I had the lovely experience of doing a live video chat with the folks at Ozark Book Authority as a guest speaker, along with the talented Landra Graf. We were talking about worldbuilding. It's one of my favorite topics to geek out on. The possibilities are endless.
At the end, the mediator asked us to give a quick piece of advice for any new writers relating to worldbuilding.
My immediate response was, "Get weird with it!"
Get weird with it!
If you know me at all, this will not be surprising. I'm a big believer in leaning into what makes you unique and different and...weird.
It's as true with writing as it is with anything else. Maybe you're not ready to get weird with your life, but here's why you should at least embrace it for your writing:
1) If you aren't fully into it, no one else will be either.
If you are in love with the idea of a Mad Max type of world, where the survivors of a global catastrophe need to find giant purple crystals to survive, someone else will be too. If you are totally captivated by the idea of a person who can walk on water, but drowns on land, someone else will be too. If you are obsessed with the idea of putting a Roman centurion in a futuristic space station on Mars, someone else will be too.
If you start writing and you think, "This is too weird." Don't. Because the truth is, if you temper down your writing so it's not too weird it will likely end up too generic or too boring.
Don't worry about if it's too weird. Put those thoughts aside for Editing You. Writing You needs to get as weird as possible.
2) What makes it weird and unique is what sets you a part from other writers.
If it sounds like a weird idea, it likely is. That's not a bad thing. If you start trying to make your book idea sound normal and socially acceptable, it's likely going to turn into a story that has already been written. Or worse, just a book that no one wants to read.
Life is often normal, socially acceptable, and mundane. We read books to escape that. You're wildly imaginative story, weird as it is, may be exactly what someone needs. I had a friend tell me once that the only books he ever really enjoyed reading heavily involved bug people. That's pretty weird. You'd have to be brave to pitch that book to a publisher. But someone did it, and it worked!
Some of the most famous and influential books of our time have some pretty weird things in them. We buy into it though. The first person who has to buy into it is you, the writer. If you think it's an interesting idea, interesting enough to inspire you to write a whole novel, chances are that someone else will also like it.
3) You are the least important character in your book.
In some ways, this statement is not true. Let me explain. You are the most important character of your book in that your life experiences and knowledge will drive what story you write. You are the least important character in your book in that when someone is reading your writing, they shouldn't be thinking about you.
I have seen a lot of people shy away from their weird (and often best) ideas because "people will think I'm stupid." It's insecurity at its best. I'm here to tell you though, if your readers are thinking about you when they read fiction, your problem isn't that your idea is weird. You have a writing craft problem.
No one is reading your book, thinking about how "stupid" or weird you are. They are living in the world you created, buying into the characters and plot and loving it- if you do the hard work of creating good writing!
4) Why not?
Any time you put your work out into the world, it's a risk. You can write stereotypical stories with stock characters, and will likely be criticized for your lack of imagination. You can write unusual and creative (aka weird) stories with fully developed characters, and...you will still get criticized by someone. That's just part of it. If you are going to be criticized, at least make it about something that is your best effort and true to you. If, at the end of the process, you get a critical review, and your first response is, "Well, that's okay, because this wasn't my best writing," that is the greater tragedy. When you put that finished work out there, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, you should be able to say, "I've done my best. This work represents who I am as a creator. I'm proud no matter if it ever sells a copy."
And, yeah, we all want to sell a lot of copies and be bestsellers. I get it. But if you weren't, would it be enough to have your name published somewhere? Would it be enough to hold your work in your hands, a real and tangible book?
If you're going to go through the work of writing, go through the risk of publishing, put yourself out into the world, at the mercy of the internet trolls, why not at least make it your best effort, your most unique and creative work? Why not get weird with it?
My advice to anyone, writers or otherwise is this. Don't be so worried about what people will or won't say. Figure out you, and lean into it. Even the weird parts. Likely the thing you are hiding away (or deleting from the page) is the thing that makes you awesome.
So, friends, get out there and write. And while you're writing, don't forget to get weird with it!
If you would like to see the rest of the conversation about worldbuilding (including my advice about being weird), here is the link to the YouTube video. Enjoy!