When I said I hate Worldbuilding I mostly meant the trap of making up facts and never actually writing a story. How do you beat the trap?
Just learn how to tell a story. Don’t fear structure. Commit yourself to it.
Here are some resources I like for studying story structure.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZpG1VQAEoXjG.jpg)
Probably the most famous true formula is Lester Dent’s for a 6K word pulp story. Dent’s is a great starting point bc it’s plug n play.
Write 3-5 shorts w this and really examine how it works. The pacing, the actions, the revelations, building and releasing tension.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZp1cVEAApEvK.jpg)
Write 1K word short stories for as many of the 36 as you can get thru. Notice where the actions and reveals end up to ‘turn’ the scene. https://t.co/enOEYjZQMo
Georges Polti made this book which is freely available online\u2014i strong recommend as a reference tool. Not just for writers but for anyone using rhetoric. If you can boil your narrative down to a clear narrative statement like this it will be very persuasive. pic.twitter.com/QY1VBEqsle
— Conan the Summer Conqueror (@conan_esq) April 9, 2022
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZqnmUoAQJejp.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZuHQUUAAjIVD.jpg)
But Screenwriting books have pretty good crossover for fiction, so…
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZwMzVQAIUZFE.jpg)
I liked Screenplay. I group it as theoretical because it’s better as a discourse on why things work rather than a ‘tutorial’ to follow. I find the diagrams helpful aids to thought.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZw0VUcAEZF7M.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZyktVEAARmW4.jpg)
Use his method to outline 10 stories with as much detail as possible.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZ1RyVsAEZljt.jpg)
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZ1vJVsAA-zYl.jpg)
https://t.co/48ppQJkvrE
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZ3AkVUAA1fto.jpg)
You have to practice. I gave you short exercises to do that will jump your skill efficiently, much faster than muddling through 100k word of a novel that doesn’t work.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdnZ6HMVEAEIKRg.jpg)