by Charlie Fabre
Often times when we think of writing – or maybe this is just me – we think of the characters. They are, after all, the driving force of any story, the people we fall in love with, the heart and soul. But who are the characters without the world that shapes them?
Although not always at the forefront, the world where you choose to set your story is just as important as the set of character that you fill it with. After all, the characters are informed by said world, live in the context of it, and in certain stories would hope to change the world.
So, here is a brief guide to world building, whether you’re writing the next contemporary classic or an enormous fantasy epic.
World building a place that already exists
Maybe you’re writing a story set in modern day London in fancy Mayfair, or maybe your characters are from a nomadic community roaming the tundras of Mongolia.
London and Mongolia are obviously real places already – places your readers can easily google or even visit. It’s easy to think that, because a setting is real, you don’t have to do as much world building.
But in the case of Mongolia for example, just because it’s google-able and visitable, doesn’t mean readers know what it’s like. You still have to do the work of bringing Mongolia and its culture, landscapes, and people to life.
Even with London, a city many people have visited (probably more than Mongolia, anyway), you still need to do the work. Mayfair is not the same as Greenwich, the people aren’t the same, the culture, the details. And each person living in Mayfair has a different view of Mayfair.
Part of world building a place that already exists comes from the character and who they are. How they see the world will inform how the reader sees said world – even if they themselves are already familiar with it.
For example, I grew up spending some time in the Pyrénées, but when I read When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà which is set in the Pyrénées, I was afforded a completely different world to the one I know.
This is part of the magic! Many people think London or Mongolia are special and interesting places, but why does your character think, or perhaps not think, they’re special and interesting? These are the things to focus on.
Research
Research is especially important if you’re writing something like historical fiction (goes without saying) or a fantasy based on medieval life. You’re going to want to look up a range of things, like:
- fashion of the times
- class and politics
- even whether they had toilets or not and how exactly the plumbing worked and whether it resulted in illnesses!
If you’re writing about a place you’ve never been to it’s a great idea to visit. That’s not necessarily in the realm of possibility for everyone, so the next best thing is to talk to people from this place.
Reddit is honestly such a great place for this! Whether you’re researching modern life in Japan, views on ancient mythology in Greece, or the dining conventions of nobility in Renaissance Italy; there’s bound to be someone who can help (if Google gets too boring).
Get niche
This is especially important for a completely made up fantasy world, but it definitely shouldn’t be forgotten by writers basing their stories in the real world either. Get niche with it!
What do I mean by that?
Well, it’s basically about finding all the little idiosyncrasies which will make your world feel real and actually lived in. This is more than just the look and feel of a city, the smell of the merchant quarter, the shine of three suns in the sky.
Take the above and deepen it: What is the day-to-day effect of having three suns? How have people adapted to the heat and the brightness? What are the small and mundane details?
Think of, for example, the nose tubes in Dune (I forget if these have a real name). To the reader it’s an odd detail, but to the characters within Dune, to the Fremen living on Arrakis, the nose tubes are a terribly mundane detail. They all wear them all the time, the same way we all have cell phones. This is the kind of detail that not only informs the reader of your world – the weather, living conditions, how the Fremen adapted – but makes it feel actually lived in.
Or, take the example of cell phones. Most of us either have iPhones or Androids and there seems to be a friendly rivalry between both camps. There’s no real reason for it, it’s honestly quite silly, but this is a real detail of the modern world that an alien coming down to Earth (like a reader reading a book) might question and find compelling.
A great way to think about idiosyncrasies is to have a walk around the place you live and peer behind the veil. Villages, cities, and countries are more than just the people living in them, they’re made up of how the people live. These niche details, even if only mentioned in passing, are what will strengthen the believability of your world.
Building a fantasy world
World building a fantasy place often takes a lot more effort than setting your story in, say, New York City. This is obviously because you’re making everything up from scratch, even if you use real world politics, history, etc. to inform yourself.
Outside of the basic description of your cities and castles, these are some of the things to consider to really flesh out the new world:
- What’s the economy like? Is there trade? What kind? Between who? What are the primary resources of your world and are there enough?
- Consider the geography and what kind of impact this will have on power and politics. People living in mountains and people living in coastal towns have very different lives.
- If there is a pantheon of gods and/or different religions, how do they co-exist? What are the practices of these? How does religion inform things like gender roles, family planning, etc.?
- What is the culture of your world and how does it differ from city to city? How is this culture displayed and acted out?
- If there is a magic system, consider how magic has changed every day life. Have certain commonalities become redundant? Is magic political or weaponized? Does everyone have access to magic or is it limited/exclusive? What class problems have arisen from it?
Building a magic system is a whole other beast, though it does often go hand in hand with your world building. Think about it this way: If we all suddenly developed magical powers (whatever they may be), our society and ways of living would be irrevocably changed.
Visualising the world
My favourite way to visualise the world I’m building is to create a mood board or a collage. Use pictures you’ve actually taken, of London, to continue the example above, or have a browse through Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Creating a mood board can help you when you’re writing descriptions, but it can also give each location you’re writing about an overall vibe to adhere to.
A really fun exercise could be to take two of your characters and make a mood board of the same location from each of their POVs. This can help you understand what stands out in the world to each of the characters and then explain why those exact details stand out.
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