How do you build your fantasy world?

[pmmg]

I think that, with the right methodology, building a world is actually a the relatively easier part of writing.

But it doesn't get words on page. Words on page beats world building.

 

[Ceaseless Watcher]

Depends really on the project.

[Eldara]: I, a high-school classmate, and an online friend came up with a few characters, whom I put down in a starting situation and built the plot, then the world outwards from that. More than 11 years later, I've got a pretty well-developed world and story, though my current rewrite is taking a while.

[Arc Contingency]: I started with the setting, the world, and thought of a story to set in it, for which I then created a handful of characters. Slow first draft ongoing.

[Radiant Night]: I saw a worldbuilding prompt I liked, got inspired by it, and thought up a world based on it. I worked out the broad lore/history, but I1m yet to create an actual story or characters for it.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

We're currently thrashing about in the tall grass - more on the tall grass in our series, ,later - and it's a lot of work. And like the Books of Binding, this story is very old, a trilogy 35 years in the making, and here I am trying to figure out how, exactly, we're going to get our cast from the South to the North, and then back with an army in tow.

It's the transitional passage from the screaming depths of Hell.

We also need to know tech levels, what does magic look like, why doesn't anyone go exploring in the Deep Water to discover the second continent? The answer is great fun, and now I know what the cultures of the empire beyond the Northern Mountains looks like, I know we have two peoples taking up the same warm air, and I know that, very loosely, we're going to take a swing at portraying an indigenous population that was never colonized. living side by side with a Russia analog, each holding political power. The Indigenous analog comes with advantages in their adaptations to living pressed against walls of ice and flesh and water so deep that it dances with violent currents deep down in the drowning dark.

At the moment we're calling them the Leviathan Riders. There might be some rather large fishing to be had. Not sure if they need fishing liscenses. Bait shop on shore.

So, TLDR; I'm throwing music and pics and anything that comes across my desk all into a hat, which turns it all into spaghetti which I then fling at the walls to se what sticks.

 

[ThinkerX]

We're currently thrashing about in the tall grass - more on the tall grass in our series, later - and it's a lot of work. And like the Books of Binding, this story is very old, a trilogy 35 years in the making, and here I am trying to figure out how, exactly, we're going to get our cast from the South to the North, and then back with an army in tow.

From the pics, the tech level looks to be at least mid-20th century.

 

[pmmg]

From the pics, I am betting on the old school tooth and claw.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

From the pics, the tech level looks to be at least mid-20th century.

We're shooting for Regency/Victorian social and tech levels, with as yet unnamed Steampunk China and a culture that takes austere to the next level. Very repressive, even their clothing styles are ridged and unyielding. I'm having a hell of a lot of fun filling in the gaps between the inspiration pics. And when all looks functional... we're going to have ourselves a world war. With magic! And an autistic 17 year-old girl who may be the owner of a once in a generation mind for strategy and tactics, and her 700lb talking pig, Rachelle.

And everything started working again when I finally got into KPop Demon Hunters.

 

[Malik]

I started in a corner and built out.

In my second novel, one of the major characters is in charge of a castle that raises and trains cavalry who use Pegasi.

This meant I had to build out a castle big enough to field air assets.

When I developed the saddles for the pegasi, it became obvious that they'd require more straps than an equestrian saddle.

These straps would cause rubbing and chafing--common in horses; it's called tack gall, which can lead to abscesses.

This castle would need veterinarians who specialized in magical animals. Also, they would have developed magical salves and other relief for blisters, abscesses, injuries, and so forth. This became the foundation for the military's medical corps. This necessitated a network of mages regularly touching base with the veterinarians at the Air Base. This meant some method of communication, as well as a role inside the armies for mages who'd decided to become healers, and so forth.

Having already plotted the series, I pretty much built the entire military structure out from a lone tube of bacitracin.

 

[Diana Silver]

Whichever I use, I try not to do too much world-building. Once things are set in stone as it were, it is too easy to paint yourself into a corner.

This is me, too. I actually only build the parts of my world that the story actually requires. I'm not one of those writers who build extended worlds and then see what stories take place in them. My worlds are there for the story, not the other way around. When my characters come to a place, I invent its history and tie it into the rest. If my characters don't visit a place or don't meet a tribe, I don't spend time on the place of the tribe.

 

[coldblade]

I only build the parts I need then later ill expand on the world later.

 

[Diana Silver]

I only build the parts I need then later ill expand on the world later.

I'm so glad to hear that from multiple people here. Looking at the many elaborate worldbuilding-focused projects that get posted here, I was starting to feel like the odd one out xD

 

[A. E. Lowan]

From the pics, I am betting on the old school tooth and claw.

Somehow managed to scan past this. Whoops! The "old school of tooth and claw" is a perfect description for the politics of the Books of Binding. It's a five-minutes-into-the-future, hidden world Urban Fantasy where might really does mean right - not in a right vs wrong perspective but in the classic "I just kicked your ass seven ways from Sunday, so you get to make probably the biggest of a handful of choices you get in what can mean a very long life... for the lucky." Whether immortal of the ephemeral and furry, in a world still ruled by magic and steel, being given any choice at all is remarkable.

 

[Mad Swede]

I started in a corner and built out.

So did I.

I began writing about a character, and the world building sort of followed on from this.

We've all seen the more common fantasy stories, but inbetween all those quests what do our heroes do for a living? That was where I started.

And when I began to write the story a whole series of questions followed. What sort of small jobs do people like that take? Who gives out jobs like these, and how is work like that seen by others? Are those sorts of jobs always legal and/or ethical, does our character sometimes get used or manipulated by others? How does our character feel about all that? How does our character get paid and what do they do with the money? For all this to work there has to be some sort of legal system, and some sort of financial system, so what do these look like? Established legal and financial systems require some form of government and hence a state, which leads on to politics and how that affects the sorts of jobs available and who might commission some sorts of work... And all this was before I even started to think about the back story for the character, which in itself might explain why the character chose to do this sort of work. And then all the little details like food, drink, travel and weapons had to be considered.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I started with a simple story idea, and the world building that followed was driven by story neccesity.

 

[eliamartin65]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I started with a simple story idea, and the world building that followed was driven by story neccesity.

I'm going through a similar process ATM.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I'm so glad to hear that from multiple people here. Looking at the many elaborate worldbuilding-focused projects that get posted here, I was starting to feel like the odd one out xD

Not an odd man at all. Well... okay, no, we're all very odd. I tell people I have 500 idiots living rent-free in my head, and one of my mentees has these elaborate and extensive charts and notes and they lapped me in the worldbuilding department long ago. The point is no matter what the rest of the class is doing, you do you and you will shine.

So did I.

I began writing about a character, and the world building sort of followed on from this.

We've all seen the more common fantasy stories, but inbetween all those quests what do our heroes do for a living? That was where I started.

And when I began to write the story a whole series of questions followed. What sort of small jobs do people like that take? Who gives out jobs like these, and how is work like that seen by others? Are those sorts of jobs always legal and/or ethical, does our character sometimes get used or manipulated by others? How does our character feel about all that? How does our character get paid and what do they do with the money? For all this to work there has to be some sort of legal system, and some sort of financial system, so what do these look like? Established legal and financial systems require some form of government and hence a state, which leads on to politics and how that affects the sorts of jobs available and who might commission some sorts of work... And all this was before I even started to think about the back story for the character, which in itself might explain why the character chose to do this sort of work. And then all the little details like food, drink, travel and weapons had to be considered.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I started with a simple story idea, and the world building that followed was driven by story necessity.

Second this. Our third book, a monstrosity of a paperback that could kill a man, was a surprise. By that book we were supposed to have everyone in Seattle for a thing in the place. But Jenny and I were sitting and discussing the small things that can happen between books, which we tend to spin out as short pieces and park them on our blog for all to mock. And the conversation turned to our faerie knight with the potty mouth and incidentally a thousand years' worth of experience and stories. And next thing we knew, there were dwarves.

Everyone, meet the first bouncing baby book surprise, Beneath a Stone Sky: The Third Book of Binding.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I'm so glad to hear that from multiple people here. Looking at the many elaborate worldbuilding-focused projects that get posted here, I was starting to feel like the odd one out xD

I actually feel like this is the default when it comes to world building. Even the grandfather of all worldbuiders, Tolkien wrote stories that expanded his worldbuilding. He didn't build stuff in isolation. He too started with an idea and expanded it through stories.

I have 500 idiots living rent-free in my head

I'm sure they're not all idiots...

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I actually feel like this is the default when it comes to world building. Even the grandfather of all worldbuiders, Tolkien wrote stories that expanded his worldbuilding. He didn't build stuff in isolation. He too started with an idea and expanded it through stories.


I'm sure they're not all idiots...

It's the smart ones that scare me. lol

 

[Mad Swede]

It's the smart ones that scare me. lol

Oh yes... That was/is always the problem in military operations. The dangerous ones are those commanders who are smart enough to think creatively and hide it in the guise of what looks like normal military tactics...

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Oh yes... That was/is always the problem in military operations. The dangerous ones are those commanders who are smart enough to think creatively and hide it in the guise of what looks like normal military tactics...

That is excellent information to know.

 

[Lillith_Sorvalen]

I create 3D digital height maps in 3Ds MAX. First, I create a black and white topography map in Photoshop, then I import it into 3Ds MAX and play around with the topography tools using a 2d plane. Third, I decorate my world with water, flora, and textures. Finally, I let my imagination free an see what I come up with. When it comes to writing the stories, I expand on the world as I go. This process allows me more freedom and customization.

 

[Devor]

I've been eying this thread to comment on for ages, so I'm glad someone else bumped it first.

But I've talked about my process before. I'll post just a quick summary.

- Start with any idea, whether it's ill-defined or a few ideas to push together
- Identify supports the idea needs to work, like a Knight's Order, Kingdom, etc.

- Push them until you find a dynamic, the personal tension connecting characters
- Rework everything to milk the dynamic for all its emotional value; this is your concept

- Run your concept through the basic needs of character, plot, and worldbuilding
- Use placeholders for ideas that don't need to be developed until later

- When you've comfortably figured out Act 1, start writing; let the rest percolate
- After Act 1, run it by people, review what's working, figure out Act 2
- Make only the limited (but maybe still big) changes to Act 1 that are needed for Act 2 to work
- Write Act 2...

I tried adding a second part to this post, about something more specific in my work, how I figured out the five countries that are on the map and relevant to the story, But it got really wordy and I wasn't sure if anyone was going to be interested.