World building. When it's done well...

Tolkien's Middle Earth is likely the most well known fictional world, but in modern days there are others which have been successful as well: Panem (The Hunger Games), recreated Greek gods (Percy Jackson), zombie apocalypse (World War Z), and Westeros (Game of Thrones). Of course, that's not an all-encompassing list. These worlds engage their audiences, make them care, and feel as real as we desire our fiction to feel--which is to say, we love them.

I've read many books about how to build a world, imagine the ecosystem, how it all fits together, and what needs to be present for everything to work. But, in the end, such detail matters most to the writer. The audience only cares about how interesting it is, how understandable it is, and that they don't need PhDs in Anthropology, Botany, and Geology to immerse themselves in the story. Still, with a fully featured world it's much easier for both audience and author to lose themselves into it and become part of the story in a greater way.

The new Planet of the Apes movies demonstrate how to get it right. I loved both movies, and a big reason was how successful the world became to me. It's all about the end result. Fishing seems like a good analogy for world building, since there is a feel to what's right, where to cast, and how the fish will react. When your world feels right, it'll work as you want. Like what you do, have passion for the worlds you make, and people will too.

- M