The Essentials of World Building

Ah, Worldbuilding. The endless fields of opportunity that sit before a writer at the start of a story. It’s like stepping into a new open-world video game without a clue of where to start. But fear not, young ones, for there are A LOT of us who have pioneered forward and made many a rough map for you to follow! If you are interested in jumping right into the deep end, I’d suggest taking my upcoming mini-course on World Building Basics. For now, let’s just start with the essentials, like what the F%$# is world-building in the first place.

What in the world is World Building?

From the cosmos to the lair of the evil villain, the world of your main character is a critical part of your story. Without it, your heroes will end up wandering through a void of dialogue and the occasional look in the mirror. I consider world-building the first essential pillar to crafting your story because it tells you a lot about the characters and the overall story you’re trying to tell. A character will act a certain way if they were raised in the countryside rather than the bustling fish market of a major city. These are the juicy details that make stories like Marvel, Lord of the Rings, and even the shamed halls of Hogwarts stand out from the rest. Their moving pictures and magical doors make you light up at the cleverness of it all. You want your readers to walk into your world and never want to leave. It’s a lot of work and may sound like an overwhelming task at first. Many before you have had their ideas perish on the page because they didn’t have the heart to dig deep enough. They realized that it’s hard being a writer, but I think that world-building is the best part of the writing process. Yes, it is 100% one of the hardest pillars, but that’s what makes it so fun in the first place.

The Four Major Pillars of Writing Fiction

This doesn’t really have much to directly do with world-building, but I will say it is worth noting what they are so you can understand why the essentials of world-building are so crucial to your story. If you are interested in diving deeper into the rest of the pillars, I’d check out my upcoming article on this subject. For now, the four major pillars are (in my humble opinion):

· World Building

· Character Development

· Outlining

· Dialogue

Without these key ingredients, your story will be left flat and lifeless. There isn’t enough grammar and spell check in the world to help a story with missing pieces. So, keep these other three elements in your mind as we dive into the heart of World Building.

The Main Ingredients

When Are You?

It helps to establish what era your story falls in, even if it’s a made-up one. Knowing when you are in the timeline of your larger universe can give your story a realistic touch and also leave room for crossovers. If you can get into the basic yet important details of the time you’re writing for, it will already enhance your story by at least 10%. Start by deciphering if you need a holographic watch or a sundial to tell time and work your way from there. Be warned that those writing period pieces should be extra careful to do their research THROUGHLY. People tend to get fussy when you aren’t writing in an authentic light. If you decide to cut corners, you’ve been warned.

Where Are You?

Similarly, to the previous question, it helps to know where you are geographically. This is when the trees and buildings start taking shape in your mind. Is it a fairy village or New York City? Do you use fire to light the streetlamps or is the city hooked up to a cooperate power grid? Is there black concrete lining the streets or overgrown cobblestone? This is where Pinterest and Instagram can be your best friend for inspiration to create the infamous Vision Board. If you plan to borrow some images for visual examples that you will be either posting or presenting to others, make sure to give the artist credit. Or, better yet, collaborate with them and see if they’ll be interested in bringing your world visually to life. A few sketched-out pieces can really immerse you into your own world and solidify some of those elusive details when you’re writing your story later on. Even though we all must steal like artists, we are not thieves. Always give credit where credit is due by creating a reference sheet or pasting the link below the photo. It will come in handy and save you time later on when working with others professionally. I might write a whole different article about this later on but STAY ORGANIZED PEOPLE!

How Are You?

The tone of the world you’re trying to create should’ve already poked its head out by now and with good reason. As you fantasize about your mega castles and gold-paved roads, you will get a sense of the people walking along the sidewalk. Are they happy, angry, rich, or poor? Is there trash lining the streets or are there robots that sweep the gutters? Is Big Money Bucks running the show and sapping the town dry? What resources are the most valuable to the world itself? This will help fine-tune the smaller details that make or break a story. Think of Attack on Titan if they didn’t come up with the origin of the Titans and the town that those Titans come from. We probably wouldn’t be at Season 355 Part 28 and Erin would have a very hum-drum lifestyle in his disheveled hometown. Don’t take for granted the little sparks that bring your world to life. As the saying goes, “the devil's in the details” and it’s your job to snuff every last one.

Why Are You?

This is a question to get nice and comfortable with as early as possible, but I save it for last when it comes to world-building. You will find yourself with an immense amount of research that you may or may not know what to do with. Honing into the why is a great way to ground yourself back into the heart of your story. Why are you writing this story in the first place? Why were you drawn to this story and why is it necessary to dig this deep? Why is this detail important? Is it necessary to name every single character or are there some characters that pop in for one scene like the waiter? Does the waiter need a backstory? Why does the waiter need a backstory? The more you ask why, the more clarity you will gain for the holes in your world. This is a fantastic place to be if you haven’t written anything yet because you won’t have any plot holes in your outline. Even if you have written something (like I have famously done out of sheer excitement for the story), you have a slight advantage because you can incorporate those details into the world and bust the proverbial gates wide open from there. Whether you start with just a vague idea or a full-blown bullet point list of details, knowing why you fell in love with this story in the first place should always be at the forefront of your mind when you’re world-building.

It can be a scary world in the waters of World Building. If you are serious about doing some decent world-building and still find yourself stuck after reading this article, check out my mini-course on The Basics of Storytelling while I work on finishing up the mini-course on World Building Basics. This is a great tool for beginners or non-fiction writers that want some guidelines to work with. The course is self-paced and comes with some templates to help you write out your ideas.

World Anvil Logo 2023

If you have decided to take a chance on creating a Marvel or Star Wars scale of a universe, I highly suggest checking out World Anvil to keep your world organized. I adore the platform as well as its creators and 100% believe it is the best world-building tool for the job. It keeps everything in one spot for you to reference, share, and build upon as you write. This is a powerful tool to have in your toolbox, and hope that you use it to your advantage because it’s FREE!

I hope to see you soon in whatever form I appear. Until next time!

About the Author

Crystal Cabrae is a storyteller who specializes in writing dystopian, romantic, and adventurous worlds for animation and fantastical fiction. She is a proud graduate of Full Sail University, AMDA, and New World School of the Arts. Her six years of acting training in both New York and Miami gives her a unique perspective when approaching her characters. She has a passion for sharing how to create stories with the world and inspiring the storyteller that lives within all of us. Follow her on IG or Pinterest to know the latest.