Ask a Published Author: "How do you develop your setting?"

Susan Dennard  is a writer turned marine biologist turned writer again.  Something Strange and Deadly  is the first in a Gothic trilogy, and the sequel,  A Darkness Strange and Lovely ,  has just released. She shares with her heroine Eleanor a healthy appetite for baked goods.

How do you develop the world in which your story takes place without bogging down the story itself, and how can you tell when it’s doing just that? — Anonymous

I would say you shouldn’t worry about bogging down your story until you reach revisions. It’s truly best to let yourself write freely, pour any and every idea on the page as it comes, and then worry about pacing or info-dumping when you revise.

If, even after you’ve revised, you’re worried about too much world-building, then you can turn to a trusted critique partner for feedback. I find crit partners are invaluable for helping me spot pacing errors since we, the writers, are often too close to our own story to really gauge if a scene is slow.

In fact, I was recently revising a work-in-progress for my agent, and she pointed out a ton of areas that were just littered with info-dumping—areas I thought were fantastic! She asked if I really needed all those world details, and I realized that of course the answer was no. I didn’t need all that info in the text for readers, but I had needed it as I drafted because it was how I figured out the structure, culture, setting, etc. But now that I knew my world, as I revised, I could shave out the unnecessary details (for possible later weaving-in) and help keep the pacing tight.

So, to boil this answer down, I suggest you draft without worrying about bogging down your story, and then after you revise, turn to your critique partner for help with pacing and world-building. Of course, if you don’t yet have a critique partner, I’ll direct you here and here for help on finding one. Good luck and happy writing!

You can also check out the Critiques, Feedback, & Novel Swaps forum when you’re ready to start revising your novel!