World-Building

[sarillia]

I noticed that I'm not the only one around here who likes to write fantasy and come up with my own worlds. So how you do go about it?

For me it depends on which elements of the world will be most important to the story. I have one where the religion is very important so that's what I started with. Other times it may be a political story so it's the government that's most important. Or the family structure for more domestic stories.

Once I've figured out the elements that are most important to the plot, I go through a typical day in the life of my main character and write down any questions I have. What food do they eat? That will largely depend on indigenous wildlife in their climate and how sophisticated their trade networks are. Same with what clothes they wear.

So how do you all build your fantasy cultures?

Comments

[badass_tiger]

Whenever I build a world, I start by writing a short story from the POV of a minor character. When I write fanfiction and find plot holes, I often find ways to explain them, like the mechanics behind the magic and so on, so beginning by writing is the best way for me to explore the world I'm making. I know some people fill out questionnaires and profiles, but I always get stuck on those. It's like living for a day in that world so that I get to know the place better.

[serria]

This is an awesome question, and very relevant to my own work in the fantasy genre.

I have written fantasy before where I've just gone with the flow of the story and made it up as I went, and there is something to be said about flexibility with the atmosphere as your characters and plot develop. But that being said, I really enjoy complex world-building. I am academically studying medieval history, though history is kind of a hobby for me, too. It's caused me to think about, for example, what kind of resources my people have, what crops they have (and don't have), what food they make, what their houses look like, etc.

For my main fantasy story - the one that will probably span several books if it ever gets done - I put together a binder of info. I've typed up loads of info for my own reference; for example, mythology (yeah, I kind of wrote one, lol!), political/religious hierarchies, relationships with other countries/fantasy races, clothes, the magic system, etc.

It's my favorite part of studying history (what was the day to day like life of premodern people?) and therefore I love the creativity that comes with world building. The problem is I don't think half the stuff I've "built" will ever show up in the actual story, haha.

I like your strategy of thinking about what a character would go through in a day, though I guess I don't really think of that unless I'm actually writing. I tend to approach it more textbook style.

[belacqua]

I use questionnaires religiously. It can get tedious, but I just feel better knowing all the little unnecessary details. Right now, I'm working through them for an astrology-based fantasy world. I started by thinking up some basic facets of their religion and society, then dug into the questionnaires.