One of the hardest things about writing a fantasy novel (or science fiction novel for that matter) is that you have to make up an entire world. Even if you’re basing it loosely on Mediaeval Europe or Ming dynasty China, you still need to figure out what exactly is different – how having magic or dragons or whatever changed the course of history as we know it.
Start with the bit of the world that your novel is based in – the country, or the city – or the spaceship or the planet, if you’re writing scifi. That’s what you need to know best. Think about things like:
- What is the population?
- What’s the economy like? Are they rich or poor? What’s the currency, the main export?
- What’s the landscape like – mountainous, deserts, plains?
- What about transport? Do most people move on foot, by horse, by steam-powered jet packs?
But you need to go beyond your story’s home base. Think about the countries or cities that your home base has relationships with – good and bad. Why is the relationship that way?
Nail down some big picture ideas about the world history – especially as it might relate to your plot, or be mentioned by your characters. Major wars, technological advances, art movements. These are things you don’t need to know in vast detail, but it’s worth thinking about how the lives of your characters might have been changed by them. Even if they were hundreds of years ago, maybe their parents or grandparents lived through them. Or maybe that’s where their ancestors made their fortune – or lost it.
Now that you’ve gone big, go smaller. Think about how your main characters live. The clothes they wear, the food they eat, the home they live in. Though these are mundane things, they’re still very important to your characters, they can help show who they are. Do they wear lavish silk robes, or rough sackcloth tunics? Do they eat vegetarian food as part of their religious beliefs, or do they spend ridiculous amounts of money having the best of everything on their table? It’s part of their day to day lives, but including details like that can paint a vivid picture for your readers both of your characters and the world they inhabit.
If your world has magic, spend some time thinking about how it works. You don’t need to go into great detail, but fleshing it out can make it a richer reading experience. Here are some ideas:
- Are people born with magic, and if so, does everyone have it or just a select few?
- Where does magic come from?
- How and where do people learn to use magic?
- What are the limitations of magic? Is there a cost to using it?
There are so many things to think about when you are worldbuilding, and this is just a small sample – but hopefully a fun one! If you’re interested in learning more, you might be interested in my Fantasy Writing Planner Bundle which has even more ideas to play with.
Don’t miss part two of the worldbuilding series.