What was your world building process?

[akitsukino]

I'm actually making big strides in my fantasy story process right now (Writer's Camp here I come!), but I feel like I'm stopped right now on account of the world not feeling very fleshed out. I've got basics, but I feel like I'll need to add more to really get the most out of my plot.

So what was your process? What method did you look into to make your story's world? Is there any kind of process you recommend to flesh things out? How long did it take? How well do you think it compliments the story your telling?

[Pan]

One of my favorite things in the storytelling process is world building!

I'll be brief: when I make a fantasy world I begin with a basic concept. In the case of my most recent project, it was modern fantasy. After a concept I think of the basic structure of landmass.

In the case of my novel, a modern fantasy, I wanted to showcase modern landscapes, and decided to add political structures to each country. In total there are three, and each represents a different environment. Here's an example:

Gaelenheim goes from a humid, cliffside environment to a dusty, dry desert with cacti and scarcity of wildlife.

For really enriching details concerning world building, I broke the country down into major cities, locations, tourist destinations, and made note of the main economic income of the residents in the areas. Another example: There is a town along the southern coast called Holiwreath, hot and sunny. It's primarily a tourist town, and gains most if not all of its income on tourism and goods and services.

That's just map advice, but getting down to the nitty-gritty with the actual land will open all the doors for the rest of the world to build itself! If I had to condense, I would suggest you split your land into parts, name the major cities and points of interest, and note one fact about each.

Good luck!

[Stardust-clearwater]

World building is also one of y favorite aspects of storytelling.

To start with, think about places that you want to go. Photos that you want to see and make those a part of the world. Then make a story revolving around that aspect, like folklore. Was that place caused by a natural disaster or a man made one? Or perhaps a dragon set up shop there and ate everyone who tried to pass.

I like to have an extremely diverse cast with a set of main characters with a number of temporary supporting members. Since diversity is such a huge part of the fun I make the character first, I design their appearance and their apparel and then I build a place from there.

For instance I have a character who is a snake woman. I was really inspired by middle eastern dancers and performers when I made her so now the story has a place that has a hot and arid to match her attire.

I have another character who is a survivalist. She wasn't particularly special so maybe the place she came from or traveled through had lots of deadly creatures or difficult terrain. Then I think about what kinds of people would live in such inhospitable places and what things they would value as a result. from there comes the culture, (knives being being considered sacred and personal.)

Then maybe think about how things get form place to place. what would be considered valuable in what places. That sort of thing. Its kind of fun and sometimes you get more stories out of it.

[ratscout]

What often happen in my fantasy stories is that the world building emerges from the culture of the many different species and/or societies in my stories. For example, in my upcoming story, fairies idolize and worship old people. Drawing from real life can also really help; in one of my previous stories, I had some templar knights and I drew from real life and made it so that they protect pilgrims on their way to spread the word of god, but I tweaked it a bit so templars and religion also had a place in defending their countries and intervening in politics. And in another one of my stories I straight-up made art illegal and I had a lot of fun thinking of the ramifications of such a world. There's lots of fun stuff to do if you think of unique ways to build out the societies, professions, and species of your world~!

Good luck out there~! Can't wait to see you in the camp <3

[airith]

I usually take places from my childhood and rework them into a more exaggerated vision. I do this because it allows me to have an emotional attachment when I'm doing environments. I feel this allows me to be more detailed, give the world a meaning and makes it easier to build beauty from it.

[SilverLugia456]

World building is one of the most important and fun aspects that I work with. The process for me various depending on the story and how I go about building that world.

Most of the time my world building begins with creating my characters that are in the world. My characters paint a way into how that world is going to work. After creating the characters then the locations and rules of the world are created. That gives my world and story some form to work with. From there then I expand outwards for my specifics of the world that I'm working on.

I have a book full of different kinds of story worlds i would like to work with at some point.

[fischhead]

No real technique to my worldbuilding. I just look for inspiration in things that I like and hope they all work together.

Several years ago, I watched an anime called Kanon, and that was really the jumping-off point for the world of my comic, Garden Variety. The winter town and supernatural atmosphere featured in that show were pure magic to me, and I wanted to write about a similar place where readers, and myself of course, could escape to in their free time.

From there, I just thought about what life might be like in a permanently frozen world. What caused it to freeze? Is this happening in the past, future, or on some other timeline? What's technology like in this world? Why is everyone a plant-human hybrid? If I can answer them, great. If not, even better, because that's where the mystery and intrigue comes in. You do have to figure out if you got the right answers, though. If it's not necessary or doesn't make sense, get rid of it.

So I guess my process boils down to: Inspiration -> Q&A -> Reasoning -> Drawing

[HoodQuest]

I don't necessarily have a "process". I just write. Most of my stories all take place in the same world. I've been developing it ever since I was in 7th grade. Since my world typically revolves around all types of aspects such as horror, fantasy, etc., I typically start the world from one series to another. When I make one series and develop its rules, I move those to other stories while adding more. At this point, I have built a pretty large world revolving around all of my works. Essentially, all or most of my stories revolve in the same universe. This is how I distinguish canon from non-canon.

[hjfsdh2222]

I usually don’t build worlds so I can’t help ya their:/ I really just take what I like from time periods in (usually American) history

Most important thing is the feeling of the world! The details don’t really matter compared to the overall feeling

[Dreambrush]

Stemmed from both the major conflict as well as from three of the major characters. Then I built up the world with a network of supporting characters to make everything seem more... human.

[OmegaTriad]

Using a Tier development system really helps, This is what I usually do
Land Shape->Culture->Language->Food and Plants, Animals.->Religion->Culture relation to neighbors-> Side activities like Sports and Holidays along that line.

[darkone4587]

I think of the big things and then trickle down to the little things from the big major things.

[punkarsenic]

i think for TWAW i just daydreamed for about a year about the whole world before starting, and then kept daydreaming about it to this day, so the worldbuildings actually changed in the past two years (annoyingly)

looking into world landscapes and cultural practices is a great way to find inspiration - there are lots of landscapes on this planet that are really amazing and strange, and having a wider scope of the range of human behaviour and belief across the world and through time will help you create communities that are both unique and real.

look at character and world designs you really like, and rip them off. create a pinterest and collect all your ideas.

mainly, though - figure it out as you go. if its not plot-relevant, the kind of trees in the forest youre walking through are irrelevant until you want to describe them.

i recommend listening to the dirty old ladies podcast episode on worldbuilding, it could give you some good ideas

[danitasibert]

What i do with world building in my fantasy story (Maximum Chaos) is that i dedicate chapters to explaining the structure of the society that the characters live in. I'm only in the beginning, but i find this to my the best way i can organize my mindset and break down for the readers. Plus can be as detailed as i like cause those chapters are not character focused.
hope this can help!

[Draconic]

Build your world from your characters viewpoint.
Simplify your world, don't over complicated it.
Ignore all politic, even if it is about fantasy politic.
You create the world from your character viewpoint.

[FluffyRen]

What I tend to do is I think of the main concept, like the major difference between that world and the real one, and ask myself questions about that concept. How would characters react to it? How would cultures be built around it/incorporate it? How come that concept exists in that world, but not ours?

Answer vague questions, then start getting to the details of it!

[Cronaj]

Oh man... There is always so much to it. Usually, I have a story idea banging around in my head for months to years before I even start it.

For my main fantasy comic series, I first thought of the characters, and the world sort of emerged around them. I had images of the main characters, and a few key scenes, and then I decided to really develop the world. The best tip I can give you is, know a lot about a lot of real cultures. For example, in my comic's backstory at some point, I needed to come up with a rite of passage for young boys coming of age, so I did my research about a lot of real types of rites of passages to get some ideas.

Also, realize that a lot of cultural practices tend to stem from another cultural aspect. As a fundamental example, if a word in a language has a negative connotation (as opposed to denotation), then that deeper meaning can affect how similar words are also treated. Or, if a culture is by nature patriarchal, their entire language and culture should reflect that. It should be reflected in the culture's religious practices and their laws.

It also helps to have visualizations of settings, characters, maps, etc. If you can't draw, it might be a worthwhile investment to find an artist who can help you visualize everything.

There is so much more that goes into world-building, but remember, the story should make sense as a result of the deeper world building, not the other way around.

[LadyN]

Trial and error. I started off with only 4 underdeveloped countries, now I have 12 with different themes to them. For me, I was getting outside opinions and asking questions to myself. If they could be answered then it’s covered, but if there’s a question that can’t be answered like “what’s the best place to fish?” then you solve the problem.

World building is overlooked by a lot of readers but it’s good to have it for the curious minds

And this is outdated so @ratique you may want to close this

[MeltingCORE]

Worldbuilding is insanely enjoyable for me. I tend to create other planets (sci-fi artist/author here). I usually start with the climate and what kind of world it is (desert planet? water planet? city planet?) ...then I go from there. I'll create the government structure/economy. Then the architecture style which leads into the species and their customs/language/etc!

[surenlicious]

As my novel uses original species, I had so much fun designing their culture, buildings, traditions and lots of lore. As they represent the three realms of the Genesis Trinity, the Living Flesh, Sentient Mind and World's Bones, I used elements from the lore of these three realms to design their society and culture.

My favorite is rituals and traditions, and with my mixed background I have lots of inspiration to draw from.