I have two more entries on my list of Ghost Punchers posts I want to write before labeling that storyworld “done for now” and moving on. One covers the world’s creatures — the ghosts themselves — and the other its trademark landmarks. But while I’ve carved time out of my baby-filled haze to work on these posts, I’ve found them harder to write than any previous entries… and I think I’ve figured out why.
Up until this point, I’ve been very light on specifics. Rather than saying “The storyworld is like this,” I’ve said “It can be like this. Or this. Or something else along these lines.” That’s mostly on purpose, since part of the point of a storyworld is to leave it as open as possible. It’s not until we start actually telling stories (i.e., creating products) in the world that these nebulous things are nailed down and forced into concrete shapes.
I guess what’s been holding me back on these posts is the fear that whatever specifics I lock down right now might not work for whatever stories people want to tell in the future. If I say “There are three types of ghosts: X, Y, and Z,” I risk someone (probably me) in the future crying out, “Why is there no W?”
That’s a risk I just have to take. After all, I tell myself sternly, they’re just blog posts. This isn’t a story bible going out to a team of Hollywood execs or transmedia consultants.* So what if you get it wrong? You can always go back and change it. You need a “W” ghost? Make it up and pretend it’s always been there!
I give myself some good advice sometimes.
And it’s advice worth sharing: Creating a storyworld is like any other creative endeavor; if you get caught up on making it perfect in the first draft, you’ll never finish the thing. Finish it first, then tweak it as necessary.
* And even if it were a Hollywood story bible, I’m pretty pretty sure those internal docs get edited all the time based on what the story needs, so long as it doesn’t contradict what’s been publically released.
