How much detail is necessary?

So there's this pentagonal manmade island just off the coast of Kyoto Prefecture, name of Dream City. It's the setting of my series Rhythmic Pretty Cure. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure whether I've built it up enough in the eight chapters I've posted thus far, all available for reading at FanFiction.net for those interested.

Just how much world building is the right amount for a story?

As much as is needed to propel the story forward.

That's the most common answer, but let me go a bit more in-depth.

See, at the heart of every story, there's a character who wants something. Maybe they want to be the greatest in the land, maybe they want to find love, maybe they want to reach the promised land, maybe they want to get rich - they could want anything. This drives them to take action in pursuit of their desires, and it is this action that drives the plot.

In short, a character's desires + their pursuit of those desires = the plot.

But a story where a character wanted something, and then immediately got it, would be boring. Characters need to struggle for their victories, or else they won't feel meaningful. Not only will this struggle engender the audience's sympathy (we've all struggled for something at some point in our lives), but it will also reveal the character's true nature, as the audience sees how they react under pressure.

This is what people mean when they talk about a work's "central conflict". It is the struggle of the main character(s) to overcome obstacles (whatever they may be in context) and achieve their goal(s). It is the heart of every story, and the source of a work's drama.

In short, characters + goals + obstacles = conflict = drama.

So what does this have to do with worldbuilding? Everything, actually - I said above that you only need as much detail to your setting as your story demands. What I meant was, you should include only as much detail as is needed to contextualise your central conflict. If a character wants to be a kung fu master, where can they train? If a character wants to get rich, what opportunities present themselves? Are there any obstacles specific to your setting, that a character pursuing those goals will have to overcome? Are there any setting-specific solutions they could call on to solve their problems?

Everything has to lead back to your plot somehow. If it doesn't, why include it?

edited 12th Oct '15 1:20:51 AM by Tungsten74

One thing to keep in mind is the difference between the details you create and the details you put in your story. Someone, I don't remember who, said that a setting must be like an iceberg : the reader only sees a small part of it, but it's all the hidden stuff that make it work.

That said, for myself, three exceptions to the above come to mind:

1) "Painting the scene": It may not be plot-relevant that they're standing in grassland, but having that detail provides a richer image, and thus a richer experience.

2) Cryptic Background References: Suggesting a world beyond the story, making it feel more like a living place.

3) Simple Narrative Filigree: Similar to the above, I feel that this can help to somewhat "flesh out" a world.

I do think, however, that it's possible to overdo any of the above; quite what constitutes "overdoing it" may vary from one reader to another—see, for example, the disagreements that people have over the pace of The Lord of the Rings.

edited 11th Oct '15 6:03:49 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

Depends on the genre, a bit.

If they're completely new details: One paragraph per two pages if they're something the reader can be assumed to be familiar with, and one paragraph per page if that's not the case (assuming a 100 word paragraph and a 500 word page).

If they're something a reader could be expected to already know, a quick reference should be enough. For example, you should only need to describe Tochou once in detail, then be able to refer to its shape and color and size afterwards.

Refreshers may be necessary if enough pages have passed and other things have happened, though in that case you'd want to refer to the passage of time as well.

That's the maximum, not a minimum, and you shouldn't be dedicating 20% of your novel to details. If you are, you have a problem with brevity and/or you're inserting too many details.

The interesting problem here is: you're writing a Japanese series in English, for an English-speaking audience. Even if you make Dream City (as opposed to Dream Island...) a 21st century Dejima that has a Western(ized) culture, will that hold water?

For a magical girl story?

Detail things that your readers wouldn't be familiar with, skim over those everyone should know. For (a stupid) example, we can assume that they know what an island looks like and where Kyoto is, at least in general, but if, say, there's something unusual about the island - this pentagonal shape, for example - then it's worth a mention. Similarly, you can probably skip all but the most cursory description of what a school looks like, as most of us has probably seen one before, but people who know in-depth what rythmic gymnastics look like aren't so common, so that may warrant greater description.