15 Steps to Fantasy World-Building
About world-building
Worldbuilding is the process of creating an imaginary world or universe for the purpose of telling a story. It is a crucial element of fiction writing, especially in the fantasy and science fiction genres.
Good worldbuilding involves creating a captivating story with well-developed characters set in an imaginary world that is distinct from the real world. It should also be relevant to the plot, characters, and central themes of the story.
The amount of worldbuilding required in a story can vary depending on the genre. For example, an epic fantasy novel would typically require more world-building than an urban fantasy book, a historical video game, or a science fiction short story.
Why world-building is important
Worldbuilding is important for several reasons. First and foremost, it can be enjoyable for both the author and the reader. Additionally, effective worldbuilding can enhance any narrative by enriching the plot and characters. It also helps to establish important expectations about the setting, customs, laws, and other details of the fictional world.
Many readers need to be able to visualize the world in order to fully engage with a book, and good worldbuilding can help them do this. In science fiction and fantasy fiction, worldbuilding is particularly important because readers often expect a well-developed fictional world.
However, all authors can benefit from improving their world-building skills, regardless of the genre they are writing in. For example, even in a non-magical story set in a small town, worldbuilding can include details such as the social structure at the local school, the only grocery store in town, the small park, and the history and gossip of the townsfolk.
1. Draw from the real world.
For science fiction and fantasy writers, it can be helpful to draw inspiration from real-life cultures and societies in order to create a realistic and logical world. This can include creating geography similar to that of the real world, keeping the technology level similar to a specific point in history, incorporating elements of real-world religions and mythologies, and using real-world events to inspire the backstory of the fictional world.
Alternatively, you could create a world that is very similar to the real world with only a few significant differences, which can be particularly effective in alternative history stories. A good example of this is George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, which was the basis for the HBO series Game of Thrones. Martin drew inspiration from a variety of real-world cultures, including the United Kingdom, ancient Rome, Greek city-states, the Mongolian Empire, Africa, and Asia. This helped to give Martin's world a sense of realism and authenticity and ensured that its history, geography, and international relations were believable and well-developed.
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2. Invent curious customs that hook your reader.
Incorporating strange customs that are different from those in the real world can be an effective way to hook your readers. Establishing similarities to the real world in your first chapter, and then introducing a unique quirk or characteristic of your fictional society at the end of the chapter, can be a great way to pique your readers' curiosity and keep them engaged.
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is full of strange customs that set the magical world apart from the non-magical one. Some examples include the existence of a magic school, the mysterious language of Parseltongue, the taboo against saying the name of the dark wizard Voldemort, the existence of a parallel magical world with locations such as Diagon Alley and St. Mungo's, and the use of owls as messengers. These peculiar customs help to hook the reader and keep them invested in the story.
3. Craft a unique religion and explore how it affects society.
When creating a religion for your fictional world, it's important to consider how it will affect the society in which it exists. Some questions to consider include:
whether a majority of citizens follow this religion,
how people of different religions or those who don't follow any religion are treated,
whether the religion has influenced the government or laws,
whether religious officials hold a high position in society,
whether the officials are genuinely committed to the faith or are more interested in power,
and whether the religion is tolerant of other faiths or justifies the use of force against those who do not follow it.
It's also important to consider how the religion relates to the characters and central themes of the story. If the religion is not central to the plot, it may be sufficient to mention it a few times in the text, rather than devoting a lot of time to it. In general, it's a good idea to limit the number of religions in your fictional world, as having too many can be confusing for the reader.
Finally, be mindful of the potential for controversy if you create a religion that is similar to a real-world religion, as readers may interpret it as commentary on real-world religion.
4. Construct a magic system and explore how it affects society.
Constructing a believable magic system is crucial for many readers, especially in fantasy, but also to a degree for sci-fi stories (though this will likely come under the guise of technology).
It's important to avoid using magic as a last-minute plot device, known as a deus ex machina, to resolve conflicts. There are two types of magic systems:
At one end of this spectrum are hard magic systems. This is where the rules of magic are well-defined, as are the limitations and the cost of the magic.
At the other end of the spectrum are soft magic systems. This is where readers (and maybe even the characters) don’t know the rules, limitations, or cost of magic.
Both can work well in a story, but it's important to set up the magic's role in the climax if you choose a soft magic system. The Lord of the Rings is an example of a soft magic system, while Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series demonstrates a well-crafted hard magic system.
You also have to think about the way the magic system impacts society. If some people are born with an innate ability does this result in a class system? Or can anyone use magic? In which case what’s stopping them? And, how does technology interact with your magic systems? Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea Quartet is a great example of a story that both explores practical applications for magic and attaches serious consequences to its misuse.
5. Decide which occupations this society values.
Consider the occupations that are most highly valued in your fictional society when deciding what jobs to give your characters. This can help you determine the power or status of a character. For example, if farming is highly valued in your society, you could make the protagonist desire that occupation.
On the other hand, if farming is not valued, you could give the protagonist a farming job and have them strive to break free of their low social standing. To create conflict and an underdog protagonist, you could also give the antagonist a more prestigious occupation. This can make readers root for the hero.
Related: The Writer’s Guide: How To Create A Character Profile
6. Figure out how their laws differ from the real world.
Consider how the laws, customs, and legal processes are similar and how they differ from those in the real world. Think about which of these elements could be important to your story and characters.
George Orwell's 1984 is a well-known dystopian novel with laws that are vastly different from most real-world governments. In this novel, the Party has created a system that cannot be overthrown due to numerous laws that suppress opposition.
7. Give memorable geography to significant locations.
Include memorable geography in your significant settings to make them stand out in readers' minds. This could be in the form of unique rock formations, natural resources, strange flora and fauna, or distinctive architecture. Describing these features can serve as a shorthand for the importance of a location.
However, be careful not to overuse this technique, as it can cause readers to lose trust in your judgment as an author if you spend a lot of time describing an unimportant location. An example of effective use of memorable geography is found in Robert Jordan's Eye of the World, the first book in the Wheel of Time series. I personally find it incredibly helpful to sketch out a map of important locations for visual reference. There are many resources available for creating your fictional maps, including inkarnate.com, which is a free service.
8. Write down a detailed history of your fictional world.
To help with your worldbuilding, create a detailed history of your fictional world, including recent events. While you may not use all of this history in your story, it can be helpful to have a solid understanding of your world's past.
It's important to avoid overwhelming readers with too much information at once, such as through a lengthy prologue. Instead, use subtext to create a sense of a lived-in world and make sure your story is set during an exciting time in your world's history. If the past is more interesting than the present, you may consider setting your story entirely in the past.
9. Use dialogue to reveal important world-building elements.
Including details in character dialogue of things like recent and historical events is a way to hint at the greater depth of lore surrounding your world and encourage a sense of curiosity in your readers. This can also be a natural way to reveal your protagonist's opinions on important elements of your world, history, politics and society.
It's important to ensure that the dialogue sounds natural and not forced. You can test this by reading the dialogue aloud or having someone else read it, or by using a transcription service to have it read back to you.
10. Consider if a change in culture could drive your story.
If you've put a lot of effort into worldbuilding, consider how the story impacts society and culture as a whole. For example, your characters may be trying to overcome unjust aspects of their society, seek to overthrow a dystopia and implement their own governing system.
There are plenty of examples of this, including the aforementioned Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, or Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and her allies work to overthrow the government and societal norms of Panem, which is an unjust society.
By slowly realising these changes you can encourage greater investment from your readers as the characters struggle to create change and ultimately it’ll allow you to explore all the pitfalls and problems that come hand in hand with a fast cultural change.
11. Decide on the technology level.
It's important to decide on a technology level for your fictional world in order to avoid anachronisms. Consider aligning your world's technological advancements with a specific era in real-world history, such as the middle ages in Europe or the bronze age in ancient Greece.
Keep in mind that readers who are invested in your world and characters may notice any inconsistencies. In fantasy stories, it's common to base the imaginary world on a particular historical era, but there is also a growing trend towards non-Eurocentric fantasies.
12. Create three-dimensional characters.
Characters are key. Without properly developed and interesting characters all your world-building will be for nought. As such, it’s important to consider how the elements of your world may impact the character arc of your protagonist and antagonist.
Try and avoid including unnecessary details that do not influence the plot, character development, or central themes. Good worldbuilding should enhance all three of these elements whereas bad world-building could very well end up with your novel reading more like fantasy non-fiction. You may find it helpful to use a character profile template as you develop your characters.
13. Create unique idioms and language uses.
If your story takes place in a world other than the real one, be mindful of using idioms and figures of speech that are specific to real-world cultures. These may not make sense in the context of your story and may not be used by characters who are not speaking a real-world language. Consider creating your own idioms and figures of speech that fit the culture and history of your fictional world.
For example, characters in a polytheistic world may use phrases like "Oh, gods!" as a curse, or idioms may reference historical figures from the world. If the gods have names you could even use these at specific points.
In Ursula K Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, she does this very successfully, building key plot points around an idea she called ‘shifgrethor’ - an untranslatable alien word somewhat equivalent to male pride, or imagined prestige.
14. Only use 10% of your world-building.
To avoid overwhelming readers you should focus only on the important elements of the world-building when writing your story. This means you won’t be able to include some 90% of the information and ideas you’ve created. However, by over-planning in this way you can more easily imply that there is more to the world that has not been fully revealed, as this can create a sense of mystery and encourage readers to keep turning the pages.
Brandon Sanderson suggests choosing 2-4 worldbuilding elements to explore in your story and leaving the rest to be implied through subtext and background. This can make your storytelling more effective and allow you to write multiple books by limiting the amount of time you spend on worldbuilding for each one.
15. Don’t over-plan.
Finally, it’s time to write. Whilst world-building can be fun, the ultimate goal is to write a good book, and if world-building gets in the way, it's not serving that purpose. You should also be careful when world-building to avoid overusing book tropes. It's okay if you haven't finished building your fictional world before you start writing – you can continue to develop it as you go. The important thing is to get the writing process started and not let anything else hold you back.