Ok not really sure if I should post this here but it's more a of writing related topic so I thought it might be best suited here. Now I'm not sure if anyone is into world building, but its when you go about creating a whole new and unique world, fantasy world in my case. I was wondering if going about it by starting with the worlds creation then going to how the races were created along with the basic outline of the worlds geography is a good idea. I've never really committed to creating a whole world, just using other worlds.

Another quick question I had. When I make this new world, I don't want to have say english be the dominate language but another unique and new language. How would I go about writing their speech in english, just say they speak it but still in written in english? I think its cool how Bethesda set up the Elder Scrolls worlds language and time layout, but it all seems very complex. I know that's what creating a world is, complex, but I could use some definite pointers and ideas.

Again sorry if this is the wrong section.

Ah, an admirable effort indeed. I myself have been doing much the same thing, the link in my signature about Jorth links to my own worldbuilding ideas. It is great fun, though a good deal of effort and research is required for a serious fantasy world.

I started with the idea that sparked it all (in this case my gods), then developed the religion, the races, the creation myth, the geography, language, the history, government, magic system, etc. etc. There are many many guides you can find with a quick google search for that question, but in the end it doesn't really matter, you can always go back and change your stuff.

Now then, language is a tricky thing. Understanding our languages fully (not how to speak them, but how they came about and why) is difficult enough, creating your own in a convincing manner is neigh on impossible. However, if your main race is going to speak a foreign language, you still need to write it in english for the reader. Thus you really just need to alter proper nouns (names of people, places, gods, etc.), and rename english to your new language. I follow the germanic language family for my world (with one exception, who speak Zoroastrinist), and the humans learned their language from a german speaking race. Thus the humans use german for some of their older places and people, but switch to english as they grow further apart (timewise and distance) from that other race. They still use those german words for many things in present day, but most of their language is english.

The history of your world is going to be a difficult and laborious task, trust me. What I did (and my history is seriously under development) is take from real history, in this case the genealogy of the Carolingian Empire (post Roman, pre-medieval germany) and apply some of it to my world. Other than that I used ethnic, religious, political, and so on conflicts to determine a naturally flowing timeline. It's a bit drab currently, but I intend to fix it up.

A few things to keep in mind when worldbuilding: originality is key, but don't stray so far no one can understand you. Take from many sources, but don't make it obvious where you took from (I'm still working on that). And finally, always have fun with it, and don't rush it. Worldbuilding takes a lot of time to get right, so you should enjoy it.

Thanks, and good luck :goodjob:


PS Oh, one thing I forgot to mention was you should choose between a top-bottom approach or a bottom-top approach. That is, whether you want to start with your whole world and then focus in on key areas for your story, or start with the place your story does and develop the world around it. I think a mixture of the two is best, and their pros and cons can be found with a simple google search. Thanks again

Community Discussion would probably be a better place for this. But whatever.

I would like to talk about the language thing. I agree with Darkom entirely that making a language out of thin air is difficult. Probably only slightly less difficult that FTL travel. And yes, we need to understand what they're saying, and if a character goes around saying "Ooglak vakta stuun", we will be scratching our heads in confusion. HOWEVER(!), when characters with different languages interact, it's okay to have the foreign sounding one in print, because the viewpoint character will have his dialouge in english.

To use an example from my own world (which is actually a peninsula/subcontinent anyone can PM me if they wanna see it), Novgorians and Calgots speak 'n dafodiaith, which means language. The other inhabitants of this area, the Celani speak 'r arall dafodiaith, which means the other language. 'n dafodiaith is Welsh to us, and 'r arall dafodiaith is Hungarian.

Aww thanks a lot ot both of you. Actually Darkom I had seen your whole thing on world building and had decided to try doing it. I to came up with the gods and religion first which helps me develop from the start of time for the world to the current where the story would take place. Thanks again to both of you, helped a great deal!

I thought I'd my two septims, since this is a subject very close to my heart.

I've actually spent the last two years doing very thorough world-building (for a series of books I hope to one day get published... now in the polishing stage, knock on wood!). Yes, that's right: two years. Granted, I'm trying for a professional level of world design, but that's still illustrative of just how intensive world-building can be.

That said, it is also a lot of fun, and very fulfilling. It takes a lot of creativity, vision, and research to do it right, but your own imagination is the limit, so there's no reason to hold back.

The basic pointer I can add, on top of Darkom's and Verlox's posts is this: do the research.

Granted, a fantasy world generally has a lot of leeway, because of the whole 'magic' aspect, but that doesn't mean that you can throw two pancakes together and call it a continent (no, that didn't make sense: that's the point). In order to make your world relateable, you need to follow two general guidelines: the laws of physics and the rules of human nature.


Physics: Generally, fantasy worlds are free to take the laws of physics and play hacky-sack with them. Giant lizards can fly and breath fire. A band of gold can control peoples' minds. People can come back from the dead, relatively intact (or not). But magic is, at its base, the exceptions to the rules, and you'd do well to figure out how far those exceptions go. How powerful a fire can one man conceivably conjure? Can people travel through time, and how reliably? How far away can Luke's lightsaber be before his Force powers are unable to retrieve it?

Because, under all that magic and hocus-pocus, there are still general rules that govern the world. A desert will generally form in warm climates that are geologically blocked from major water sources. A planet under a cerain size won't be able to retain an atmosphere. Certain animals will evolve in certain areas, from certain other animals.

Basically, you need a decent theoretical grasp on a lot of scientific fields (geology, biology, physics, chemistry...) in order to create a realistic world. Granted, most readers aren't scientists, and therefore won't notice that the ocean currents are not moving in realistic directions. Nonetheless, a good general understanding of the way the universe works will definitely help you to make a world that makes sense.

Human Nature: What makes fantasy work, despite all the wonderous and frightening things that happen in fantasy books, is the fact that the people are just like us. We connect to the characters on a personal level, and are therefore able to suspend our disbelief about the world around them. Therefore, it is in your best interest to make the populations of your world as human as possible, not matter what race or species they may actually be.

Study real historical civilizations, as Darkom said... but I'd even take it a step further. Study the general theory of civilizations: sociology, psychology, archaeology. Learn what tends to happen to people (both individually and in groups) and why. What makes an empire rise and fall? What resources does a city-state need to thrive and become a nation? What happens when two grand empires find one another: do they trade or fight, and why? What governments work when, and why? There are all sorts of complex questions that you can ask, and answering them will give your world that much-needed detail.


That said, that's all probably rather intimidating, especially to someone who's just starting. For you, my suggestion for research is a bit simpler: read a lot of fantasy. How does Tolkien handle language? How about Robert Jordan? Terry Goodkind? How do the Warcraft games handle the history of civilization? How about the Star Wars movies? What did all of these creators do to make their worlds unique? What sorts of conflicts were built into each of these settings?

Just take your favorite fantasy books or games, and start picking them apart. If you compare and contrast enough worlds, you'll begin to see the basic building blocks that make them up.

I tend to take a top-down approach to world-building, as you can probably see. I started with a general idea of what I liked in a fantasy world: a brainstorming session with just a pencil and a notebook can do wonders for this. Allow your vision to guide you; you can hammer out the details later. (iirc, I wanted elemental and psychic magic, a magocratic empire that was sort of Romanesque, and a bunch of warring cultures in close proximity. Because--let's face it--conflict is interesting.)

Once I'd picked the general things I wanted. I outlined what rules of magic I wanted (make sure you do that; limitless magic has no challenge to it, and is therefore boring!) and a general history. From there, I eventually created legends, historical figures, a detailed timeline (as far as the current scholars know, anyway ), cultural and religious trends, and, yes, languages.

I find it helps to really focus on only one geographical area at a time; no need to go all out for every island on your planet until you've thought up a story that takes place there. I have an entire continent on my world that I've currently labeled as simply "steam-punk", and left it a mystery beyond that.

As for the language issue, I find the general idea is to "make the narrator's language english," no matter what they might actually be speaking. You can describe accents, but steer clear of describing your own language over-much... unless the pov shifts to a different character who speaks a different language. Then, suddenly they speak english, and the original pov character now speaks "the Imperial Common Tongue," a grating, backwards language with hard vowels. Keeping the illusion that the pov character speaks the same language as the reader can add to the relateability of that character, and avoid possible confusion. That is purely personal preference, of course, as is everything else in this post.

So yeah... like I said, world-building is a very in-depth project. But it is also fun and rewarding, and there's no need to do everything at once. Come up with your general ideas, then play around and experiment. Write a couple snippets about life in your world during whatever time is "current." Remember that this is your world; do what you like, and see what personal flair comes of it. There's no pressure to be perfect, as long as you enjoy yourself.

Just my two Septims. :twirl:

In my opinion you'd better start with a top-to-bottom approach before detailling a part. You won't need to have it in complete detail, but have given some thought to the global geography, creation and such makes it easier to detail things as you will have a frame to built your details on.

Notebook and pencil....Egads woman (or man)! You know, you'd be surprised how little I actually use paper and pencil when it comes to my fictions. Funnily enough, when I do use them, I tend to do much better at characterization, description of events, yada yada. Tomorrow is a new day in Cilgratis! The Age of Eurwyn shall be reborn! MUWAHAHAHA!!!

And now for something completely different.

I would like to bring up the topic of magic. As BSparrow related to us, magic can be a defining feature of your world. Commonly, users of magic in fantasy worlds make up a powerful elite who are capable of nigh on anything. Veritable gods, if you will. But I have come to learn that how magic actually works can make or break it. Is it Vancian Magic or Hermetic? Where does it siphon its power from, if it does at all. Does it have negative effects on the user? Is my keyboard dying even though I replaced the batteries a day ago? All these questions need not be anwered immidieately. As our friend above me has said (maybe not in these words), cross each river as you come to it. My "world" so far consists of nothing but a single peninsula, and I'm not leaving that peninsula till I've described the heck out of it, right down to how they make their alchoholic beverages.

Which reminds me, if anyone knows about fermenting and stuff like that, drop me a PM. I have questions that wikipedia doesn't aid me with very well.

Ehee... I find a pencil and notebook to be very freeing when brainstorming... but then, I've always been a rather visual planner. I enjoy making charts and diagrams, including those hokey spider-web diagrams that no student really uses as much as english teachers think they do. I like to curl up in a hammock or in a comfy chair, put on some music, and just let the ideas flow. Thinking critically about the results can come later. That's a stylistic preference, though, so I guess you have a point in that's it's best for every writer to just do what works for them. :twirl:

As for the fermenting thing, I don't know anything about that, but I do know people who might. Certain recreation groups (the SCA, in my case) can be invaluable in learning the ins and outs of daily life in a certain time period, because these groups actually do the stuff they did back then. I've picked up more about chicken husbandry and chainmail repair than I'll probably ever need to know, but with it comes plenty of lessons on the evolution of clothing, food, music, and fighting. Just another place to look for resources, I guess.

(And yeah, Verlox, I'm a female. )

Hmm...You have given me an intriguing thought. Chicken husbandry, you say? All types of husbandry are important to my world, so this is a biggun. I will have to look further into this. Chainmail not so much, being as my world hasn't advanced to the level of metal armor in all but its more crude form. So I'll need to find a group/person/fancy-smancy article that can relate leatherworking to me.



I apologize. But this is THE INTERNET. I suppose it all contributes, to this madness of mine, that I have no slept, in two days time.

Wow guys, thanks a lot for all the input. Verlox and BSparrow, you've both given me a lot to think about. I've really been taking a lot of interest in history lately which is why I've been driven to create my own in a world all my own.

With everything I've been learning lately and everything I'm sure to study over time, I'm sure I can really get into this, and at some point spawn a book form my endless research and time scouring over fantasy novels and history texts.

I have a lot to think about now, and a lot of planning ahead of me. In the mean time I surely wish you two good luck with your worlds :foodndrink:

Damn, I'm late to a thread again.

Just thought I should say: there are other techniques to world-building. Some do it completely organically, letting ideas take root in their own way. This of course takes a lot more time but it is more enjoyable, at least for some.

One thing is clear, seen from personal experience: if world-building was quick and easy, you most likely didn't do a very good job. That said, it must always be fun. Otherwise it is not worth it.

http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/