Some of the most captivating fantasy and science fiction stories have immersive worlds, creatures, and items that entrance the reader. It is important to lay down the groundworks of your universe for them to become enthralled with the mystery and wonder of your story. The question is: how to start world building?

Before we continue, make note that world building is not limited to these two genres. It is, however, most commonly seen in these genres since they are heavily influenced by the world building. The concepts outlined below will still be applicable if your story is not based in these genres.

How to Start World Building

World building is pretty complex, the name itself implies you are creating entire realms – or planets – that have their own laws, animals and potentially physics. A lot of your story is going to be bound to these rules, this is why it is key to generate a solid foundation that your story can thrive in. If the world isn’t convincing to your reader, then the story is going to be difficult for them to grasp as well.

Step One: The Big Bang

If you want to start world building, you probably have some basic idea of what your story, or universe, is like. Even the smallest detail can be used to build off of. If you are writing fantasy, you might have dabbled in how the magic system works. Maybe you have dreamt about what type of monsters lurk in the wilderness. The same would apply to science fiction: you may have an idea of how the primary technology functions work or how the political structure influences the technology. If you don’t, we can work with that. Some of the questions below will help you generate the initial spark to building your world.

Note, for world building it helps to have a rough premise constructed for your story to leverage the questions below. If you have more than just a premise, even better. If you don’t, you may want to think about the kind of story you wish you tell before you develop a world for it.

Some initial questions are:

• Where are your characters located?
• Are they in multiple locations?
• Who are the political parties – or rulers – in your locations?
• Are there only humans in your story?
• If there are aliens or other races, how did the come to be?
• Are humans in contact with them?
• What type of creatures are there?

These are just some example questions that will help nudge you in the right direction for thinking about your world. You don’t need to have everything figured out, just one idea will work to build off of.

Step Two: Expansion

Alright, now that you have an idea, get out a pen and paper – or a keyboard if you prefer digital – and write the answer down along with the initial question you answered. Keep it short, something like one to two sentences. You can return and expand on each question later.

Next, we can ask more questions, then answer them. Let’s say you figured out where your characters are located, hypothetically let’s say they are in some sort of a kingdom. Now ask yourself – who rules the kingdom? How many generations of the ruler’s family are there? Are there other kingdoms? Are they allies or enemies? The questions can go on and on, which leads us to our next step.

Step Three: Clustering

Now you need to start writing all of your answers down and organizing them into groups. There are a number of styles you can use to keep track of your Q&A session. Some methods are:

Mind Map Style

Jot your questions down and connect similar questions to them, with the answers below each one. This method is commonly seen for any form of thought process. Whether you are in school or a creative industry, mind maps are a universal concept.

Appendix Style

Categorize your questions and answers in an appendix styled concept. The more questions you answer, you will begin to see that they have similarities to each other. As you answer your questions you will start to see that they fit within various common categories that you can clump together. They may fit under:

• Creatures
• Races
• Locations
• Currency
• Languages
• Magical Items
• Weapons

These are just a few, you may have specific categories for your world as you build it.

Sticky Note Style

This concept can be physical sticky notes or digital sticky notes. It is a series of small notes for each question and answer you create. Clump them together in like-minded areas much like you would for the appendix style, just not as linear.

Hybrid Style

The three example styles are not written in stone if you have a similar method for answering the questions you generate, or a completely different style that works for you, great! Share it in the comments and we can exchange creative processes. Or perhaps you have a hybrid style that merges the different styles together.

Step Four: Review and Repeat

Repeat step three until you’ve filled out at least one page of information. This will have some variation depending on the style you go with. If you have some more questions and answers that are burning inside you, don’t stop keep going! The more you do it, the more robust of a universe you will build. Once you do have at least a page’s worth of answers, now you can ask:

Did you ask enough questions to build a foundation?

Chances are you didn’t. The questions never end. A good guideline to know when you are done is to have generated enough information that you can use to leverage in your story. Again, this is where having a premise is helpful to understand when enough is enough. If you didn’t develop enough information or you are unsure, then it is time to repeat the four steps.

You won’t have all the answers

The process above is to help your mind generate ideas around your world. They are to help you discover the inner workings of the story’s universe. The answers may alter as you begin to write your full manuscript as you find certain creatures or technology break the plot. That is okay, nothing is written in stone until the novel is sent off for publication.

You will save yourself a ton of headaches and backtracking if you flush out these details now. Some additional points to consider while generating ideas are listed below:

Your story is bound to your world

Keep in mind, the more you develop the world, the more complex it becomes. Your story needs to obey the rules that the world has created for it. Make sure the story doesn’t break previously established rules, readers will catch this!

Your world needs to be relatable

If your world is too alienating or too complex, your readers won’t easily sink their imaginations into. Your readers want to relate to your plot, characters and the world you have created. This is why it is important to have a hook. What makes your world unique? What makes it relatable to the real world?

Research

Even though you are coming up with fictional universes that follow your own rules, do some research. As the previous paragraph mentioned, you want your world to be relatable. A good way to do that is to reference the world we live in and find influences that will draw your reader into yours.

Not every piece of backstory you develop for your world will fit into the story

This is a tough one to remember. It is all too easy to fall into the history lesson styled narration to tell your reader about the laws, lore, and items of your world. Don’t do this, it will bore your reader and it never adds to your story. Your world building backstory is used to help you understand your world so you can write about it as if it were real. Some of your backstory may even be condensed into a single sentenced comment that a character makes. That is okay, let the reader’s imagination fill in the gaps.

Summary

The four-step process is a creative exercise that can help you start world building. It is intended to behave as a guideline and is not the ridged path that you have to follow to a tee. That is the joy of a creative process, it is intended to spark your imagination to generate new ideas.

Do you have other world building methods? Or have specific questions about world building? Share in the comments!

About Konn Lavery

Konn Lavery is a Canadian horror and dark fantasy writer who is known for his Mental Damnation series. The second book, Dream, reached the Edmonton Journal’s top five selling fictional books list. He started writing fantasy stories at a very young age while being home schooled. It wasn’t until graduating college that he began professionally pursuing his work with his first release, Reality. Since then he has continued to write works of fiction ranging from fantasy to horror.

His literary work is done in the long hours of the night. By day, Konn runs his own graphic design and website development business. These skills have been transcribed into the formatting and artwork found within his publications supporting his fascination with transmedia storytelling.

A HUGE thank you to Konn for being generous enough to share his knowledge and insights!

Find Konn at the following links:

konnlavery.com

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