#6 - World-Building 101
Why do Orcs want to fight heroes? Have you considered this before? Anyone who is familiar with lord of the rings would have noticed that Orcs are both bloodthirsty but also cowardly. What is that all about? Now there is an answer to this, Tolkien did talk about the nature of Orcs and described their wicked motivations. But as for you, the creator of your own fictional world, you must tell us! Characters will encounter a lot of holes and questions if you make details baseless. Don't overlook two essentials, consistency and connectivity. I offer those up as the hallmarks of good world-building. If you make any fictional setting, I implore to consider how does one aspect of the world effect another? Also please keep those aspects the same throughout time.
Now lets jump to another example of those “holes” I mentioned in world-building. People drive themselves nuts trying to figure out how different super-powers interact with others kinds of super-powers. Sure the Hulk has super-strength so long as he is angry, but couldn't someone with telepathic powers take away his anger? If such a psychic stole this anger would they become the Hulk? Is the nature of the Hulk's anger such that it cannot be transferred? Like the Hulk's physical power, is his emotional state an unstoppable force? I don't know the answer to these questions. Still, these questions are fair game in shared fiction. Linking anger to strength, means that everybody who lives with the Hulk is able to experiment with that aspect of reality. Giving different answers is a great way to infuriate everybody who have so far gone along with the agreed upon world.
If we disagree whether a thermometer rises when we put it in a fire, we are going to have problems with any meaningful conversation. Such is our shared world, consistency and connectivity is the name of the game here on earth! It is also in Marvel comics. Gravity has to be universal for us to derive meaning from it, and the same goes for wizards and wands in Harry Potter. We all know that the wand chooses the wizard, and if ever Rowling changed her mind on this, people would take to the streets.
My advice for you on this subject is to think of a few small details that explain many different aspects of the world. The fact that summers and winters are long in Westeros impacts all kinds of business in Game of thrones. For extended periods of time people can reply upon a large supply of food. They can predict the weather more easily, they wear the same clothes from one week to the next. Years pass, and people get older without having to worry about where to hold up and stop fighting when it gets cold in Game of Thrones. Our heroes can wander around without heavy fur coats, because last year and the next year will be summer. In this same way, they all know they had better get ready for an extra long winter. They know it will be cold and dark for an even longer period of time.
If explaining everything away gets out of hand, the second best choice is not the explain. By not giving solid answers to the foundations of your universe, you allow others to hypothesize for themselves. It is no secret that fan theories are all the rage these days. They are a dime and dozen. They come about because the nature of the world, to which they belong, is not known.
The dumbest moment in Star Wars history was when Qui-Gon Jinn told us where the force comes from. It should have been left alone. Leave the fans wondering all sorts of questions, like mine above! Are some Jedi born stronger than others? Can midi-chlorians be grown? Did Anakin Skywalker loose some midi-chlorians when he turned into Darth Vader? Is there a genetic link for midi-chlorian quantity?
These questions distract us from what should have been a fun space adventure movie.
Things are no longer magical when they are explained. In high School I played around with ideas like these. I didn't get very far in explaining much, and that is for the best. Midi-chlorians are best forgotten.
I will finish today with one of my own answer to that question from before. "Why do Orcs always fight the heroes?" It is because they cannot eat vegetables. Living as a species of exclusive carnivores has led Orcs to fight in search of food. They will strike at anyone who appears weak out of rabid hunger. They will also retreat as soon as they realize there meals will kill them. I will stop myself there before I explain too much and break open that consistency I mentioned. This detail does not match what Tolkien wrote, but it doesn't need to, this is how I explain it in my world. Every fictional world belongs to the people who create its shared existence. Good luck making, and sharing the details in your own!