Worldbuilding is the process of creating a fictional world, usually for a story to take place in, necessary in fantasy stories to figure out the environment of our characters. The main distinction in worldbuilding is between real-world fantasy and second-world fantasy.
In real-world fantasy the story takes place in our world, but with changed history or added fantasy elements.
On the other hand in second-world fantasy, authors create entire worlds from scratch drawing inspiration from our world to create planets, cultures, geography and history.
How-to
Idea and Premise
The first step is an initial idea. Your world can start from an idea that popped into your head, something you always wanted to see in fiction or a list of Inspiration from other media.
Once you have that initial spark, you can write a premise - short paragraph outlining the feel, genre and narrative of the world.
The premise is a direction for your process, and the core idea that drives you. Worldbuilding is creating a world in which your premise makes sense. It can be very simple and well-worn or complicated and original, the world you build around it, and the way you present in your story should justify your premise.
Developing the world
Main areas to consider when creating a world:
- Cosmology and astronomy
- Fauna and Flora
- Magic and the supernatural
- Society and Culture
Resources
Culture Building Checklist
r/worldbuilding getting started guide
r/worldbuilding resources guide