'The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.' - Alan Watts
Too, worldbuilding-novels exclude the like of non-fiction and historical novels, most of the time, such as In Cold Blood and Robinson Crusoe.
Although worldbuilding is actually required for these novels, they do not fall under the same writing structure or focus. With these novels, you do need the audience in mind. They are either first or second in importance as opposed to the science fiction and high fantasy novels, where the audience is almost always third in importance.
Note: great detail and worldbuilding are required for the likes of historical novels, and this I could write a book on, however, they are different forms of worldbuilding.
The way I understand it, there are four focus points when writing a science fiction or high fantasy novel (with maybe a few sub-focus points, such as the wish to willingly mislead people for its own sake or for money, which sounds awful, indeed). The four are as follows:
1. The secondary world itself.
2. The writer.
3. The audience.
4. The money/fame.
Now, when writing a scientific paper, for example, it looks something like this:
1. The audience. 2. The work itself. 3. The writer. 4. The money/fame.
In the case of J. K. with Harry Potter, it would look something like this:
1. The writer. 2. The secondary world. 3. The audience. 4. The money/fame.
With Stephen King and Tolkien, it may look like this oftentimes:
1. The secondary world. 2. The writer. 3. The audience. 4. The money/fame.
It could even be argued that, rarely, it is as follows:
1. The secondary world. 2. The audience. 3. The writer. 4. The money/fame.
With egotistical writers or frauds, it may look like this:
1. The writer. 2. The money/fame.
Or:
1. The money/fame. 2. The writer.
With the like of J. K. Rowling, what I may call 'journey writers', that is to say, the writer him or herself is going on a journey in writing the work and for him or her, writing it is more important than anything else, and it's, in a sense, a form of escapism or personal growth. This is one of the main reasons why Harry Potter works so wonderfully, in fact. It is because she almost literally poured her heart into it. She had to it. Harry was part of her and she was part of Harry.
Of course, this may become a problem in the sense given above or in another sense.
I should say, I hope I have made clear that one ought to never put the audience first in a creative novel such as Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. Never.
YOU ARE READING
Worldbuilding Handbook
Non-FictionHello! This is M. Charles, and here is my worldbuilding handbook, it will be quite large by the end, as I hope to cover many topics both directly and indirectly related to worldbuilding: the process of creating fictional worlds, galaxies, or states...
