How do you go about building a world for a fantasy story?

Question

It so much work where do you start?

Answer 1

try starting with your ideal place on earth and gradually changing it to fit your story.

Keep note on differences
and be consistent, even if you chang everything and make a completely unreal place don't contradict yourself!

Answer 2

Think about a time and a place. Try to visualize it in your head and then describe it in words. What are the geographical features? What unusual features are there? How strong or weak is the force of magic? What races are present? What is the technology level?

Populate your new world with interesting characters, add a dash of conflict and then dream up the relevent facts and locations for your character. Think a bit about the history of your world and the global politics / conflicts as well as local details.

Once you've got a general grasp on the setting add in as much detail as you can. This will give it more realism.

Think about it but don't think about it too much. Thinking about writing is not writing. Only writing is writing. Its surprising how much of it comes out of the fingers and not the brain. By that I mean that once you get going new ideas pop up all the time to support the general framework.

If you can really get lost in the fantasy, it sometimes feels like the characters themselves are making the decisions. In any case I find that the setting, plot and characters all feed off each other so I don't make any final decisions about one of those three factors until I get to that part of the story down. Of course you do have to keep continuity of time and place and of character interactions and that will limit your choices but don't limit them too far by having everything set in stone.

That said, thats just how I do it, everybody has a different style.

Answer 3

http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/faqs8.html

That is a link to the worldbuilding section on Holly Lisle's website-- I would recommend you start there! It answers a lot of basic questions on maps, names, etc. There's an entire mapping workshop on there.

It is a lot of work, and honestly if it's too much for you then you should reconsider writing fantasy.

Personally, I start with a continent. Preferably the one where the action will start. If I already have a plot outline, I think about what kinds of geography is needed to tell the story. Are they going to be travelling across river and mountains? Deserts? I try to make my geographical features plausible with the way landscapes really develop. Some basic geology courses can REALLY help here.

Then I find logical places for the towns to be. People need to settle near sources of fresh water, so lakes and rivers would be some of the first places to consider placing your cities. They also tend to settle near easy means of transportation (rivers also help here).

You have to consider what kind of fantasy you're writing. Urban fantasy will have a far different look to it than something with a more Arthurian setting.

I have a large binder that I use to organize my maps. Beyond world maps, I like to make sure to have maps of the cities and castles that my characters will visit. Most readers won't be able to suspend their disbelif once they realize that your Inn used to be next to the blacksmith shop, but is now next to stables!

If you haven't read it, Orson Scott Card wrote an excellent book called "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy". Check it out!

Answer 4

There are many many wonderful sources to help you create your own world for a fantasy story. Check out my sources to see them. They usually provide basic questions and decisions you need to make about how your world works and even if its not exactly what your looking for they are a great start to get you into the right train of thought. you can search 'fantasy world building' to find even more possibilities.

Answer 5

The operative word is work. For something like this, I suggest you have fun with. I'd start by drawing maps. Put in some rivers. Knowing history is good. It'll give you ideas along what lines your world could have developed. I'd start with a map of 'the world today', and then try to imagine how it got to be that way.

Answer 6

What is the most important thing in that world? What Gods do they worship? What is on the kitchen table? What is the worst curse in the language? What do they fear the most? Work your way out from there.

You can create worlds in a million different ways and all of them are correct. Lee Killough has a good checklist for building civilizations. Check it out. I think you can find it either on her website or possibly through Yard Dog Press.

Good luck on your writing.

Answer 7

Think abotu what you want to achieve and get out of the world your story is set in, and start thinking up of little details. Think about what you need to make the story work, and then how you are going to put all those pieces together into a world fresh out of your creativity.

Answer 8

Play some D&D. That's what Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman do. Or imagine a favorite place as a child, a spot in the woods or a playgroung, and upscale it to the size of a country in your imagination.
People
Characters
Places
Artifacts
Religions
Plot

Answer 9

in one column list all the features of the world we live in: physical (grass, sky, oceans, etc.) Then list the social features (governnments, rulers, mores, ceremonies, etiquette, recreation, etc.) then list the kinds of people (races, physical characteristics, intellectual characteristics, personalities). In parallel columns, create with your imagination the same item only totally different), e.g., sky is green, 5 suns, purple oceans with scarlet beaches); very tall, elongated people with skins varying from striped to dotted to bas-relief; all marriages limited to 50 settings of the suns an involving 4 people; terrain with black grass and burning rocks interspersed with mountains an caves; cities elevated on magical invisible supports; government by everyday people with 25 per area chosen by lot every 100 sun risings; evil doers disappear into thin air and are never found, etc. Then create a conflict in that world and set the opposing forces to work dealing with it.

Answer 10

start with the general genre. is it monsters, dragons , ppl like creatures eg hobbits , dolls, cars etc. then make up the land itself all the physical features mountains lakes woods castles etc. draw a map. then make up the characters