil floor of the workshop. He could hear the dull ringing up the heavy blacksmith's hammer in his left hand, the steel in his right hand. By comparison. It seemed to sing with a bright hum a note singular and clean. Slowly the roar of the furnace and the heat of the fire faded back in around him, Ulrin put on his smithing gloves, took up his tongs and used them to place the steel in the heart of the fire until it glowed red. He brought it out onto the anvil he heaved his hammer and struck the first blow to the ingot. Sending sparks flying. He beat it, cut it and folded it and then beat it flat some more, all the while returning the metal to the flames to maintain its heat. No time had passed and all the time in the world had passed. When he finally paused. The metal had been folded and beaten out countless times into a long rod. Once more Ulrin returned it to the flame and then flattened it stroke by stroke into the dull crude beginnings of a blade. The metal responded to each blow of his hammer, perfectly slowly taking the form in Ulrin's mind's eye. Free from cracking or crusting. He paused again. Breathing heavily and inspected his work. It was well proportioned it's weight, well balanced as he lifted it in one gloved hand and looked down the spine. If the blade. He nodded to himself satisfied. He returned the blade to the fire once more. And the master worked the bellows furiously till the blade, Shaun white. It would have to be as hot as possible for this next stage. Ulrin removed his gloves and whetted his hands, then plunged them into the bowl of Ash coding every inch of his skin, up to his elbows in a black ashy paste the master looked at overrun. The blade is ready. So are you. Time to wrestle a mountain lad. Ulrin took a deep breath as the master yanked the blade from the fire, then over and grasped it in both hands. The sheer force of the heat, assaulted him threatening to sweep him away in a torrent of fire. His mind teetered in the void, he was being stretched out like a rope courts, fraying and snapping one by one. The metal, which had once sung brightly now roared like a mighty waterfall, like a mountain falling into the sea. Instinct. One by years at the master's training, took over . Olin's will rose up in a mighty tide to answer the challenge of the blade and the barrier of charcoal paste that lay between his skin and the vaporizing heat shield. He willed it to hold. The grinding grown at the coal Ash, enveloping his arms cut through the roaring heat. Then slowly. Ever so slowly. Ulrin willed, the Ash forwards, lending it, his strength . The black coating on his forearms began to shift down and then up to envelop the blade. There was a loud hiss and an eruption of steam is the pace touch the metal handle and worked its way ever. So slowly up to the tip. Every inch seemed a mile every second, a lifetime until the whole blade was covered. The thin layer of the Ash still separated over in from the ferocious heat from that howling storm inside the blade. Ulrin hesitated. It was so strong, so crate and he was so small. Who was he in the face of such power? What even was he. Ulrin's knees began to buckle. Now lad. Now the master shouted from somewhere beyond the void. Guest Intro --- James: We're going to do a little bit of analysis on this shortly. But first let's go ahead and meet our guests today. Dan Intro --- Daniel: So I'm Daniel McCormack. Um, I'm working on writing my first, uh, fantasy novel, um, and a series of short stories set in a world that I've been. Kind of developing and cultivating over the past two years or so. First Interjection --- James: Daniel thinks that you might benefit from slowing up on the note taking and instead turning your attention to storying your way through the setting. But i'm getting a little ahead of myself let's first hear a bit about how his story begins and how he arrived at this conclusion Dan's Introduction to the Idea --- Daniel: Just to kinda give like a really brief overview of my worldbuilding journey and what led me up to the point of starting to use short stories, I was consuming a lot of media, a lot of film, tv, video games, and I wasn't finding anything that really like, hit the spot for me. Like nothing was quite what I was looking for, and that's what really set me down this road of like, well, I can make something that I, I really love. I can make something for. And that just, you know, that sparked off like what, you know, write down what do I love, what am I interested in, like what kind of worlds have I really loved with fantasy before and what my influence is. And just like that was what started the process of, and I ended up writing out like reams of history, for the world, the cultures, like descriptions of physical locations. ideas of like magic and how that might work. And it was all pretty broad and pretty, not generic, but very, quite abstract, you know, like not, not grounded and rooted. And I got to this point where I was actually like, I love this setting that I'm developing and I love, like this world and it, and it excites me, but I'm actually hitting, starting to hit a wall with the worldbuilding. and the idea of start like writing a novel, like a whole novel off the back of this worldbuilding is just like really overwhelming. how do you even begin to start structuring like a, you know, three, you know, you looking like three act structures. And I would try and write out, plot arcs and character arcs and that, trying to figure all that out. And that was really overwhelming. And then what I started doing really was just like saying like, well look, I have this element of my story that I'm really interested. Daniel: Like, what's a short story that I could write like maybe 1500 words to 3000 words that would just help me flesh out this idea more and more. I started doing it for my own benefit. Like how can I enjoy the process of well building more, um, rather than just writing out just like an encyclopedia, like how can I immerse myself? Cause I, you know, I also really wanted to improve my own craft, my own writing. And it really just seemed like a, a way of killing like three birds with one stone. I get to practice, like what does it take to make a compelling narrative? I get to practice like, or, you know, further develop and flesh out my worldbuilding like, oh, like as soon as I put this into a, into a character place, location scenario, this element of worldbuilding just takes on its own life in some ways really like grows into something that was maybe surprising for me but really like, just fleshed out in ways that, which is really wonderful. Um, and then I also get to like, create stuff that I can share with people and just start to get feedback quite quickly. So you're not gonna like invest three years in writing your debut novel before you get any feedback from friends, family, audience. I feel like it really like just supercharged my love of my worldbuilding and gave me a lot of opportunity To develop these ideas and these elements from my world in ways that were not abstract, but rooted and concrete and, put real flesh on those bones in a really fun way. there's a few things that I really like hear in that, that I think are, are just so incredibly useful. One is we're really big on community. I think writers, writers need people to talk to. You know, it's like you need to be able to, to test your work. this idea that even you get to see it, ideas crystallize as you write them. when you're just writing a series of artifacts or history, it doesn't, it doesn't resonate the same way Daniel: no, absolutely not. And like if your goal is to, like, my goal is to write really good novels. Neil Gaiman's got some good advice. Like he, you know, often the advice to writers is just right. You know, just keep writing and, and you'll get better and better. And Neil Gaiman kind of specifies that more. He says, no, just finish things. Like even the process of finishing something teaches you so much more than just the act of writing something because you then you suddenly, you've got this finished product in front of you and you, you can look at like, oh, what is the reader's emotional journey through this story? does what I want to communicate, get lost in the detail. all those sorts of things only really come into play when you finish something. Um, so short stories are great. Are great for that. Interjection --- James: I want to pause right here. So far this episode, we've gotten something of an introduction to the benefits of short story, both to your worldbuilding and your craft as a writer. I think it's useful to pause for a minute and break down how useful this process can be. So let's identify a couple of key things that we can take away. Writing short stories allows for the following. You are able to practice your writing and craft, not as it operates in back room notes, but as your audience will see it. Which means that you then actually have something that you can share, which means that you can get critique and feedback writing done in communities the best writing. Next you finish something. The actual practice of finishing something is incredibly useful. Having a completed work, this sort of feeds into this idea that you can share your work as well, but just having something under your belt that is complete, not in progress, not something you're working on, but actually finished. And a short story allows you to package this information really conveniently. Another element is that short stories, crystallize your ideas and allow you to see them on the page. This can be incredibly useful for sort of writing your way through your ideas and interrogating your own worldbuilding. We would call this process to use the gardening analogy, pruning this idea that you're looking at your setting and kind of going, how does this element work? What would this magic feel like if they were doing it? And it allows you then to kind of look at it and say, Hmm, maybe this element needs to change or that element needs to change this doesn't right. As well as I was hoping it was going to write, maybe I need to make some alterations. It seems like this process already is shaking out to be incredibly powerful But let's dive a little bit more here into how this gets done and how it can be used to great effect. Continue Interview --- Daniel: is like we're so used to consuming media, which is films, books, like whole novels, like the stories that we are used to consuming are much bigger than short stories. So I would just, I would say if you wanna do this, go out there and find some really good, excellent, short stories. I've got a list of recommendations I can, I can put out there. just getting used to the idea of what makes a good short story James: Yeah. Daniel: a, that's a skill in of itself as well. it's a whole different ballgame, uh, than, than novels. Daniel: I think a really good analogy for it is, did you ever watch the Animatrix? James: Yes. Daniel: Yeah. So like you have the Matrix films, which are like these big, like novels, essentially the trilogy, and then you've got the Animatrix, which is a series of 10, I would say short stories set in that universe, which give worldbuilding and they give, gives history and it, and it explores different elements of the world. But each one is its own short contained little. James: One thing that I've kind of been thinking about toying with as an idea lately is that you have to kind of figure out how you're going to spend your own wonder in your setting. And like, if you spend it just writing down a list of artifacts in a Wikipedia page and you spend it. Droning to your friends about some historical component that you're sort of fascinated with. And like, you might, you might also be very good at explaining that and people might be interested. I'm not saying that they're not, but you know, you, you, you are spending your, your own excitement in your setting doing that. And you're not always fanning the flame. You're not always at the bellows, uh, working on it. And they're like, I think the story idea. Is such a good way of causing you to to fall more in love with your setting. It causes you to practice, to actually like be enmeshed in that world and to walk away liking it more, and then also having something to share with your friends that they can read and actually, you know, enjoy. And, and it's not just a, a laundry list of names and places and things like that. Like there's a, there's a reason I, I think why, why talking? You know, he released books, uh, not necessarily encyclopedias. The encyclopedias are the, of the books being so enjoyed, not the other way around. Do you know what I mean? Daniel: Great. And like the, you know, the, the immersion in Middle Earth is not, doesn't come from reading, like the appendices, the immersion comes from the story and then that like, interest. You're like, oh, I wanna know more about this world. And then Tolkien's like, oh, I spent 10 years creating the linguistics and the mythology and you know, here's, here's, here's three ages of the earth. And you're like, oh, cool. . Like, but the, James: That's like a treat Daniel: Yeah. That's like a, the way into that is the narrative. You know, you wouldn't care about that probably if you didn't have like this emotional connection to like The Fellowship. James: It also fans your love of your setting into flame, uh, without, without like squelching it and spending all of your own like internal wonder. And it kind of gives you the ability to walk around your. , you know what I mean? Like it's, you're actually like, you're, you're sort of in it, you know, your storying Daniel: You're James: through your setting. Yeah, Daniel: No, you're there like amongst the like, kind of the, the landscape, the mountains, the trees, the people like, you can almost like taste the food. Interjection about Game Masters --- James: I think it might be useful to pause here because our show is not just for writers. It's for dungeon, masters and game a masters as well. So I'm sorry if y'all checked out already, but I think this can be really useful for you guys too. You see a short story allows you to test out your scenario before players can get involved. It's something that will allow you to expand upon your setting and consider the way that you're going to present your setting, the sorts of language and dialogue, coding, and themes that you're going to apply. When you finally get your players sat around the table. There's a temptation among DMS to feel like they need to make very intricate clocks, but the problem is players come in and they all got hammers. They're ready to change things and shake stuff up. And that can be incredibly jarring. I think a short story technique is a great way to build some robustness and flexibility into your setting. To allow you some room to better grapple with your own content. And then share it with your players when you're ready. At this point, we turn the conversation to the excerpt that I read earlier in this podcast episode. I wanted to give Daniel a chance to break it down and explain it to us to explain how this particular story helped to shape his own understanding of his world. Back to the Episode --- James: . So you, you sent an excerpt to us, that involved a scene in a forge and the creation of a sword. And, um, I, I was interested to just hear, hear you. Maybe walk us through that and, I'd love to hear sort of your, your margin notes on how as you were writing this story, it shaped your world or changed it. I'd love to hear that if you would like to expand on that. Daniel: So I think that this excerpt is a really good example of how short. Can really crystallize ideas that are very abstract and then can really focus them and make them very realized. So, the like, the except is all, basically it's about the process of rin the blacksmith. forging a magical sword, but using the, using the magic in, in my world to forge its blade and going into writing this short story, I knew that. I knew what I didn't wanna do with my magic. I didn't want have it be, based on true names or words of power. I didn't want it to be incantations. I didn't want it to be, completely soft. Like to the point where it's like then he cast a fireball somehow, and it saved every. but I didn't want it to be like another, like kind of Brandon Sanderson like, or like Wheel of Time, like everything figured out and like you can really like enjoy the mechanics of it. Like I wanted this, what I really wanted was the idea of craftsmanship be the guiding theme for how magic worked. And the, and the kind of elements for that for me are like, there is logic to the way it works. There are boundaries and limitations, but a lot of how it's used is very intuitive and it's passed down generation to generation, and traditions and mythology builds up around it. But really it's been guided by like, well, what works? Like how do you, how do you do this? Like, what do you need? And there's like this idea of generational knowledge passed down that kind of got me thinking about blacksmithing, about like, you know, a lot of those kind of things. Like, woodworking or building houses, that kind of stuff. And I was like, so that led me to the idea of. the character of the blacksmith being a way to explore magic. Cause I knew I wanted to get that craftsmanship. When it came to actually the process of writing, I figured out like, it's all very well and good to say like, oh, I, I want to have a, a magic system that feels like this, but what on earth does that look like on the page? How do you, what language do you use to explain the relationship that the blacksmith has with magic, the experience that it has of using it Like how do you define it without defining it too much? How do you make it understandable without making it boxed in, you James: it? Yeah. Really the whole except is that it's, How do I put language and metaphor to try and walk that balance? Yeah, so like, I think that I'll pick up some elements that that kind of evolved naturally out of the text as I was writing it. The very beginning, Ulrin is kind of going into this almost trance-like state, where he's kind of blocking out the world around him so that he can focus, on a magical sense of connection with, the world around him. And it kind of, it says he could feel the deep, slow roar of the earth through his feet planted on the soil floor of the workshop. He could hear the dull ring of a heavy blacksmith's hammer in his left hand, the steel in his right hand. By comparison, it seemed to sing with a bright hum, a note singular and clean. And that, that really like that, sparked up a lot of ideas for me for the kind of the narrative to come. But this idea that different parts of the world and different elements of the world, like different, like the earth met different kinds of metal, have a different sound, a different resonance, and a different kind of, music to them. And this idea of the very first stages of learning magic is a, is a process of learning to listen, like learning, to be aware and to be, connected to the world around you. so that I has in turn kind of evolved into very different cultures in my world who have very different relationships with different parts of the world and how they interact with it magically. James: relation Daniel: There's a lot I can see on that, but that essentially, that kind of sparked from this idea really. and yeah, so that, that, that kind of maybe start trying to define like, oh, what is the process of learning magic? How do these different cultures approach it? What are their differences between each other? What are the prejudices they hold against each other because of their different approaches to magic? You know? So all of that came out really of this one little element of the short story. Interjection --- James: I'm sure he can see how Daniel's process of storying his setting is beginning to sharpen and crystallize his vision for the use of magic. This concept of singing was added. This idea that different cultures and different landscapes can see different parts of magic and understand it differently. Which is another one of Daniel's fascinations. . While the original concepts he had are honored here. He is already beginning to have a deeper understanding of the implications on the world he's creating and its people. It's growing more immersive earthier, better connected, richer. So we know how his magic system has expanded and developed through the process of story. But at this point i wanted to find out where the inverse had happened how did the story calls him to prune or limit his setting or the ideas contained within it Daniel: Any elements I cut out kind of based on the experience of writing James: Hmm. yeah, actually there's been lots, and a lot of it is actually not so much elements of the worldbuilding I cut out, but, the ideas for, for how I wanted to present that worldbuilding in a narrative. , if you went back and looked at some of my story ideas that I had when I was first developing my setting, they were all kind of like chosen one royal family but didn't know he was a prince. Daniel: And then gets discovered and becomes like James: Classic. Classic Daniel: like classic fantasy. And I'm just like, oh, you know what? That that does not fit with my setting and what I'm really passionate about my setting. So like the process of writing. Told me like, I'm really interested in craftsmanship. I'm really interested in the setting and how that shapes cultures, how cultures relate to one another. And there's so much nuance in that that gets lost in the typical chosen one story. You know, like I think chosen one story is a great, it's just that it, it's not a good vehicle for this world. So I think there's definitely that element. in terms of like elements of my worldbuilding that got cut out, I think there's a whole history I've written about, these kind of, what's the best word? Itinerant scholar, barge priests kind of thing. Um, who are kind of. Custodians of tradition and the custodians of the religion in the world and the custodians of, it's more like the first users of magic and their magic is much more to do with the wind, you know? And, I had this idea about them kind of being primarily about combat initiative. Like how do you fight with the wind? Like what's like cool ideas you can, you can do with that. and I think there, there are definitely elements of their history which ended up getting cut out. it just, just didn't fit with the feel of the world, I think. like it started me down the trajectory of thinking like, oh, okay, so what can you do craftsmanship wise with the wind? so just the idea of getting a sand blower and like you can like shape and carve stuff with sand. Like by blowing it really fast, like, well, what if you had a way of like re like magically like cycling it and using it to create these really intricate stonework and like, what if you had giant, um, like horns, like the horn of Helm Hammerhand, Two Towers, like just carved like into cliff base. Daniel: like in a way that it should be be impossible by hand, but with this idea of like being able to control the wind and the sand and kind of drill into things and create these, you know, so anyway, that really, and that kind of like really shaped them from being like these warriors into being like these, almost like, monastic, like itinerant scholars. Final Interjection --- James: daniel has a world he's trying to make. He's got ideas that he wants to develop. And he realized in the process of storying that there were stories he didn't want to tell. Well, Daniel pruned was the story chosen. One story didn't fit. He had to find something else that worked. So we have Ulrin the blacksmith. This process of short storying, might've saved Daniel from committing too deeply to a larger story that he didn't want to tell. It gave him the opportunity to dip his toe in the water and gauge the temperature. Is this type of story right from my world and the themes that I want to explore. What's more, this process of storying allowed him to completely change a key faction by growing to understand what he truly loved about the story. He was telling the ideas of craftsmanship and the differences between cultures. It allowed him to alter a group that was initially designed to be these powerful warriors using wind in battle to craftsmen who are altering and changing the world around them through magical means. Lastly, Dan gives this bit of advice that I think is pure gold, and I'm really excited for you guys to hear it. Write What you Love, Write What you Hate --- Daniel: So just on that quickly, like I've had, I've, collect, obviously collected lots of writing advice and insights that have helped me. And one thing that's really helped me in terms of setting trajectory my, worldbuilding and my story, and making those things marry up is this quote which says, write about what you love, write about what you hate. So like, just that idea of. what gets you passionate? Like what either provokes you to like, just like, oh, that is so wrong. Like that is just not right. Like, I do not like that at all. And what, or what provokes you to like, oh, that's so cool, or that's so wonderful or amazing. Like, what are the things which really grab you like that? And the thing, the cool thing about that is that you can use that to inform both your well building and your plot development at the same time. And it really helps to. Bring to have a, have a meta idea, like over both those things, which is kind of bring keep, just brings you back. Like you can go on rabbit trails with your narrative ideas and it just doesn't feel quite right. And you go like, is this really about what I love? Is this really about what I hate? Like, and the same with your worldbuilding. You can go down cool little rabbit trails, which are like really interesting. But does it really relate to that initial idea? Outro --- James: So, this is where we'll close out. Here are a few key takeaways from today's episode. In writing a short story, you are fanning your love of your world into flame, rather than spending that affection on writing a lot of inert background notes. What's more, you're actually finishing something when you finish your short story. You're forcing yourself to take a narrative from one end to another, practicing your craft, and then having a finished product that you can actually share with somebody and get meaningful feedback on. It reads much more nicely than your notes or discussion on your world's history. The process of storing allows elements of your setting to crystallize on the page, reinforcing the ideas of those first loves or hates you started with and pruning concepts that don't fit. Storing can even help you get rid of stories that don't fall in line with your vision and avoid devoting too much time into planning and developing something that won't work. We hope that you'll take advantage of this unique, flexible technique and develop even richer worlds as a result. Now on top of all this, Daniel's produced a special treat for us in the form of a blog he's written where you'll find the excerpt included in this episode, as well as some expanded thoughts on this topic. Additionally I've included where Daniel can be found his Facebook group and other connections in the show notes. Go ahead and find him. So if you've really enjoyed this today and gotten something out of it, we hope you'll consider giving us a five star review on your favorite podcasting app. This helps other folks that might be looking for a worldbuilding home to find us. And if we don't quite merit, the five stars, please bug us via email. The link to that is in the link tree in our show notes. If you really want to give us a piece of your mind though, go ahead and join our discord. It's a thriving worldbuilding community where you can practice your growing skills around a punch of talented, friendly people who can help you get the rich feedback you're looking for. Don't worldbuilder alone. And with that. For Dan, this has been the WorldCraft Club podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Stinger --- Daniel: Smell the animals, whatever it is, you know, James: yeah. You know, smell the animals. Daniel: smell the animals, man. You gotta smell those animals James: that's why I, that's why I read Daniel: give James: I'm get a big whiff of that animal. Um, Yeah, this is good. This is going great.