World-building
noun. The art of building the bones, soul, and scenery of your story.
What is world-building?
World-building is how you create the environment your story lives and breathes in. That might mean a sprawling fantasy realm with three moons and a dragon tax, or just a sleepy seaside town with suspiciously perfect hedges. Whether your setting is made-up or mapped to real-life postcodes, world-building gives it texture, history, and logic.
It’s not just the where. It’s the how things work. The why people behave this way. The what happened a hundred years ago that still echoes now.
When does world-building matter?
Always. Kind of. Hear me out.
If you want readers to feel like they’ve stepped inside your story, world-building helps. It anchors the action, deepens character motivation, and adds stakes to what’s happening. Even in contemporary fiction, great world-building makes the difference between a story that feels thin, and one that feels real enough to Google.
Why world-building matters to your story
Because stories don’t happen in a vacuum. They happen in places with politics, weather, traditions, secrets, coffee shops, or spaceports. Those things shape how your characters live, fight, love, and survive. Done well, your world won’t just feel real. It’ll reveal things about your characters, your plot, and the themes that run underneath.
Elements to consider when building your world:
1. Setting: Geography, climate, architecture, vibes.
2. Culture: Language, customs, beliefs, and daily life.
3. History: Key events that shaped the present. (Wars, plagues, royal betrayals—fun things.)
4. Politics & Power: Who’s in charge? Who wants to be? Who’s pretending not to?
5. Technology or Magic: What’s possible in this world, and what’s forbidden?
6. Economy & Resources: How people survive, trade, earn, and exploit.
Three world-building approaches (all equally valid depending on your chaos level):
- Top-Down: Start big (kingdoms, star systems, galactic empires), then zoom into the details.
- Bottom-Up: Begin in one village, one flat, one spaceship—and build out as needed.
- Hybrid: Mix and match. Start where the story is strongest, then layer outward like cake.
Examples of world-building done well
- Tolkien’s Middle-earth – The gold standard of top-down world-building, with languages, histories, and a family tree longer than most novels.
- Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse – A rich blend of magic, politics, and culture that feels grounded even while it’s fantastical.
- N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy – A masterclass in world-building that’s deeply tied to plot, character, and theme.
- Schitt’s Creek (Yes, really.) – A great example of small-town, bottom-up world-building in a contemporary setting. Every character, shop, and sweater adds texture.
Want to write a world readers believe in, even if it’s entirely made up? Start by thinking less about maps and more about meaning.
