Writing.Com General Discussion

I write science fiction and futuristic fantasy, and I like to really go overboard with world building. On my local network I run a wiki farm (one instance of the software, as many wikis as you like), so I can have a wiki per novel. This allows me to delve deep into economy, politics, technology, social strata etc. I can get really lost in it, and creating new worlds is one of the most pleasurable things about writing stories.

That said, I have to limit what actually appears in the story. You have to 'set the stage', and thereafter whatever is important to the story, but always remember that if it isn't moving the story forward then it's description. Description isn't story. It is still possible to weave bits of information about your world into the story, just to create atmosphere and to kick the reader's imagination into gear, but there is such a thing as too much.

Another thing you should bear in mind: long after someone has forgotten the names of your characters and maybe even what the story is about, they'll remember a well crafted world.