Tolkien’s Top 5 Rules for Immersive Storytelling

Tips from the father of modern fantasy

Image of J. R. R. Tolkien

I recently watched an old interview given by J. R. R. Tolkien after The Lord of the Rings became popular.

In it, the interviewer asked him about how he created his fantasy world. This was from a time when most people still didn’t understand fantasy as literature. You can see in the interviewer’s eyes, even he thinks it’s a little silly.

As someone who loves storytelling, I was naturally intrigued to hear from the godfather of fantasy himself.

If you’re interested in any type of creative storytelling, I think you’ll like what he has to say. If you love Middle-earth, this will be insightful, and if you’re a writer, you can learn from Tolkien’s process.

Here are Tolkien’s top 5 rules for immersive storytelling:

1. Build Your World First

“The world [of Middle Earth] was constructed like a model… it existed in a large scale Plan before The Hobbit was written… I took 14 years for refining time schemes and getting everything right.”

Tolkien created a fully realized world before penning a single word of story. In fact, his creation of languages dates back to his childhood. He spent years of his adult life crafting the mythology, legends, and history of Middle-earth.

This approach allowed his tales to grow organically from the rich soil of his fictional universe.

Tolkien was obsessive about getting the details right. Consistency in your world-building is crucial for maintaining the reader’s suspension of disbelief.

To keep your world consistent:

1. Create a “bible” for your world, documenting key facts and rules
2. Develop a system for tracking timelines and character arcs
3. Review your work regularly to catch and correct inconsistencies

Tolkien’s work was so extensive that his son, Christopher, spent most of his life editing and combining them into previously unpublished works.

2. Draw from Personal Inspiration