Internal v. External Work, part two: a Book is a Product

3–5 minutes

With the post made on October 8, 2024, titled “Internal v. External Work: The Importance of Public Inclusion”: I wanted to expand on the mentality behind external work and to talk about my perspective surrounding creating vast and extremely detailed Fantasy worlds with the mentality of giving out those creations for public viewing.

More specifically: to bring up the subject of creation v. production when it comes to the making of books intended to be published and sold. Since the differences between a hobbyist’s perspective and a professional’s perspective on the matter are very much on complete separate ends as for how the making of fictional worlds are done and what is considered ‘’finished’’ within worldbuilding of Fantasy worlds.

It is because of this that I believe it’s important to mention the mentality of production behind the person who wants to reach the point where the creation of fictional worlds can stand on its own or to go beyond towards bringing a profit enough to support the creator’s life. Since the question of ‘’quality v. quantity’’ within fiction books stems primarily in the author’s ability to balance lore-based detailing and character storyline progression. And to not make the published product a frontloaded fiction history textbook featuring dozens—if not even hundreds—of names of royalties and their ties to the Fantasy world’s crowns and kingdoms before establishing a stable baseline for the reader’s interest into the fictional world’s hypothetical existence.

Worldbuilding: The Greatest Halt within Product Production

Worldbuilding is the most fundamental aspect of the Fantasy genre.

Whether its books, video games, TV shows or movies: worldbuilding serves to create the world the characters live in, and where the storyline takes place within. Without it: the fictional world would just be a mirror replica of the real-life world we are currently living in. To then allow the creator to imagine non-existing places makes it possible to tell stories which would otherwise be unthinkable for all parties involved. Worldbuilding creates not only amazing, magical places. But moreover, worldbuilding also brings storytelling to areas way beyond any story able to be told through the real-world we live in.

However, there are major problems with worldbuilding within its concepts and practices of creating large Fantasy worlds. This being the idea that worldbuilding do not have a substantial ‘’endpoint’’ to it. Worldbuilding can be expanded upon forever. Regardless of what topic the worldbuilding practice is about. This is a problem since the need to publish books (or other forms of media, depending on the maker of the fictional world) that can deliver an enjoyable reading experience to others is the main objective the author has. If the person wants writing as their profession or as a part of their income source that is. To then spend multiple months—if not year in many cases—creating enormous Fantasy worlds then becomes a great halt within the production of sellable works of fiction.

A book is a product. Just like any other product being sold on the market.

So, if the author wants to sell their books to others, then need to keep the buyer in mind when creating the product, the author wants the buyer to purchase. It is then of great need to find a workable balance between what the author cares about and what the reader cares about. This makes worldbuilding one of—if not the most—biggest concerns within the creation of the Fantasy world.

There are no clear answers to these types of problems. Like most things in the creative process: what is ‘’good’’ is all subjective. And too does people’s viewpoint on what once was considered ‘’good’’ creative work change with the time, culture and country. It is therefore important to have a clear and concise vision towards what the creative work is there to accomplice. And to shape the work in a way so it allows the people who are interested in the fictional world to follow the creative work to the same extent as the maker of creates it.

In Conclusion

Finding a balance between the author’s wants and the reader’s wants is vital to create a book worthy of being sold. Worldbuilding brings the creation to life. But spending large amounts of time on topics which has nothing to do with what the published book is about will only halt the production of the book being made. Though there aren’t any clear answers as for what is the ‘’right’’ thing to do, the need to find a middle ground is a tremendous help to both the author and the reader since the works being created will see the light of day much faster—or at all—if this kind of balance can be established.

All to find a happy medium for parties involved.