Anyone who decides to write a fictional book will need to do some level of worldbuilding. The genre you choose to write will play a major role in how much worldbuilding you need to do and how much that world will deviate from our existing world. The worlds created for historical fiction are very different than worlds created by those who embark on an epic fantasy. Regardless, worldbuilding will be a part of the writing process and evaluating the characteristics of your world will help you create a more realistic world that readers will imagine themselves within.
At the most basic level, worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with the real world and sometimes involving whole fictional universes or fictional continents. When creating entirely new universes it is important to consider coherent qualities such as history, geography, and ecology in addition to the organisms (races, species, creatures) that will dwell in that world.
But your worldbuilding is not done there. Regardless of genre, most well-realized worlds share a range of characteristics. Every world created may not exhibit all these characteristics, but some will apply. The complexity of the world determines how much applies and which characteristics you need to consider.
Every author should, at least, consider the following seven characteristics and weigh their world against them.
1. Coherent and Cohesive Logic: No matter how fantastical and absurd your world is, it has to all make sense together. Your world doesn’t have to be anything like our world, but whatever you create, it has to have clarity. All the pieces must fit together in a logical fashion. If any one part of it sticks out and feels odd to you, chances are your readers will see it too.
2. Cause and Effect: As writers, we spend a considerable about of time developing the motives of our characters. But what about the motives of our world? Taking the time to consider the societal and political motives and how they impact the characters’ lives can add a considerable about of depth and realism to a story. It’s also a great way to develop a great theme for a story.
3. Strategic Details: Worldbuilding can involve developing and writing down a considerable amount of backstory and history to the location and characters in your story. Some of this information will be important to share with the reader, but a lot of it is only important to you, the author. One of your greatest challenges is figuring out which details are important for the readers to know and which are not. It’s also important to know when to introduce the details. Starting a novel with a lot of info dump is a bad idea. The reader doesn’t need to know everything within the opening pages.
4. Mystery: Mystery is closely related to strategic details. By not telling the reader everything and creating intrigue in how you introduce information is a great way to create lifelong fans. A sense of discovery and giving readers an opportunity to speculate and theorize what may be coming next is ideal. New worlds should be left for discovery, not dumped on us like a history book.
5. Depth and Width: One of the reasons I love fantasies so much is because of their close connection to the natural world. Describing the views of nature is a part of writing I love the most. But it’s not enough to only describe what the eye can see. Be sure to play with all the senses: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. Doing so will create considerable depth to the story and really draw the reader in.
6. Mirrors our real world with deviations: Let’s face it, we are drawn to the familiar. No matter how fantastical a world becomes, adding even the most minor elements of familiarity will engage readers. Often without them even realizing it. Mirroring our real world to varying degrees is not only intriguing but desired.
7. Complexity: The degree of complexity needed for your world will be heavily influenced by the plot and overall story you want to tell. If you’re embarking on the journey of creating the next best epic fantasy, complexity is a must. Just as our world is, your world should also be complex. Considering elements such as culture (multicultural), religions, societal divisions, economy, etc. will add a higher sense of believability to your world. Simplicity has its place, but not always where worldbuilding is concerned.
Creating new fictional worlds can be a lot of fun and it’s a great time to really let your creative juices flow. But once it’s all done, comparing your world against these seven characteristics could be the final polishing step that sets your world above all others.
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Angelique Bochnak is a dreamer and believes all things are possible with a lot of hard work, persistence, and determination. With her head in the clouds or her eyes turned to the stars, she spends countless hours imagining new adventures and far off worlds for which to travel. When she isn’t dreaming, she writes science fiction and fantasy with her focus on epic fantasies, apocalyptic and dystopian fiction. Fortitude Rising, a sci-fi dystopian fantasy, is her first published novel under her pen name A.M. Bochnak. Angelique is also the co-founder of the sci-fi, fantasy, horror focused indie publishing company, Mad Goat Press. Angelique is a member of several writing and publishing organizations including FWA, IBPA, and FAPA. She is passionate about helping other writers become authors and regularly posts inspirational, motivational, and educational material on her various social media platforms. In addition to her contributions in this writing community, you can learn more about her work and workshops on her new platform here! She is an American author and publisher, born and raised in southern Ohio and now lives in Gainesville, Florida.
