Well, don't know where the guy's post went, but I thought I'd post this just in case he still wanted help.
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Usually authors over-complicate things. You need to think of it like a foreign culture. Imagine visiting Australia, or Germany or any other place like that. Sure you're assaulted by a range of things you don't understand or confuse and befuddle you, but there are always things you can relate to and you start there. And slowly, over time, you start building up your understanding of their culture until you feel almost a part of it. That's how you want to do it in your story, but it's hard to do.

Also never explain something that isn't relevant. You're basically pasting in your world-building, not furthering the story or plot. Readers will only care about the information if it has relevancy at the time, or sometime in the near future (you still have to show when you explain it that it's relevant).

And for a final tip: you don't have to explain everything straight away, even if it is relevant. Readers are happy to wait as you naturally lace the information through the story. Or, if you play it right, they will figure it out by themselves as the story progresses.

That was me. I pulled out the thread because I decided to removes many of those details from the chapter.

For example, now I gloss over how the neural interface and TIN feel and work the first time they appeared. The characters DO use them in the scene, but I will describe them later in other scenes.

They will use those again and again throughout the story anyway.

The same applies to many things. I'm now glossing over most of the stuff in early chapters and plan to explain them later when there is a place it can be explain without disrupting the flow too much.

'BLKCandy' pid='822874' dateline='1490839602' Wrote: That was me. I pulled out the thread because I decided to removes many of those details from the chapter.

For example, now I gloss over how the neural interface and TIN feel and work the first time they appeared. The characters DO use them in the scene, but I will describe them later in other scenes.

They will use those again and again throughout the story anyway.

The same applies to many things. I'm now glossing over most of the stuff in early chapters and plan to explain them later when there is a place it can be explain without disrupting the flow too much.

Yep, that's a good idea! My problem has always been that the more information I know, the more detailed my writing becomes. It's hard for me to take a step back and realise that I don't have to describe everything to the minute detail, and can just provide the important details to the reader. Habits like those are hard to break as a writer.

'AndrewJVarela' pid='822878' dateline='1490842121' Wrote: Yep, that's a good idea! My problem has always been that the more information I know, the more detailed my writing becomes. It's hard for me to take a step back and realise that I don't have to describe everything to the minute detail, and can just provide the important details to the reader. Habits like those are hard to break as a writer.

I am suffering that right now. There are a lot I thought about. Then when I write, I worry if someone other than me read this, would they understand it? Many of the concepts like neural interface and body augmentation are well known among Sci-fi reader, or did I thought it was well known but people don't really know it? Do I have to explain?

Then I put in too much information.

Now I decided to pull out a bit. So what if they don't understand how things really work right then. I can explain it later.

Good tips actually. I think at the end of the day it's the right balance between not overstuffing the reader's imagination and not cutting it too dry.

I would just go read Pact on topwebfictions. I have a fair amount of criticism for that author, but the world building is something he did right. Those demons are genuinely disturbing.

I also think that the world building should almost come naturally if you have a proper idea fleshed out. I personally have like a dozen prologues I've written and just left on google drive to rot because every time I look at them I can see nothing but flaws. out of all of those, I can say that I am happy with the premise behind two of them. Once you have a working premise, the story almost writes itself. If you try and force a half assed one out there, you might get away with it early on, but the more you write, the more obvious the flaws will become.

It's the rule of foundations. If the foundation is shitty, everything built on top of it will be lopsided. And everything built on that will be a mess.