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I love this stack. I've just recently gotten into it and have been absolutely enthralled with the deep discussions and thought provoking responses that I've witnessed in my short time here.

That being said, I am not a writer. I do not have any use for what I see on this stack. I just love the theoretical discussions that are held on interesting topics.

Often times I see questions that start with "I'm writing a story that requires a world where..." Or "I'm building a world without" and I sit there like "hmmm maybe I'm doing this wrong" So, do I have to have a specific endgame in mind in order to post? I've seen people say that this stack is for "question authors to ask about things relevant to them as well as to future askers" and I'd like to know if I should continue posting the things that interest me even if I won't actually implement them into anything.

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  • $\begingroup$ Also, if this has already been asked or is covered somewhere that I'm unaware of, let me know and I'll remove this question immediately! $\endgroup$
    – wposeyjr
    May 4, 2015 at 20:01
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    $\begingroup$ I also ask questions without having a specific purpose other than curiosity. I don't see a problem with that, as long as it's about building a world so other people can use the information. $\endgroup$
    – Vincent
    May 4, 2015 at 20:19
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    $\begingroup$ Related: meta.stackexchange.com/q/164436/162102 $\endgroup$ May 4, 2015 at 20:40
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    $\begingroup$ Almost every question I have asked here has been asked "without a greater cause" in mind. I see no problem with it so long as the questions you ask and yor answers are constructive and useful. $\endgroup$
    – Jax
    May 5, 2015 at 19:33

3 Answers 3

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Welcome to the site,

No, there is no hard and fast requirement that you be in the midst of building your own world to participate. If you have an area in which you are knowledgeable and can help answer questions all the better. If you played some game or read some book and had a hypothetical question come to mind that can be good info as well.

As long as the content you post is useful and on topic you are certainly welcome to participate.

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Not at all! Many of our most famous questions are completely theoretical - to name one, my In what war would one modern military vehicle make a difference?

If you don't feel comfortable with asking theoretical stuff that you won't apply to anything, you can always get involved in the discussions and debates with answers and comments.

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There is no requirement of that sort. However, it is common for writers to give that sort of background because it helps provide scope for the answers. Without such a background, one has to be careful to provide enough guidance to lead us towards useful answers. Otherwise the question ends up getting closed because it's too broad.

Take a look at the many posts about Alynn, Rynn, or Alice. I'm not sure what ArtOfCode or Serban Tanasa do with those characters, but they're just crowd-sourced characters to play with neat theoretical ideas.

As for the question of requirements to post, here's my two rules:

  • It has to be useful to you. "Pure enjoyment" qualifies, if you ask me.
  • It should be in a form that could be useful to others. If you need four pages of prose to describe an exact situation a character is in, it's probably too specific to your book. But if your character must carry a staff with a live Tucan on it, you should include that detail so we don't make things too generic!

(And as a non writer, I have a feeling the second rule is less constricting =) )

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