Does too much world building at the start make you quit reading?

yessyeckley1 2024-10-01 05:47:11 UTC #12

Some info dump can be good but need to have a purpose and not go on for long. I normally skip those chapters

Lorian 2024-10-01 06:09:45 UTC #13

Too much world building can deter me from enjoying, if slammed into my face, yes. I like gradually exploring the world and understand it as it opens slowly before me.

I read once a book, which had character calling other character to tell him a history of the world. "Remind him where he lives". It was unnecessary info dump, The novel is more interesting if world building affects characters and we see it that way, rather getting a textbook at the beginning.

Of course, if the book is well written, I will read those too. It all depends on style and approach of the author.

Lensing 2024-10-01 06:18:05 UTC #14

I want the world building to be a minimal as possible and I want no background info
and discover everything along the way. Give me the background info in small doses
and in a subtle way and not as a pages long info that I have to work through to get
to the interesting stuff

stiatent 2024-10-01 09:14:50 UTC #15

I'm usually the guy who skips dialogue and cutscenes to go beat stuff up in videogames so guessed that rubs off in my unwillingness to read heavy loads of information too XD
Yep for me also, it's tedious to read, and majority of the info would likely be forgotten. Prefer the information show up in bits when necessary to a chapter, and always impressive when creators come up with ways to quickly get the message across without breaking the immersion.

But true, maybe some people enjoy reading it as you said 'to get a clear picture of the setting' and i always just thought it could be my love for action and horror movies/games that made me less patient with anything that would stagnate from getting to the point.
For my comic on here, wanted the reader to feel lost & uncertain like the characters feel and discover along with them (like a horror movie), especially as you're seeing most of it through the eyes of a twelve year old, so there's just a short synopsis and 0 information of the world.

Aeneas1 2024-10-01 09:26:31 UTC #16

I usually don't like opening exposition dumps in comics. This is because they are often overdone, especially in manga or something like that. I also think that comics and manga should take more cues from mainstream literature, especially classic literature, which slowly unveils more about a setting via context throughout the story. Take, for example, the opening of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four. We get the opening line "It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen." We don't need to know anything more about this world at this point, but as Winston goes about his day, we gradually find out more and more about Oceanian society. The same approach works for stories like Philip Pullman's Northern Lights. A good opening shouldn't spoonfeed information in one go, but should make people curious to find out more about a setting.

igneriss 2024-10-01 10:06:36 UTC #17

While I don't like it in comics, I've seen quite a lot of older fantasy books that do it well. It helps getting into the vibes of that distant knngdom we'll now be visiting while reading, helps imagining how it looks like and what is living there like.
I think it depends on narration style. Sometimes the long world building matches the story perfectly, and sometimes it just feels odd as the story itself has a completely different pace and style. Same with long descriptions.

Leyelle 2024-10-01 11:02:49 UTC #18

Yeah, I think information should be spread slowly throughout the story rather than an info dump. Ideally, you can slowly explain things about the world people will need to know a little earlier than the readers will need the information so you never have to have like a chapter long exposition in your story. I definitely don't prefer all the information to come at the start, so if there needs to be a lot at the beginning, I think it's best after we've already gotten to get to know the characters at least a little bit

That said, I do like world building like a LOT so it's probably third place or tied for second, especially in fantasy in scifi worlds. Character first, but in a good spec fic world, I think world building and plot should be intricately intertwined.

llobucervallince 2024-10-01 11:10:06 UTC #19

this is actually one of the best advices I got when starting to write my comic, the first chapter should always focus on the protagonists, focus on who they are, give a vague idea of where they're living, what they do, motivations, etc., then, in the second episode, you can focus on the world, it helps if one of the protagonists is discovering how the world works along with the reader.

I personally followed this advice very seriously, starting with the protagonist, what he does, then the co-protagonist, a bit of what their world looks like...
And in the second chapter I go ahead and show what death is like in their world, explaining the concept of deities, different species, and magic.

Vassia 2024-10-01 16:05:34 UTC #20

Absolutely I always recommend that you start with a scene. Personally I just stop reading if it doesn't start with a character actually in scene doing something. Put your world building in the background or in the interiority or dialogue it's more natural. In addition a lot of people will stop reading if there isn't dialogue within the first page or two cause that is also an indicator to writing style.

kyupol 2024-10-01 16:19:18 UTC #21

Doesn't really affect me. Especially if there's lots of stacies to look at

Cheekybee07 2024-10-08 01:19:30 UTC #22

definitely! especially when there's maps and a glossary of characters and how to pronounce their names and everything. I try to ignore him and grit through the worldbuilding as a reader but as a writer I prefer to sprinkle in the worldbuilding and draw the reader in slowly.

If anyone is interested in how I do that, here is my latest novel:

Tubacabra 2024-10-08 01:34:22 UTC #23

If I feel like my readers need context before jumping into the plot, I put it in the description. Otherwise, word building happens little by little as things become relevant. Sure, it means the fan base (such as it is) might have questions, but an inquisitive reader is an invested reader.

As a reader, I don't need to know that the protagonists great great granpappy built an outhouse in the mountains unless said outhouse becomes relevant to the plot (and probably not even then). Just sayin'. Especially with fantasy stories. If a kingdom/country won't be relevant until halfway through the series, there's really no need to introduce it until then. Totally feel where you're coming from.

In my opinion, if it can't be explained in a sentence or less, it can wait a chapter or two. My series briefly describes the landscape and then jumps straight into the conflict. World building can be interesting and fun, but in my opinion, it doesn't really belong in the first chapter.

Lensing 2024-10-08 06:53:31 UTC #24

Stories should all (for me) start like Breaking Bad.
You can apply that to any kind of story, doesn´t matter the genre.
I don´t need to understand why his pants are flying around and why
he is in his underwear or why there is some liquid coming out of the
camper at this point of the story. Nothing needs to
be explained, I don´t care. I want to get hooked to what´s going on,
I want to be left with the feeling of wanting to know more.

The Star Wars episode IV beginning, that BoomerZ mentioned, is similiar for me,
I don´t need to know who Darth Vader is, I don´t need to know anything about the
universe or the space ships and that´s exactly what gets me hooked, I want to find
out who he is during the story.

The big mistake of many writers is that they think that the reader finds all the background
information interesting, how the magic system works and all the details that "you need
to understand" to understand the story. It all makes me stop reading the story. I want
short and super interesting clues and not all of your thoughts, infos and explainations

incoMan 2024-10-08 07:31:03 UTC #25

putting too much lore on the first chapter can overload and scare away your readers, so make sure to get yourself a good hook to keep em from running away

MelancholicOtaku 2024-10-12 17:59:05 UTC #26

I think when it comes to world building finding that sweet spot is a must. Making a novel or comic is like cooking lol, too much salt and you can only taste the saltiness, too little and the food is bland. Basically too much world building Or info dumping is going to be too much for the reader who may not connect with the story and too little the reader may not connect with the story. It should be just a tad bit of mystery sprinkled in the world building.

Honestly I’m still trying to find my perfect middle ground

Cucito 2024-10-12 18:07:01 UTC #27

Honestly it does, even things like info dumps disengage me. I get that sometimes they're unavoidable but starting your first couple of chapters littered with info just disengages me. I know some people think otherwise but do what works best for your readers, if they like too much worldbuilding at the start then keep doing it, if they don't then change it up. At the end of the day there's many different type of story writers, 2 big ones are you either write for your readers or you write for yourself.

Lensing 2024-10-13 05:12:40 UTC #28

I agree with everything you say, but I don´t understand what you mean with

Do you mean that the creators shouldn´t make the mistake to publish backstory?

arcaneer99 2024-10-14 03:50:46 UTC #29

Greetings!

I would like to read a story that's well-balanced with worldbuilding, plot and characters. That balance would keep me attached to an author's work. I wouldn't mind a separate part at the start of the story, sort of like a prelude that welcomes the reader to the world.
When I put my story together, I was worried about my worldbuilding, given that it's completely off-world. I quarreled with myself on whether there's too much or not enough. I learned to keep everything in a story fleshed out.
Worldbuilding doesn't have to be an info dump in the first few chapters. It can be sprinkled every few or so chapters.

SwordSong 2024-10-14 04:37:51 UTC #30

Definitely.

Another thread mentions that most good stories are character-driven, and if a story goes on and on and on without showing/mentioning the people the audience is supposed to care about, then it gets boring fast.

I don't necessarily agree with this. Dumping the audience in a middle of intense action or complicated situation with absolutely no context is also a good way to make me immediately disengage. This might work better in a movie with a chase sequence, but a lot more difficult to pull off with prose.

Cucito 2024-10-14 05:14:03 UTC #31

No that's not what I meant, It's kind of hard to explain because I am not this type of writer so I am just assuming off word of mouth.

In context many writers do write a story for themselves as a goal, not to entertain others, or publish for a wider audience but rather to say "hey I wrote a book/comic/etc." That's what I mean when people write for themselves, they don't really take constructive criticism because they don't really care about it and write for the sole purpose of getting their own story out there.