geofiction forum?

conworlds.info, conworlds.co.uk and others linked on conworlds.info
Also, many resources posted on conworlds.info

Oh, interesting - I saw geofiction and thought it was going to be stories about geocoin hunting. I like the term conworld better because my own world building has little to nothing to do with geography, it's about biology and culture.

www.zompist.com deals somewhat with geo-fiction, also www.conlanger.com, if I remember rightly. Though "conworlding" is probably the term and association they would prefer.

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Thanks, and welcome to the conworlds forum.

So do they actually write fiction or do they just create worlds and talk about how cool their world is?

they mostly talk about their worlds
some write creation myths in them but don't usually submit their fiction
well have a look there to see how it looks like

satyesu said:

everyone else here probably knows this, but i found that there are people who worldbuild for the heck of it, and they call it geofiction. i imagine looking ay articles by this bunch would be a good idea for most of us. do you know of any good sites or, preferably, forums?

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Everybody feels happier when their personal psychosis is relabeled as a "niche."

dclary said:

Everybody feels happier when their personal psychosis is relabeled as a "niche."

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Like writers, right?


Anyway, there are actually many conworlders who have fiction set in their worlds. There's stories and poems and all that. But the main purpose of the forums is to discuss conworlding, and so you don't really see much posted on those stories.

In general, "everybody" encompasses all, so "yes."

Except that this is a writing forum. Geofiction is not writing, any more than outlining is writing, or sharpening pencils is writing.

dclary said:

Except that this is a writing forum. Geofiction is not writing, any more than outlining is writing, or sharpening pencils is writing.

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That's very true. But I assumed from the original post that satyesu was looking for these forums for help in world-building or something... Seems like an okay idea to me.

I don't see why you couldn't publish a book of worldbuilding as creative nonfiction. Just because it isn't fiction doesn't mean it isn't writing or isn't publishable.

There are plenty of books about world-building, certainly.

Liosse de Velishaf said:

That's very true. But I assumed from the original post that satyesu was looking for these forums for help in world-building or something... Seems like an okay idea to me.

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Actually, you're right about that. I misread the original post and thought he was asking for a forum here on it. My bad.


However, it is my experience that there are a vast number of people, mostly RPG'ers (paper or CRPG or MMORPG) who are so enamoured with worldbuilding that it's all they do. It's a time trap. The *story* is what matters -- all that's ever mattered. In the end, the time you took to make the story work is what's going to matter, not the time you took naming every mountain peak on the 3 continents of your world, or knowing the history of 8 different nations that never existed, except in passing.

Doesn't everyone get to decide for themselves what matters? There are, shockingly enough, people out there who don't care much about stories. Of course if one's goal is to write then the story must be the most important to that person, but other people might not particularly want to write fiction or get it published, they might be more interested in playing at being an anthropologist, historian, or explorer.

dclary said:

Actually, you're right about that. I misread the original post and thought he was asking for a forum here on it. My bad.


However, it is my experience that there are a vast number of people, mostly RPG'ers (paper or CRPG or MMORPG) who are so enamoured with worldbuilding that it's all they do. It's a time trap. The *story* is what matters -- all that's ever mattered. In the end, the time you took to make the story work is what's going to matter, not the time you took naming every mountain peak on the 3 continents of your world, or knowing the history of 8 different nations that never existed, except in passing.

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I completely understand, and for the most part, I agree. But especially in fantasy and other alternate-world genres, the amount of background each writer needs to get the story "right" or to "work" can vary greatly. Some people name the mountains because it is fun. Others name them only if it matters to the story. For people solely interested in publishing fiction, the second route is often best. But the same is not true for everyone. Personally, though I am not an rpg'er, I enjoy the world-building aspect for its own sake. I enjoy the world itself. Yes, this does in some cases interfere with the story. I do like to know a fair amount about the world before I write a story. Not every single mountain peak, of course, and I do spend a lot of time writing. Being published is one of my goals, and very high up on the list. I don't feel the need to include every single detail either. On the other hand, I am one of those readers who goes out and researches stories I really like, to find info that may not be in the story itself. I studied Quenya and Sindarin for awhile. I bought a lot of the books from Tolkein that dealt with things outside the strict borders of LotR and the Hobbit. That's part of what I like about fantasy and sci-fi. And so I include some of that in my writing process.

I respect that other people may write a different way; I don't. I think there's room for people who fall on all points of the spectrum, and I think I learn from people who care more about world-building than me, and from people who care less. I could talk all day about plate tectonics and rainfall in a fictional world. Writing isn't my only interest, and I don't thinkmit should be. But neither do I think someone who says they want to write should neglect the actual writing.

sunandshadow said:

Doesn't everyone get to decide for themselves what matters?

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No. This is a myth.

I think I'm in agreement with dclary. This geofiction just sounds like mental masturbation to me.

World building as an end goal may be just that, Ferret. As is sharpening pencils just to see how short you can get them in one go.

But as tools of our trade, both pencil sharpening (or typing skills, understanding how to work MS Word, etc) and world building definitely have a place. Usually, I wind up creating more of a world than ever appears in my story, and part of that effort is just for the fun of it... procrastination, maybe, but any activity that exercises my brain is, I think, a useful one. I spend a lot of time doing crosswords and sudoku puzzles, too.

Shadow_Ferret said:

I think I'm in agreement with dclary. This geofiction just sounds like mental masturbation to me.

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I find that comment extremely (not personally, on an intellectual level) offensive. For someone whose primary activity is geofiction, I think it's just as valid as any other form of art. It's not just a solo activity. There are several active communities who engage in collaborative projects and hold competeitions and generally have a lot of fun. Just because it's not commercial, that doesn't mean it's a waste of time. For a writer, like most people here, yes, it could be more of a distraction.

Liosse de Velishaf said:

I find that comment extremely (not personally, on an intellectual level) offensive. For someone whose primary activity is geofiction, I think it's just as valid as any other form of art. It's not just a solo activity. There are several active communities who engage in collaborative projects and hold competeitions and generally have a lot of fun. Just because it's not commercial, that doesn't mean it's a waste of time. For a writer, like most people here, yes, it could be more of a distraction.

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It's not just solo