A Writer Looking to Change the World

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Wednesday, August 31, 2022

The Laws of a Dreamworld

     Humans like to pretend that Dreamworlds, unlike Estellia, are lawless. This couldn't be further from the truth. Since a Dreamworld is only as strong as the belief of those who inhabit it, Laws are essential to keeping them together. Not just laws governing behavior, but laws governing the way things move. 

    What you need to remember when creating a dreamworld is that the physics, whatever they might be, need to make sense on an instinctive level. You can't just write them down on a piece of paper and expect everyone to follow them. If people don't follow you're physics without thinking, or worse, they can't, then your dreamworld won't feel real to them and will subsequently cease to exist. 

    It is also essential that your dreamworld be built to withstand conflict, even if you plan on building a dreamworld that functions without it. Conflict can add depth, but it can also tear a dreamworld apart if both sides don't feel that their viewpoints can be expressed. Always make sure your world feels meaningful to those who live in it, even if you disagree with their views. 

    Finally, make sure that your dreamworld is malleable. If it can't be changed, people aren't going to want to engage with it which means they aren't going to be able to believe in it as easily. So make sure that people can change it, even in small ways, to suit them and their needs. You don't need to create a utopia, you just need to create a world where people can be happy. 

   Above all else, make sure people believe in your dreamworld without being pressured to do so. If you've built your dreamworld well, belief should come so naturally that even criticism won't undermine people's perception of its reality. That is to say that even if people don't find it fun, they'll still feel that it has value. Believing in something and knowing that it's real are not the same thing, after all. 

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