Five Tips on Worldbuilding

    Hello everyone! Welcome back to another Friday post! Today I get to share my five tips for worldbuilding! I am a fantasy writer and these are a few things I have learned over the years of writing my own worlds! I hope you will be able to use these! So let’s dive in!

1. Plan Ahead of Time

    Out of everything I could say, this one is probably the most important tip I could give you. I have made the mistake of rushing my worldbuilding so I can get to writing far too often. Then I get stuck when my world is developed in the last chapters and not in the first chapters. 

    This is why you should plan as much as you can before you get into writing. Take as much time as you think is necessary getting into worldbuilding, taking it step by step until it is done, then you can get into writing. 

2. Create the World Before the People

    The best way to create your own world is by taking tips from the best world-maker, God! 

    God created the world around us before He made us to live in it. We should do the same when creating a world. 

    Creating the cultures and people before creating the world around them can lead to a bunch of mistakes in the long run, especially because culture relies so much on how the land around them is. 

    So please develop the world and the land before creating your cultures!

3. Create the Whole World

    So what do I mean by this? Well, oftentimes we want to just worldbuild one area of our world: the place where the story is set. 

    This isn’t bad, but oftentimes your characters are going to travel across to another part of your world. And you don’t want to pause your writing to worldbuild that area, which is why you should worldbuild your entire world before you begin writing. 

4. History is Important

    History is what defines culture, which is why you should always create a history. 

    I really struggle with being patient and  creating history because I want to write in the present time of my world. But in order to do that, you have to write the past first. 

    This can look like a short paragraph summarizing what happened in that culture in the past and how this group of people came to be, or it could be a full-on collection of short stories. But however you roll with this one, please create history first. You will be thankful in the long run. 

5. Have a Unique Feature

    There are so many fantasy worlds out there, so how do you create one that people will look at and remember?

    This is where having a unique feature comes in. Oftentimes, this is the hardest thing to think of, but the most worth it. 

    So what counts as a ‘unique feature’? Well, think of your favorite fantasy world. Is there something odd or interesting that defines everything about the world?

    That is what I am talking about. For example, my world doesn’t spin or revolve around its sun. This leads to the sun never moving and one side stuck in darkness while the other has light. On top of that, it leads to one half being stuck in an endless winter while the other is in an endless summer. 

    That was my unique feature while worldbuilding that changed everything about my world. It is difficult at times to write, but it is memorable to everyone who reads about it. 

    And that summarizes my tips! I hope these could be helpful to you in some way!

    Before you go, which tip stuck out the most? Have you related to any of these before in your worldbuilding? Is your process for building worlds different than mine? Put your answers in the comments below!

    Until next time, 

~A.J. Syngrafèas