Your audience.
Who do you want to reach with your world build? Who are you writing for?
Look at the book you want to write, the RPG you want to develop for whatever platform (Tabletop, PC, Console). Think about who you had in mind when you came up with your concept. We’ll come back to them in a second. First, let’s talk about the audience you always write for.
That’d be you.
When you set out to write a book, or design a game, you always hear that you should write the book you want to read, or design the game you want to play. 9 times out of 10, that’s what happens. That’s important. You don’t want to write something you don’t want to read or play, right?
Like the man says in Heat. “There’s another side to that coin.” What’s also important is knowing when to enjoy that book or game as a reader, or a player.
When you’re a writer, sometimes you lose track of that.
Pixar Studios has a set of guidelines that has served them very well when writing their scripts. I recommend reading those. Rule two from that list reads as follows:
“You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.”
As a writer, there are a lot of fun things you can do. Lots of little Easter eggs, pop culture references, nuances, etc. you can put into your world and narrative. Fun as that stuff is to do, you need to ask yourself:
- Why am I doing this?
- Is this because it sounds cool, or do I want to accomplish something with it?
- Will this serve the narrative
These questions seem to be a good yardstick. I don’t think this will be the last time we refer to them.
Ask yourself the following questions about who will be tromping through your world. Are they:
- Kids?
- Young Adults?
- Adults?
Of the above listed groups, ask the next questions:
- Out of all the groups listed, who will show most interest in your world?
- Which group will be easiest to write for?
You know what you’re interested in as an audience member. As you create your world you need to know your audience. Know what they like and what’ll keep them reading and keep them playing. A safe bet, since you know what you like.
Pulling another rule from the Pixar playbook:
Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
Before I go, I’ll leave you with a couple of questions to mull over, possibly the most important ones:
Will people enjoy the world you’re crafting? Do your enjoy the world you’re crafting?
The Wayside 