Where to begin?

[SKAndal]

What do you start with when you have a world? Or better: What do you continue with?

I have rough description of the storyline that is about to unfold in this world. I have a few basic descriptions of the races of this world and attempted a rough map. Whenever I try to continue with something, I feel that there should be a map, and when i'm working on the map i feel that I just don't know enough of this world. Wether it is a culture or the history of the world.

There are so manny aspects to building a world that i just don't know where to start, or to what extend I should develop one thing before starting at another aspect.

Any do's and don'ts?

Thanks,
SKAndal

 

[Steerpike]

It comes down to what works best for you, SKAndal. I probably do a bit less than what you have already done and just start writing. The rest of the world and backstory fleshes itself out as I'm writing, and to the extent necessitated by my story.

Other people prefer to get every detail of the world and its history hammered out before typing the first word. There's no right or wrong way to go about it.

 

[Devor]

It depends, but if you're writing a book, I think at some point you should take a few minutes to at least consider whether you're following through on the worldbuilding basics. I usually use:

Magic, Ecology, Warfare, Government and Culture.

That is, flush out each of these topics however much you need to and whether they are different from the real world; if so, how? If not, do you know enough about the real world to know what you're talking about?

I'm not going to tell you how much to spend on each topic - as little as a few minutes to think about it, as much as a week of research - that's going to depend on you, how much you already know, and what your story entails.

The goal is to brainstorm a coherent setting full of ideas that help make your story better without finding yourself shoehorning irrelevant nonsense into the story. It's an easy thing to get wrong.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Yes, you need to develop an approach that's right for you. I almost always start with creating distinct characters. I find them the most interesting & I decide what kind setting their stories fit into as they develop. I do make rough maps but not for inclusion in the book. Rather, it's just for my own orientation as characters move about.

I really don't do a lot of detailed setting & world building. Rather, I flesh out those details as I write the story. I do however, spend significant time on character archetypes & sketches, dynamic outlines, and plot development. I work on those things until I just can't stand not writing any longer.

Your post implies the question, "What do I need to properly build a setting?" The answer is as little or as much as you like. -OR- "As much as you need to tell your story."

For some, finer details, like those Devor mentioned, are important for creating a textured, realistic world. However, I've read many stories that never mentioned significant amounts of ecology, or other main elements, and I didn't find them lacking.

 

[ThinkerX]

I've built probably dozens of worlds down through the decades. Then I went and squashed them together until only two and a few bits remained (for fantasy worlds). SF worlds are another situation.

Most of my fantasy worlds were originally intended as AD&D style game settings. That affected some things. The actual inspirations varied quite a bit, but usually had their roots in fantasy novels.

With me, it went:

1) Concept or overall theme for the world. High tech? Low tech? Alien life forms? Empires or city states?

2) The Map (something else I spent way too much time at back then). This was usually directly tied to the concept.

3) National details - military, religion, what the buildings look like, what the typical meals are, that sort of thing. For parts of the world that don't play a significant role in the stories, this part can be real sketchy. Even for a the parts of the world that do figure into the stories, a bunch of this stuff gets made up during the actual writing.

 

[SKAndal]

Thank you very much all. That helped me al lot.

Ps.

I am really surprised at the quality and quantity of the responses. I like this community already .

 

[Graylorne]

Perhaps you'd like this website: Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

It is a great help by creating your own worlds.

 

[SKAndal]

I know what to do. I'll just start with the cultures and such. I'll figure out later where they fit in or wether to use them at all. If they are not used in the story, I can always use them in a D&D setting later .