Last week, I wrote about how storyworlds can adjust their focus from one story to another, but need to adjust their audience’s expectations to match. I then promised to talk about what this has to do with your own worldbuilding efforts—then neglected to do so… until now!
Before going further, I should point out that what we’re talking about here is basically marketing: not so much about building the world as it is about promoting the world that you’ve built. It’s stuff to keep in the back of your mind while still in the building stage, but isn’t technically about the craft of worldbuilding itself.
With that out of the way…
Here are three things to keep in mind when considering audience expectations:
Know Your Audience
Have an audience in mind when you’re making (and promoting) your world. This can be challenging (I know I have a hard time with it), but try to narrow your focus beyond just “people who like cool stuff.” Personally, I’ve found it useful to define the audience in the negative by saying, “People who like my world definitely do not like (blank).” By defining who your audience is NOT, you can figure out who your audience actually IS.
Know Your World
This is where we actually set expectations. Know your world’s genre, tone, characters, and conflict. Know what aspects of those are most appealing to your audience (see above). And know that if you try to trick your audience by setting an expectation that will never been met, you’ll lose the audience’s trust and loyalty. (“You promised me werewolf romance! There are werewolves, but all the romance is happening with the vampires in the next town!”)
Be Consistent
Ones you’ve determined what expectations you want to set, craft that message (“It’s a tragic romance pitting werewolves and vampires against each other in 1950s Michigan!”) and keep it consistent across all media and all stories. Storyworlds are made for telling lots of stories. The consistency between those stories is what keeps the audience coming back for more.
Are there more factors to consider for properly informing your audience what you’re story and world are about? I’m sure there are. And there’s probably a line between letting them know what to expect and giving away spoilers. I’m likely just scratching the surface, but that’s all there’s time for—and I suspect not everyone’s as interested in this aspect of things as I am. 🙂
(Hmm… now I want to write a 1950s vampire/werewolf love story…)
