I am on the harder side of the spectrumā¦usually I wish for some explanation since I like wizard fights and powerscaling, so I want a consistent set of rules.
Which story? Elganaās overall worldbuilding is soft, but the Sorcerer magick system is close to hard, but still kind of soft. Guardian lore is hard, but blue feline history is softā¦ Iām all over the place because it all depends on how much of what I need for which story.
I have another story that has a hard magick system and close to hard worldbuilding. Mostly because itās a four book series with a lot of meat in each book.
Either I guess. I probably wonāt realize how hard or soft something is because Iām just enjoying the story.
For example, To Make a Kinder Childrenās Tale, the whole premise of magic in that world is that they donāt use it, much. The ML doesnāt use subspace transportation until the MC drops into his life. Later on, when the decapitated head of the MLās stalker tries to curse the ML and MC , he brings it to the actively studying prqcticioner and admits to using a babyās level magic to prevent the situation. Magic is supposed to be fairly innate and rarely understood by the average Elf.
So, thereās things that specifically work for that world, but not a lot of detail because no one really uses their talents efficiently.
For the Assassinās Journals, the olwoman is learning as she goes, so sheās explaining what she did as she went along. That means it increases in worldbuilding as I write it. That means more towards hard.
What happens when I worldbuild without letting plot demand the worldbuilding is that I worldbuild without writing a story. It doesnāt work for me, is all.
Iāve spent around eight years on-and-off crafting a fantasy story with hard worldbuilding. Gotta say, itās HARD remembering all the rules of a fictional universeāwhat does what, who goes where, etc. over the course of the series (around four books Iāve planned) the world around them changes as they emerge into a scientific revolution, which is absolutely batshit because theyāre in the middle of a war. Add science to that, and forms of biological warfare begin to come into play. On top of this, they have a pretty complicated magic system which is still in development. The magic system itself is tied to the atmosphere, which was torn by asteroids. Everyone has magic, but magic has ultimately become dangerous because it corrupts the mind. On top of that, thereās religious prejudice and docterine people have taken to worshipping in order to explain magic itself. Thereās a ton of religious significance in the story itself, so crafting multiple religions (ofc, not every country is going to believe the same thing) was actually A LOT of fun. I drew a lot of inspiration from the Dragon Age games and books, along with DND (why also including some historical information on them). Groups and organizations was also kind of fun to create, but again, A LOT to memorize, especially for me because my retention falls between āI remember absolutely nothingā and āI know every single detail about this one thingā. My MCās all have some kind of military background, so then thereās the part where you have to come up with a functional military system why also categorizing the MCās into different sects of the military because theyāre not all going to have the same skills. One works in intelligence, one works as a spy, one works as a commanderāall of which have to be provided with accurate background information alongside coming up with different tasks for them. I also like for my groups and/or organizations to have some kind of history. A āfounderā, if you will, notable historical figures, well-known heroās, etc. famous people, basically. Then thereās the various guilds, and ofc the whole artisan side to things that I had to come up with. Theaters, famous people in theaters, a famous bard, how bard guilds work, how traveling minstrels work, where they go to school, where they learn their tradeāoh my god, the education system was surprisingly difficult (probably because I never paid attention in school AHHH). Then you have to come up with how society works. Are they ruled by a king? A president? A dictator? Whatās the public opinion? What is life like for the common-folk, whatās life like for the extremely impoverished? Where to they sleep? What about sewage systems, does it run beneath the city, do they have chamber pots, etc. Absolute insanity is what hard worldbuilding is.
Soft worldbuilding is actually kind of hard for me. I canāt let questions go, you know? I really like to read books/watch movies with soft worldbuilding (Howls Moving Castle being a prime example). However, executing that in my own writing is very difficult as I like to complicate things for myself. I canāt just say something and not have an explanation for it.
Well, Iāve seen those and I have two books by Tim that I have yet to read.
They werenāt bad, itās just I have to find a reasonable time to read and take notes.
Iām waiting for him to post new a video and/or maybe a new book. LOL!
I donāt have everything down about it. I havenāt thought about climate or much of the political history or the technology, nothing about music or tv or anything pop culture. No holidays or traditions. No historical figures. Nothing about fashion styles, house styles, how land was divided and how that all changed. And nothing about medicine either or medical care for that matter. If itās not important to the story, Iām not going to spend my time on it
I usually go into a story with just a basic idea and then fret about the specifics later. So I guess Iām saying I start with very soft world building, but my end product tends to be on the harder side of soft. I know itās not really supposed to be a scale, but it really should be! However, with magic, I always have hard magic systems. I just find them so much more fun to write, easier to keep track up, and so much more vivid. Magic is the one thing Iāll keep pages and pages of notes on. Everything else, I make up as I go.
When it comes to reading, Iāll read both. I think I also prefer stories that are on the harder side of soft, where the world is still very flexible and capable of being filled in by readers, but hard enough for it to still feel consistent, well-thought-out, and immersive. Some hard building stories I find so sluggish and tedious to read through because thereās no more room for imagination, or that thereās so much information that just doesnāt feel necessary to know. And some soft building stories are just too soft, and itās easy to assume the writer doesnāt really know what theyāre doing with it and doesnāt ever plan to know.
I really love the books he released particularly Volume II. I just wanted to introduce some people to his channel if they arenāt familiar with it yet
Pre-2012 I wouldāve said I prefer hard worldbuilding. Dark Souls changed that for me. I find soft worldbuilding allows for less exposition and more getting on with the show, respecting the audienceās imagination enough to fill in the gaps (an opportunity I personally find fun for its incentive to continue thinking of a world after Iāve left it).
Magic systems, on the other hand, are more interesting when hard imo. Iāve never written a hard one myself, but Iāve also never written something focused on use of magic, which should be taken into consideration if incorporating it. Even the closest Iāve come to a focus on magic was a piece written in-world from the POV of someone who didnāt understand what she was witnessing, so it came out softer in the story than in my notes.
Always cool to meet another Souls fan and I absolutely agree with your points. So happy that Elden Ring carries the legacy well. Hollow Knight is another game that made me fall in love with soft world building. I love how it allows your imagination to fill in the blanks
Elganaās overall worldbuilding is soft, but the Sorcerer magick system is close to hard, but still kind of soft. Guardian lore is hard, but blue feline history is softā¦ Iām all over the place because it all depends on how much of what I need for which story.
