World building for beginners

What is world building?

World building is the part of the writing process where you set up where your story takes place. So if you made a sort of timeline in the writing process you'd have Idea > Outline > World Building...

What does world building consist of?

You've probably heard the term before now, especially if like me you're a fan of Fantasy and Science Fiction. World building includes the landscape that your characters will traverse, as well as setting the tones and themes for the story. We are all influenced by the world around us. It influences our views and beliefs as much as our immediate surroundings, I.e. your family or people you grow up with. These influences can come from many different areas in the world, including class systems, historical influences, religion, climate, and more.

Example 1: Class Systems in World Building (The Hunger Games and Red Rising)

World building is in pretty much every fantasy and science fiction series you could think of. Some of my favourite examples are the class system in the hunger games. Along with the history causing the lack of food to go around, creating the immediate environment for the books, the Hunger Games. The same sort of class system works in the Red Rising series, where the environment in which you are born determines your standing in the world on Mars. The red’s are the manual labourers who work under the planet’s surface and are therefore seen as less than, where as the golds are the “leaders” of this new colony because they are genetically bigger, stronger and smarter. Each class is colour coded to their dedicated position in the new world.

Example 2: Religion and Politics

Another favourite of mine, which isn’t a book series but is still AMAZING is Star Wars. It’s set in a galaxy far far away, where the whole solar system is something from George Lucas’ mind. Not only that, but the politics is partially a reflection of our own world, with the Galactic Republic being a democracy based system with electives representing their individual planets, as well as having a dictatorship (even if they didn’t know about it) due to Palpatine playing both sides like his own personal game of chess… against himself. There is also different religions, the most prominent one being the Jedi order. They have their own temples where they enhance their connection with the force.

So where do you start?

This is a great question, and personally I think it will depend on your preference, as well as the story you want to tell as not all world building is necessary in every story.

I will be continuing this series going into more detail on each aspect of world building, both here on my blog and over on my YouTube channel if you would prefer to listen to me ramble, instead of read it. This video can be found here: https://youtu.be/GeZkGEAuBfA?si=HnhZ-IcpB8fa6prT

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Until next time!

Fay