A way with worlds: 36 - The March

TRAPS TO AVOID:
Aware of change or not, we can end up creating quite a few traps for ourselves. As I'm big on the "history" sense of writing, I've seen, analyzed, and even made these mistakes myself.

• Don't have things happen too fast. It's very easy to write stories as punctuated bursts of activity in the history of the world, or to have the flow of events overwhelm you.
• As a counterpart, don't have things happen too slowly. You can eventually end up with nothing happening.
• Don't try and alter events to fit particular goals - you can easily destroy the proper pace of change in your stories.
• Don't step on your inspiration - being aware of history is a tool to your writing, not a trap or a snare.

SUMMARY:
Be aware of history in your world and the pace of change. You'll find yourself with a more believable world and better stories – and be aware of the vital element that stories are about change.

A Way with Worlds is hosted at fanfiction.net, lit.org, and sffworld.com.
A German translation is in the works at Christian Spliess's Page
It is archived at the Way With Worlds archive.