Misplaced World-Building (or Why I’m Better Off Outlining)

Amid revision passes for a synopsis (where it feels like I’m tinkering pointlessly as I prepare to replace my submission novel with a newer one) I’m thinking ahead to the next project: finishing off the epic fantasy I’ve had in progress for a few years now.

It’s been experimental in that I’ve done it in parts, with only a rough idea of where it’ll go after the current part is finished. I did the third part last year, and hopefully the fourth part will finish it.

[While I’ll get into vague details, I doubt anyone’ll read this, or the actual book, to have anything spoiled]

I feel it’s going to be a failure, since the big battle at the end of part three probably isn’t going to be topped. There may be a large battle in this one, but that’s mainly the remnants of the previous battle, and it’ll probably be halfway through.

There’s also not much in the way of an overarching plot the protagonists need to, or can, foil. The antagonist has basically done what he wanted, so they’re just hunting him for revenge or to stop him doing more. It’s mainly character arcs rather than a central story arc now. And I’m worried they won’t provide a satisfying resolution.

The basic story is of a fantasy civilisation where magic is a basis for their technologies. But the magic is starting to fade, helped along by the antagonist. It degenerates into civilisation falling apart, everyone fighting over resources and pointless ideologies, and everything disintegrating (including the story, I guess, though I’m not sure it works in that way).

One thing I’ve realised as I try to think it out is how much world-building is happening in part four, which isn’t right. The world-building is supposed to happen early on, so it doesn’t slow things down as you approach the end.

But while I tried planting what I could early on, the story for part four as it’s introducing itself to me seems to want to be about the protagonists experiencing the collapsed society.

It’s as much involved with the social disintegration as the technological one, though I’m trying to use some of the current real-world problems – such as agricultural ones – without drawing too many parallels. I’m trying to balance out the ideas against the plot, but convinced both will suffer.

It feels like the world-building can’t help but be more overt as I dismantle the world it’s actually built. I’m worried it’ll slow the story too much, and prove unsatisfying.

And yet, this seems to be what the story wants to do. Even if it feels lacking to me. I’m probably going to write it as it wants to be, just to see what that is. But I get the feeling it’ll be a mess, and I think that’s been slowing me down from getting on with it. I need to get it finished though, if only so it can stop irritating me.

First draft is for getting it written, revisions are for getting it right.

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