Basic Worldbuilding for Beginners
To me, worldbuilding is one of the hardest parts of writing. Creating complex characters? Easy. Coming up with an engaging plot? Baby stuff. Designing a fully functioning world that feels realistic? Where do you even start?
There are tons of great articles out there on worldbuilding (I'll link a bunch at the end of the post). But I know for me it's still hard to figure out what is important and what's not. What I need to spend time on and what can kind of come with the story. So today I'm sharing some basic worldbuilding for other people who are confused or just getting into worldbuilding.
The Basics
• Start simple. Don't overwhelm yourself with eco-politics (if that's a thing) straight off. Begin with something easy.
• Avoid the temptation to worldbuild forever. There is always more you could explore. It can get overwhelming quickly. If you don't want to write about something that's not important to your story, then don't.
• Try a worldbuilding questionnaire. K. M. Weiland has a good basic one in Outlining Your Novel Workbook. (I'll link to some others at the end.) It's a great way to get your thoughts flowing and have someplace to start.
• Make a list of all the important things you must know to write your novel. Physics, magic system, world layout, politics, language, etc. Other things will pop up as you work on worldbuilding, but this is a great place to start.
• While you're working, whether on worldbuilding or regular writing, have a place you can write down anything else you come up with. Decided to make all the people of a certain place have pink skin? Write it down. Otherwise, you'll forget important details.
• And don't forget that all of the prompts that follow are just to help you get going. Go as deep or as minimal as you want.
The World
The world your characters inhabit is one of the most important parts to flesh out. Whether it's a sci-fi or fantasy novel, or possibly a few other types, you'll need to know about the world. The easiest thing to do is start with the area where your character lives or will be spending most of the novel. You can work your way outwards from there.
• Begin by writing about the country/continent/planet your character lives in. What is it like? How is it divided up? Do different places have different seasons? What language(s) do they speak? All those basic things you would tell someone about your country or state.
• Move on to the area where most of the story takes place. What is it like? Who governs it? What is it and it's people called? What is it known for? What resources does it have? What is the capital?
• From there you can zoom in even more, possibly writing about the city where your character lives or the capital of the country. What is it like? Is it big or small? What are the people like? How do the people live?
• What sort of flora and fauna are there? You don't need to cover everything, but if there are any major stand-outs, such as creatures we don't have in our world, write about them. Is there a lot of forests, or is it more of a desert region? What are the animals like? Do they have any special abilities?
• Consider drawing a map to go with it. I have a whole post on drawing fantasy maps even when you're not good at art, and there are plenty of great resources out there if you don't want to draw it yourself.
Magic
A lot of fantasy novels include magic of some kind. You'll probably need to know how it works, or risk having annoyed readers. Even a few basic rules can make your system work.
• Who has magic? Certain people, from a certain background? Random people? Is it something you can learn or do you have to already have the gift?
• How are magic users treated? With respect? Suspicion? Can they operate freely or are they forced to hide or report to the government?
• How does the magic work? Is it elemental? Spells? Magic wands? Mentally? Where do the spells get their power? From energy, the earth, special tools?
• What are the rules? What can magic do and not do? Are their limits? What kind of limits?
Technology
This is more important in a sci-fi novel, but it can be used in a fantasy novel as well. Knowing what tech your people have is important. You don't want your planet of peasants to have a high tech spaceship, not without good reason, at least.
• How advanced or not is the tech? Comparable to ours? (It helps to base the tech around a certain century of ours if you're having older technology.)
• What can it do? Do they have AI, or advanced medical equipment? What sort of transportation do they have? How fast can it go and is it available to everyone?
• What powers your tech? Energy? Crystals? Gas? How do they get the power for their tech? Is it hard or easy?
• What sort of communication do they have? What sort of weapons? How is technology used in their everyday lives?
History
History can be a negotiable topic. Different people in different places have different versions. But I find it helpful to write out at least a bare bones kind of history. This happened then, this age was called that, and so forth. Nothing complicated. Just enough so I have an overview.
I also, with my Wonderland novels, kept what I called a lexicon. Basically any word or phrase I made up for my world I write down there, along with the meaning of it. That way I can use it again, or make sure it makes sense.
Helpful Resources
As promised, here are your links. These are posts I have found helpful and hope you think so too.
The Ultimate Worldbuilding Questionnaire (131 Questions)
Questions to Ask When Creating Fiction Creatures (Also check out the rest of her series, Questions to Ask. Incredibly detailed and helpful.)
12 Questions to Ask Yourself About the System of Magic in Your Fantasy World
10 Points to Think About When Worldbuilding
Or check out my whole Pinterest board about worldbuilding in general.
What is your favorite part about worldbuilding? Is it easy or hard for you? Tell me in the comments.
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