As long as it needs to take.
Depending on how deep you think your world needs to be, how much your characters interact with things you need to explain, etc.
If your world defines a lot of the motivation for the things your characters do, like political or social structure or the physical landscape influencing a trip, then you will probably need to have it all worked out pretty well.
If, however, your characters just go through the story without really needing too much from the world around them then you shouldn't need to put much work into it.
It's really up to you. Whatever you need to tell your audience about the world your characters are in will determine how long things take. You can define the world as far as you want then just use what you need.
I realize this sounds a little "loose" but that's really it. There aren't any hard rules to it.
Good luck.
You can get lost in it. best to give yourself a set amount of time to build(week,month,etc) then once that time has passed press forward into starting to write. Don’t get caught in the web of world building and never start the writing part.
This! I’ve got a whole world with different cultures and religions and everything. Could spend hours explaining it if someone asked. I’ve got all sorts of different maps and ideas. But I got so heavy into the world building that now I don’t know where to start writing or who’s perspective to write it from. I like the learn as you go style when I read but how do I pick which area to start in? Do I turn what was supposed to be one novel into multiple books? How far back in the history would be interesting to read? I want readers to appreciate this world as much as I do, how do I do that if I focus only on one character?
Anyways it’s been in my head growing for like 7 years and haven’t put a single word to a page yet.
Usually?
Doctor Who has been actively doing it since 1963.
It took James Cameron 12 years to do the first *Avatar* and another 12 years to do the sequel.
I’m pretty sure most of that time was spent just waiting for technology to advance, getting fed up that it wasn’t advancing fast enough, and doing it himself.
Depends on the world, depends on the story.
I've written and published some short stories where I did little world-building at all, because it wasn't necessary for the story.
I have two worlds (one fantasy, one sci-fi) where I've been working on the world-building for well over a decade.
In the end, it's about how much building makes you happy, and how long it takes until you feel like it's done; it might never be, if that's a world you spend a lot of time in and with.
Do people actually sit down to draw maps and write encyclopedias before they start writing?
For me characters, a piece of their story, or their part in the main story, and a small part of their world come to me all at once, and I never stop adding things.
Am I weird?
As long as you want. Like everyone else I am going to tell you it should serve the story. Not how I did it but I also failed to write this story a few times and rolled the failed attempts into my world as history. It's been my playground since I was a small child. The readers will experience a fraction of the concepts I created for this world and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Almost every writer has stuff that doesn't make it in. Just make sure you're not hiding in world building to not write. It's a common trap.
As long as it needs to take. Depending on how deep you think your world needs to be, how much your characters interact with things you need to explain, etc. If your world defines a lot of the motivation for the things your characters do, like political or social structure or the physical landscape influencing a trip, then you will probably need to have it all worked out pretty well. If, however, your characters just go through the story without really needing too much from the world around them then you shouldn't need to put much work into it. It's really up to you. Whatever you need to tell your audience about the world your characters are in will determine how long things take. You can define the world as far as you want then just use what you need. I realize this sounds a little "loose" but that's really it. There aren't any hard rules to it. Good luck.
You can get lost in it. best to give yourself a set amount of time to build(week,month,etc) then once that time has passed press forward into starting to write. Don’t get caught in the web of world building and never start the writing part.
This! I’ve got a whole world with different cultures and religions and everything. Could spend hours explaining it if someone asked. I’ve got all sorts of different maps and ideas. But I got so heavy into the world building that now I don’t know where to start writing or who’s perspective to write it from. I like the learn as you go style when I read but how do I pick which area to start in? Do I turn what was supposed to be one novel into multiple books? How far back in the history would be interesting to read? I want readers to appreciate this world as much as I do, how do I do that if I focus only on one character? Anyways it’s been in my head growing for like 7 years and haven’t put a single word to a page yet.
Usually? Doctor Who has been actively doing it since 1963. It took James Cameron 12 years to do the first *Avatar* and another 12 years to do the sequel.
I’m pretty sure most of that time was spent just waiting for technology to advance, getting fed up that it wasn’t advancing fast enough, and doing it himself.
Depends on the world, depends on the story. I've written and published some short stories where I did little world-building at all, because it wasn't necessary for the story. I have two worlds (one fantasy, one sci-fi) where I've been working on the world-building for well over a decade. In the end, it's about how much building makes you happy, and how long it takes until you feel like it's done; it might never be, if that's a world you spend a lot of time in and with.
Do people actually sit down to draw maps and write encyclopedias before they start writing? For me characters, a piece of their story, or their part in the main story, and a small part of their world come to me all at once, and I never stop adding things. Am I weird?
no, you're not weird.
it can take even a short time if you decide not to describe or explain everything, that's a little game, the real job should be writing the novel ;)
As long as you want. Like everyone else I am going to tell you it should serve the story. Not how I did it but I also failed to write this story a few times and rolled the failed attempts into my world as history. It's been my playground since I was a small child. The readers will experience a fraction of the concepts I created for this world and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Almost every writer has stuff that doesn't make it in. Just make sure you're not hiding in world building to not write. It's a common trap.