What do those two have in common? Both are extreme back-story authors. Rowling reportedly has literally hundreds of notebooks filled to the brim with information such as the 700 rules for Quidditch; Tolkien felt the need to develop a complete new language for his tales.
While these two may be on one polar end of the scale, many others have only the merest whiff of their fictional world prior to writing.
Both approaches have been successful. It is up to the individual writer to find what works for them. I personally have found that the more I develop in terms of back story, character studies and general world building, the easier the plotting and actual writing goes.
Why is that?
I think going through the process of developing your characters and world helps suggest the type of story that should be told.
It is not the quickest way to get a manuscript to its first draft stage, but it may be one of the quicker ways to reach a good final draft. Knowing what the terrain is like on the other side of the mountain before you get there allows for proper foreshadowing in the first draft, and will lead to fewer re-writes.
Is all that extra work worth the effort?
If you’re like me, and your story runs out of gas at a certain point, or your characters head off in directions unknown, it’s worth looking into.
Just a thought.
A free product–FreeMind–is a mind-mapping software for those who prefer keeping information on their computer rather than hand-written notes and journals.
