It is halfway through National Novel Writing Month and I am still in the game, although I confess I have fallen behind. [Excuses deleted.] At any rate, I am lagging, but I haven't surrendered. If I fail to meet the 50,000 word goal by the 30th, I will continue writing until I finish my novel and I will set a secondary, personal deadline of December the 31st.
The setting for my novel is evolving incrementally in the same manner as some of my past campaign worlds. One starts with the immediate vicinity, then one expands the details of the world as the player characters travel to new places and meet people from other lands. This, of course, is the opposite of another method of worldbuilding, which is to map and populate the world first, usually including topography, boundaries, roads, cities, nations, cultures, resources, etc. before the first adventure is even written. I have tried that method in the past, but I have found that it is often more of a hindrance than a help to my creativity. The very first sessions of proto-Dungeons & Dragons began as adventures within a single location (Castle Blackmoor), gradually expanding to encompass larger regions as those details were needed. It is a strategy that has worked well for me in gaming, and it seems to be working well for my novel, which is fortuitous as I intend this novel to serve the dual purpose of being the basis for my next campaign world.
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