Have you ever felt that every story you read that is set in a fictional world is always trying to help the protagonists save the world? What is it about saving the world, why is it so common?
Stories often feature plots where characters attempt to save the world because this narrative structure provides a high-stakes conflict that resonates with audiences on multiple levels.
At BackStory our worlds have 10,000 years of detailed and intimate history, did you know that? All that time for you to create an amazing storyline in. Wouldn’t that be fun?
We looked at the ‘Saving the world’ cliché and came to the conclusion that it’s not a very inclusive concept. Because we’re a multi-franchise concept, we can’t have the protagonists of every story saving the world all the time, it just doesn’t make sense.
Think Regional
The solution we came up with is to change the scope of things. Why can’t villains just have regional aspirations? They’re still upto their dastardly tricks aren’t they. Conquering a beleagured kingdom can be just as immersive as conquering the entire world. Think about it from the perspective of the kingdom; their kingdom is their entire world.
Changing the scope of your storyline to be at a regional level, rather than a global one can benefit your product in lots of ways. Regional scope is just as immersive, and your antagonists can be no less brutal and maniacal. It allows you to divide your world up into custom regions that you can visit in turn as you produce content for your different franchises.
This is exactly how we work at BackStory. Our worlds are thriving places full of all kinds of people, cultures, religions and political states. There is enough going on across a BackStory world for any number of villains to get their hands dirty, and for heroes to swoop in and save the day.
By utilising regional scopes we’re able to achieve multi-franchise worlds. Different franchises are equally interesting and immersive, but they don’t step on each other’s toes.
Have another think about regionality in your next story, it might be just what your world needs.
