Writing economically isn’t about money. I am not about to pull you back to the depths of your high school economics class here. When I refer to writing economically it means enhancing your writing so every scene pulls its weight in more than one way. Make a sentence describe the setting and enhance character development at the same time.
Gone are the days where a whole paragraph is used just for setting description or a whole scene is used only for character development. Especially in fantasy and science fiction, you need to include both in order to showcase an entire world unlike our own.
Much of economical writing means combining and interconnecting all the elements of a story like character development, backstory, and world building succinctly and weaving them into the plot. This has to happen in a way that is:
- Not confusing
- Not in bulky chucks (hence the emphasize on succinctly and weaving)
Writing economically enhances stories. Your characters, world building and plot elements flow, maintain a good pace, feel integrated and don’t bog down the reader when writing this way.
Character and Setting
Don’t waste paragraphs of description in order to set the reader in a scene. Make your writing work by also inserting character and voice into those lines of descriptions.
How, you ask?
First, get a gripe of the character and learn how that particular character would see and feel about the setting your wish to place them in.
Second, use that point of view to your advantage. Maybe you need to describe how the castle looks in your fantasy novel. Don’t just write about the various towers and stone like it’s a painting.
- Interject powerful verbs to include tone (loomed over the character versus welcomed the character)
- Bring in clear internal dialogue to showcase how the character feels about said setting (EX: Damn, the thing was huge)
- Interlace action with the setting. A character should interact with the setting with their senses, and I mean ALL five
- Personify the setting and make the character note it or compare it something else from their world. In this way you could bring in nostalgia, flashbacks, foreshadowing, or world building subtly. (EX: Magic rained down on us like the monsoons we have during the wet season)
Plot and Worldbuilding
To move the plot forward you need to first explain how your world works. That’s simple and also the most challenging part of world building. But also think about it the other way around and make it a rule. Tell yourself you can’t world build without something interesting happening in the plot. I find this mindset eliminates info dumps.
For example, don’t stop in the middle of a combat action scene to explain how the magic system works. If we don’t already know by then you have to show the reader through the fighting. It’s too late to tell the reader this without slowing down the action/fight and therefore breaking the tension as well.
Writing economically means mushing your plot and worldbuilding elements together. Does the reader need a history lesson for the plot/characters to make sense? Then include it in a relevant way. Why are they thinking about the history? Why is someone telling them the history? It can’t just be interjected randomly so the world feels real. It has to have bearing to what is happening in that particular moment of the plot.
Worldbuilding and Character
Some of the best ways to deliver world building through character is having two characters talk or reference said world element. This can be masterfully done, but there can also be glaring problems, like when those two characters already know everything they are talking about. So… yeah that can feel contrived. Another problem I’ve run into when reading is when so much space is used for these long conversations, it feels like I’m sitting through a lecture instead of an engaging exchange. And that’s what good dialogue should be, an engaging exchange.
So here are some other tips besides dialogue exchanges to combine world building and character:
- The different – If something unexpected happens that is unlike the world they know, this character will note that. Surprise and the unexpected makes one question and compare the original to new information being presented.
- Voice – How your character talks or utilizes certain magical elements can show how this character fits in with the magical world. Things that bother him/her will run through their head and be voiced and talked about more than other elements.
- Interaction – Making characters interact with the fantastical elements without a drawn out schematic or the logistics of the world. For instance we use cell phones daily and we don’t describe the interworking or science behind how they function (most of us don’t even know). Make your fantasy characters interact with something without them going into detail. Your reader is smart enough to understand if you show its use, especially if the magical device or concept is similar to one we use today or historically.
Parting Note
Writing economically takes practice and forward thinking. Sometimes it is best to write out the info dump for the sake of organizing your world. Then, think about how this could be woven in a way that is understandable and subtle. Think about a plot scene you need anyway and how to include this information in realistically. I find when you think about hiding your world building and descriptions into the plot, you are best able to integrate them in the story or connect them to the character.
Happy writing!