WRITER'S BLOGG | A Blog For Story Writing

How To World Building

After you have an idea, don't immediately skip to designing a character.

Focus on world building first. Remember, our world existed before us too.

World building includes a lot of aspects, it depends on how much you want to get into detail for your story project.

For example, if you are writing a romance story set in the same time and world as ours is today, you can pick out random points.

But if you are writing an apocalyptic/futuristic novel, you need to think about what the world would look like. For that, I have made a list.

Key points that every world should include are here, in it.

Main Points:

Time - what year (span) does your story play in?

This determines what your world might look like (futuristic, apocalyptic, historic)

-> does your world change? Is it the same it is now, only set [..] years into the future?

-> my book plays in the year 2035, it's an apocalyptic novel.

People - what is their behavior? Most importantly, how do they treat your characters? Do they ignore them? Look up to them? How many people live in your world? What is an eventual thing that makes them special (immortality, magic powers)?

-> in my book a hidden civilization lives in another dimension and everyone that enters is immortal.
The MCs from the other dimension are welcomed.

Politics - every story has a rule based on power. What people rule your world? What is their motive? Do they do it openly or manipulatively, undercover? How do the civilians react to it?

-> in my book, the magic village is led by a leader, the civilians look up to her.

Vicinity - how do the surroundings look? For example, if you have a super futuristic city, vegetation would be found in only small amounts. Rather if you have an apocalyptic setting, everything would be claimed back by nature.

-> in my one book, the apocalypse has destroyed the world, nature grows all over it. In the other story, the trees have a magic ability to glow at night.

Animals - does your world have them? What do they look like? How do they find their way around in your world? Are they of special species?

-> the animals in my one book can speak, they are connected as spirits.

Schedules - day and night duration: some fantasy stories are based on a different time calculation, this includes calendars, seasons or just normal time passing within a day.

-> in my one book, time is calculated in eternities.

Now we come to the alternatives:

Transportation - what modes do the people use to get by? Trains, busses, Bikes? Do these modes exist in your world?

-> in my book, my characters move on foot.

History - this step is optional, it depends on how deep you already know your idea.

Weather - how does the shift impact your world?

-> For example, my book "Tomorrow's Last Breath" depends heavily on weather shifts.

Religion/Rituals - are they specific? What do the civilians need to perform? What/how many gods do they have? Is there discrimination against beliefs?

-> in my Fantasy novel, the four seasons were led by 4 gods before they vanished.

Technology - do your civilians use certain types? Are they rather old-school or futuristic? What benefits do they gain from it?

-> in my other story my characters use a Morse code machine to stay in touch since electricity and other options are not available.

And the even more specific:

Astral chains, Universe, Space - what does your solar system look like? Do you have planets? What are they named? What does the night sky look like?

-> my one world has 2 moons and special star signs.

Food - are there special kinds? Do the civilians have a certain diet? Allergies?

Trade or Travel - international, national, Interdimensional?

Education - does everyone have access? Are they forced to undergo specific antics?

Health - what state is your civilization in? Are there hazards that make living difficult?

Do they have poisoned water supply or else?

There are also great examples of world building sheets on Pinterest. Look up

"World building sheets" or "world building".

The points I named are just essentials in my opinion, but for world building you can go into it as deep as you want.

If you are unsure how to start with your world, write down a day from you. What did you do? What did you make contact with? How could that be developed in your world?

Remember, for writing, there is no right or wrong.

for example:

Fantasy needs a loose explanation and it makes sense.

Apocalypse can be overly dramatic and
horrifying.

Futuristic means we have no idea what our future will look like. You can decide by writing your world the way you would like it to be.