Understanding Worldbuilding

Hello! 😊 Do you have any advice on word-building? I can imagine multiple scenarios in my head, but I can't seem to put them into words. 🥹

First off hi sorry I took forever to write this blog! I hope it helps you get your ideas onto paper <3

Worldbuilding is the backbone of any compelling story, especially in genres like fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction. Crafting a believable, immersive world can captivate your readers and provide a solid foundation for your narrative. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the essential steps to create a vivid and engaging world for your story.

Understanding Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding involves creating a complete, fictional universe that serves as the setting for your story. This process includes developing geography, cultures, history, politics, and even the rules of nature and magic (if applicable). The goal is to make your world feel as real and intricate as the characters who inhabit it.

Starting with the Basics

Define the Genre and Tone

Consider the genre of your story. A high-fantasy world will have different requirements than a dystopian future or a historical setting. The tone—whether it's dark and gritty or light and whimsical—will also influence your worldbuilding decisions.

Establish the Setting

Start with the physical world. Sketch out maps, outline the geography, and decide on key locations where your story will unfold. Think about the climate, natural resources, and the flora and fauna that inhabit this world.

Develop a History

Create a backstory for your world. Major events, wars, discoveries, and cultural shifts shape the present-day setting. A rich history can add depth and realism, influencing characters’ beliefs and motivations.

Building Cultures and Societies

Craft Unique Cultures

Think about the various cultures in your world. What are their customs, traditions, and social norms? How do they dress, what languages do they speak, and what religions do they follow? Diverse and well-thought-out cultures can add layers to your narrative.

Political Systems and Power Structures

Define the political landscape. Who holds power, and how is it distributed? Are there monarchies, democracies, or tribal councils? Consider the relationships between different nations or groups and the potential for conflict.

Economics and Resources

Understand the economy of your world. What resources are abundant or scarce? How do people trade, and what currencies do they use? The distribution of resources can drive plot points and character motivations.

Crafting Magic and Technology

Magic Systems

If your world includes magic, establish clear rules and limitations. What are the sources of magic? Who can use it, and how? Consistent magic systems prevent plot holes and maintain suspension of disbelief.

Technology Levels

Consider the technological advancements in your world. Are they using medieval weapons, steampunk machinery, or advanced futuristic gadgets? The level of technology can influence daily life, warfare, and exploration.

Time and Place

Historical Context

Establish the timeline of your world. Is it set in the past, present, or future? Consider historical events that have shaped the current state of the world. How have these events influenced societal development and cultural evolution?

Daily Life and Schedules

Describe the daily routines of your characters. What does a typical day look like for different social classes or cultures? Consider work hours, leisure activities, and societal expectations. The pace of life can vary greatly depending on technological advancements and cultural norms.

Timekeeping and Calendars

Develop a system of timekeeping and calendars. Are there specific seasons, festivals, or holidays that are significant? How do people measure time—by the sun, moon, or a mechanical clock? Unique timekeeping methods can add depth and authenticity to your world.

Clothing and Fashion

Cultural Significance

Explore how clothing reflects cultural identity, status, and occupation. Different regions and social groups might have distinct styles, fabrics, and accessories. What materials are commonly used, and how are garments crafted?

Fashion Trends

Consider the evolution of fashion in your world. What are the current trends, and how do they vary across different societies? Fashion can be influenced by historical events, climate, and interactions with other cultures.

Practicality and Symbolism

Think about the practicality of clothing in your world’s environment. How does the climate affect what people wear? Additionally, consider any symbolic meanings attached to certain garments or accessories. For instance, specific colors or patterns might denote rank or allegiance.

Religion and Beliefs

Pantheon and Deities

Create a pantheon of gods or a single deity, depending on your world’s religious structure. What are their characteristics, domains, and myths? How do they interact with mortals, if at all?

Rituals and Practices

Detail the religious rituals and daily practices of your world’s inhabitants. Consider ceremonies, festivals, and rites of passage. How do these practices influence daily life and societal norms?

Religious Institutions

Define the structure and influence of religious institutions. Are there temples, churches, or shrines? What roles do priests, shamans, or other religious figures play in society? The power dynamics between religious and secular authorities can add layers to your worldbuilding.

Languages and Communication

Linguistic Diversity

Develop the languages spoken in your world. Are there multiple languages or dialects? Consider the history of these languages and how they evolved. Language can be a powerful tool to convey cultural diversity and conflict.

Writing Systems

Design writing systems and scripts used for communication. Are there ancient texts or runes with special significance? How do literacy rates vary among different social classes and regions?

Non-Verbal Communication

Explore other forms of communication, such as body language, sign language, or symbolic gestures. How do people convey messages in situations where spoken language is impractical? These non-verbal methods can add depth and realism to your interactions.

Integrating Worldbuilding into Your Story

Show, Don’t Tell

Instead of dumping information on your readers, reveal your world organically through the narrative. Use dialogue, actions, and descriptions to weave worldbuilding details seamlessly into the story.

Character Perspectives

Different characters will experience and interpret your world in unique ways. Use their perspectives to highlight various aspects of your world, making it richer and more complex.

Consistency and Continuity

Maintain consistency in your world’s rules and details. Keep track of your worldbuilding elements to avoid contradictions and ensure a cohesive narrative.

Worldbuilding Tools and Resources

Maps and Diagrams

Create visual aids like maps, family trees, and diagrams to help you keep track of your world’s layout and relationships. Tools like Inkarnate or Wonderdraft can be helpful for map-making.

Worldbuilding Bibles

Maintain a worldbuilding bible—a document where you compile all your world’s details. This can include notes on geography, history, cultures, and more. It’s a valuable reference as you write and develop your story.

Inspiration from Real World and Fiction

Draw inspiration from real-world cultures, histories, and landscapes. Similarly, reading widely in your genre can provide insights into effective worldbuilding techniques.

Final Thoughts

Worldbuilding is a rewarding yet challenging aspect of storytelling. It requires imagination, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of your narrative’s needs. By following this comprehensive guide, you can create a vibrant, believable world that will captivate your readers and enhance your storytelling.

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worldbuilding guide

Cool Places for TTRPG PCs to meet

Places where people meet

Inn (you heard this one before)

Singles' mixer

Party

Convention

Jobs fair

School

Work

University

Expeditions (safari, mountain climbing)

Shared carriage/uber/train/boat

Pirate ship

Hospital

Waiting room

Summer camp

Wedding

Grand opening

Pride event

Potluck

Charity event

Church

Model UN

Bookclub

Parent/teacher conference

PAC meeting

HOA meeting

Senior's home

Ball

Ren faire

Farmer's market

Christmas tree farm

Exposition

Adult's class

LARP camp

Coronation

Running event

Car lot

Protest

Online chatroom

Social media

Public places for the inciting incident to take place

Public swimming place (pool, lake, ocean)

Park

Coffee shop

Fair

Circus

War camp

Campsite

Bathhouse

Concert

Public speaking engagement

Funeral

Parade

Museam

Ice cream shop

Art exhibition

Library

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setting idea

13 notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

worldbuilding holidays; possible traditions for holidays based on historical events:

commemorating victims of the historical event

parades

mass lighting candles

displaying art related to the event

cooking traditional dishes

organizing discussions and lectures to educate the public

planting commemorative trees

family trips to museums

discussions with people who lived through the event

reenacting the event

family reunions

wearing awareness accessories (ribbons, etc.)

political figures giving commemorative speeches

fundraisers for victims of the event

workshops to educate children in schools

building monuments/statues

feel free to add more!

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worldbuilding worldbuilding ideas

1K notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

Rationalizing The Minecraft XP System (and other experience-based magics.)

Rpg and other game-mechanics can throw a wrench into storytelling by punching immersion-threatening hole into the worldbuilding. This can be especially bothersome if you are writing in a serious or dark tone, or working with a crossover.

With a little creativity, it’s relatively easy to fix this problem.

The Minecraft enchantment system works off of experience obtained from mining, hunting, farming, and other experiences. The points earned in your XP bar are combined with Lapis Lazuli, and used to enchant items, as the game’s primary enchanting method. From a mechanic standpoint, this is very sound. But how do we explain this XP system in a narrative view?

Using Lapis as a focus, or an already enchanted manuscript (in the instance of using an anvil,) enchanting can be performed with the sheer power of lived experiences and knowledge gained. The memories themself, or perhaps the connections of neurons formed when learning, produce energy channeled into enchanting. However, these memories can only be used for energy once. Perhaps the energy formed upon the new neuron connection is all the power that memory will ever make, or perhaps the memories are lost and forgotten once they are used to enchant.

Books, the written memories and experiences of other people, interact with this magic system by boosting the power of an enchanting table. By being immortalized knowledge, they inherently strengthen the potential of experience magic.

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worldbuilding worldbuilding ideas

16 notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

1d6 Odd Foreign Coins

For when treasure in convenient mints is just too easy. 1. Iron rings - this smallest denomination coin belongs to a nation far across the sea. Even trading with them, though, these rings are small change. 2. Butterflies - this odd currency belongs not to a nation but to a thieves guild (or other underground faction). It is made by permanently attaching four coins of the realm together in a sort of square or clover shape. It is not legal currency, but has value in certain illegal transactions. Carrying it can also, of course, get you into trouble. 3. Bricks - so called because rather than being flat disks, these coins are rectangular and almost as thick as they are wide. Bricks come in different denominations, in varying sizes but all made of silver. The small alliance of nations who use Bricks are nearby, but not on the friendliest terms with your home region. However, the raw silver is of decent value. 4. Beads and Medallions - smaller and thicker than the average metal coins, these coins are made of dyed glass. They are the coin of a small, wealthy principality, where literally displaying one’s wealth has become quite fashionable. Merchants who accept these coins are most likely to trade in small, luxury items. 5. Golden Daggers - these slender gold coins are not uncommon to see in the northern part of your realm. They are the most used coin in the neighboring kingdom, whose odd manner of minting begins with slender metal rods. They aren’t commonly accepted except near the northern border, but it isn’t too difficult to find someone who will exchange them at a fair rate. 6. Silver Gems - so called because of their geometric design that resembles a cut gemstone, these coins are highly valuable. The empire from which they come has dissolved. The upper class of your realm romanticize the fallen empire’s glory days, and prize anything from it, including its odd currency. They can’t be spent like regular money, but to a collector they can be sold like valuable art.

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currency

189 notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

I love it when magic systems exact a price!!! I love it when magic systems require you to give up something, to be less human, to cause deaths of others or to risk the chance you will go mad or destroy yourself!!!! I love when the epic workings of great and powerful magic come with a horrific cost!!!!

That shit RULES!!!!!!!!

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worldbuilding magic

144 notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

A worldbuilding idea for making your fictional nation interesting: choose a crime, taboo, etc. and make it legal, perhaps even engraved in the culture.

For example, cannibalism. It could be tradition to hold a feast in the honor of the recently deceased, devouring them as a way to signify their sacrifice will not be wasted. That could be not only the main way of holding a funeral, but it could be embedded in the culture. Perhaps it arose from the early days of the nation, when the founders resorted to cannibalism to survive.

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worldbuilding worldbuilding ideas

152 notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

Writing Worksheets & Templates

will update this every few weeks/months. alternatively, here are all my tagged Writing Worksheets & Templates

Chapter Outline ⚜ Character- or Plot-Driven Story

Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Magic & Rituals ⚜ Plot-Planning

Editing: Sentence Check ⚜ Writing Your Novel: 20 Questions

Tension ⚜ Thought Distortions ⚜ What's at Stake

Character Development

50 Questions ⚜ Backstory ⚜ Character Creation

Antagonist; Villain; Fighting ⚜ Protagonist & Antagonist

Character: Change; Adding Action; Conflict

Character: Creator; Name; Quirks; Flaws; Motivation

Character Profile (by Rick Riordan) ⚜ Character Sheet Template

Character Sketch & Bible ⚜ Interview your Character

Story-Worthy Hero ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character Worksheet

Worldbuilding

20 Questions ⚜ Decisions & Categories ⚜ Worksheet

Setting ⚜ Dystopian World ⚜ Magic System (AALC Method)

Templates: Geography; World History; City; Fictional Plant

References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

all posts are queued. send questions/requests here.

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worldbuilding writing ideas writing prompts

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troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions (Fauna and Flora)

Fauna and Flora Worldbuilding Questions:

What are the most common animals or plants, the fly, pigeon, grass and weed equivalents in your world?

What are humans or others’ relationship to fauna and flora? (For example, are some groups more respectful, reverent, or caring of their environment? Why?)

Who in your cast of characters cares most about your world’s fauna and flora? Who cares least?

Who nurtures or exploits your world’s plant and animal life?

Where are plants and animals more abundant or scarce, and why?

Where do plants and animals get their names from?

When will plants or animals first appear in the story, and what will their purpose be in regard to character or plot?

When did common species of plants or animals first appear in your world, and how did they evolve or adapt?

Why do certain plants or animals have cultural or religious significance – what is their backstory in myth or legend?

Why do specific plants or animals have economic value, and how does their availability affect this value? Do these aspects change over the story’s course?

❯ ❯ ❯ Read other writing masterposts in this series: Worldbuilding Questions for Deeper Settings

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worldbuilding prompts flora Fauna

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troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago

Worldbuilding Tips: Religion

With religion in stories specifically fantasy, I feel as though the extent in which we see it explored is the characters will in dialogue or in thought curse saying things like gods, by the gods, or other curses. Hey, I do it to so know I’m not judging but I do want more expansion on these religions. If you want to expand on your world-building just research religions in our lives.

Think about it: in Christianity (I’m only using this because it’s what I’m most familiar, but feel free to get inspiration from other faiths) the church provided multiple services throughout history, priests and nuns often took care of orphans, were literate, recorded births, recorded deaths, performed weddings rites.

The religion should also have practical functions for example, in my own work their is a goddess of death. I had to think how this god would be worshipped and how the faith would get money to continue functioning and feeding their clergy. They’d do religious ceremonies, funeral rites, eliminate undead, and tend to burial grounds.

In secrecy though, if your a fan of secret religions, this same religion also works with assassinations and kills the people the god demands to die.

What I’m saying is that the religion in your own story should have some function in society whether it is widely known or not. This allows the world to feel more fleshed out and worked on. Also show the negative aspects of the religion and positive aspects.

Questions you should ask yourself:

What does a healthy relationship with that religion look like?

What does a toxic one look like?

What aesthetics are involved in this religion?

(The lamb of god): lamb symbolizes Jesus so think about the symbols in your story. If there is a holy animal is it a sin to kill it. Is it used in sacrifice?

Polytheistic? If so what does each god represent? Aspects of nature or society? (Think Titans vs the Olympians in Greek mythology)

Additionally, what values are important to the said culture the religion springs from?

If there are scriptures or sayings from the religion what are they?

Some religions are ethno-religions meaning only people of an ethnicity can be in the religion, if a religion has this what are the implications that would have in your world?

Can just anybody convert to the said religion and how?

What sacraments are in the religion?

How is somebody venerated in the religion (like sainthood)?

What environment do people worship in?

In Christianity, there was a movement namely baroque, renaissance, and medieval period to show the glory of god through how the buildings looked. The Protestant movement challenged this making more humble churches. Think about that when making your own religion. How do they present holy places?

Remember that religion is used to explain what philosophy and science can’t explain. Depending on when the religion is started and the extent of technology in the world they might have myths for anything like why animals exist? The seasons? Weather? And more conceptual things like why people began fighting wars? Why people die and where we go after we die?

Now this can all seem like a lot and you don’t have to include all of this but it is helpful when creating a world because religion affects aspects of culture, how the characters were raised, government, and even wars.

If you like posts like these, I have more and comment what you’ve done in your own works or what you’d like to see!

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worldbuilding religion

44 notes View Post

troubledworldwriter

2 weeks ago