Create a Fictional World from Scratch

Always wanted to write a successful story with a fictional world? All of the things you need to consider are here.

Steps

  1. Figure out what kind of world you might make and see if it fits in with your plot. A fantasy filled with magical creatures? A sci-fi futuristic covered with aliens? Anything is possible! Just start with your desired theme and build from there.
  2. Set rules and foundations for your world. If it's a fantasy filled with goblins you cannot have an alien come out and attack the main character! You need to set laws, like who can and can't do this, where something will always be found, what is taboo and what not. Consistency is needed. You also need laws of Physics; not just government laws.
  3. Invent or recreate races for your world. What kind of creatures will be found in this world? Where will they usually live? What are their customs and traditions? What do they look like? Think carefully while making each individual race, this is where some of your laws come in.
  4. Create a society. How do your races live together? Do they work as one, have a king rule over them? What language do they speak? What calendar do they use? Are they mostly harvesters? Are they religious or are they aggressive (wars and battles could be frequent)? What are their mating habits; what are their family structures? You can go with something traditional from our own world, or create something entirely unique!
  5. Plan out what your world will look like. While variety is good you can't have half the world as a desert and the other as icy planes. In certain places that might be used a lot, (the capital city or the main character's home?) try to plan out where most things are and maybe even some of the residence.
  6. There may be some elements you want in the story that are important. Think about what type of world this is and would these make sense. In a sci-fi world humans may be killed on sight or in a fantasy world only high-borne nobles may be allowed to practice magic. Make sure these have a point in the story.(If all the characters are going to be rich what is the point of that law?)
  7. Ask yourself questions about this world like:
    • If I were a traveler passing through and saw >insert race here< in their natural habitat what would I see?
    • What sort of life would a normal person (average or most commonly found) live in this world?
    • If I were someone from a different world what impression would I get when seeing it for the first time?
    • What sort of knowledge would normal people in this world have?
  8. Put it all together. Your world should be like a puzzle, when brought together correctly it should fit easily to create a perfect picture. From here, look back and decide what to maybe edit or figure out how this world in general will have its toll on the plot.

Tips

  • Let your world flow naturally. Make people believe they are in a whole other world, don't go into chunky details about it--let your characters point out small details every now and then.
  • Remember this article is only to help you, you can do whatever you like.
  • Draw a map of your world, including details like the locations of characters' houses and where rivers and land-forms are. This will help you to remain consistent in your descriptions.
  • Write random stories and paragraphs about characters who will never ever be seen or mentioned in your story just to get a feel of their lives in this world.
  • A whole world can be hard to keep in your head. Jot down ideas and guidelines on paper or maybe sketch out some races and maps.
  • You should think about how your world is going to be. Is it going to be a place where everyone is rich or is it going to be normal with some wealthy people and some poor people? Who is going to be the president? Add some fun places to visit.

Warnings

  • Consistency. There should always be consistency in your world. For example, you should not have warrior elves that aren't magical suddenly start shooting lightning bolts out of their fingertips.
  • Characters should fit into a world, not the other way round. You may be attached to certain characters but unless you fit them into your rules instead of fitting your rules to your characters, parts of the story are going to crumble.
  • Your world should be unique and should not be too much like existing fictional worlds.
  • Don't make a world your own fantasy. We all like to have our own world sometimes, but no one else wants to read about your dream full of Mary-Sues. It is not entertaining unless they can slip into that world too.

Related Articles

You may like

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Create_a_Fictional_World_from_Scratch&oldid=266878"