Worldbuilding is a complex and personal task, and no two worlds are alike. This cheatsheet will step you through simple map creation to help your world building as well as add new obstacles to. If youre writing second world fantasy, you, the worldbuilder, have the. Creating a fictional world can be a challenge, since you may not be sure where to begin. The ultimate world building questionnaire 1 questions some notes. The imaginary worlds of fantasy and science fiction we examined above westeros and essos, the kingdoms of middleearth imagine an entirely new world, quite unrelated to our own. Your storys world will interact with and sometimes provoke the protagonist. This sheet is intended to be used by people who want to create a historical, fantasy or science fiction world for role playing or writing. A key difference between creating an alternate reality and creating an imaginary world is the suspension of disbelief you can expect from your readers.
How to create a magic system worldbuilding questionnaire. Our environment affects various aspects of our lives such as clothing, building materials, food, resources, jobs, and trade. However, if you write any sort of speculative fiction, you have the opportunity and often the need to create fictional cultures of your own. In this series of posts i will describe a practical method by which you can create your new world, little by little, and i will create one together with. The first thing that you need to think about when creating your own world is about what type of world will it be. To create your own world, it obviously takes a lot of effort and thoughts to put everything together. Due to the nature of these questions, they are not intended to have brief answers. Worldbuilding is one of the exciting parts of writing sciencefiction and fantasy. Creating an imaginary world is one of the most complex types of worldbuilding. Jan 21, 2020 creating a fantasy world introduction. Tips on how to build a fantasy world for your novel ny book. Fantasy writers or even dystopian writers often create their own worlds, or their own versions of the world that we live in now.
It proved to be of interest to people so much so that someone asked for more world building information. For instance, if you are working on a fantasy or science fiction story, the specifics of your world will define the breadth of options you have. The main reason i made this worksheet is i have recently gotten into worldbuilding and was struggling to find the necessary information in great. I tried to use examples that are not only considered fantasy or scifi. This can be one of the hardest aspects of creating a series. Tips on how to build a fantasy world for your novel ny. Create your world, and then push yourself to go deeper. Its most often utilised in fantasy and science fiction, where a writer conjures up from scratch every detail of a world. With 165 pages of focused activities and guided questions, this is one resource you dont want to miss. Oct 08, 2014 for example, in the moontide quartet, i wanted to tell a story of intercontinental conflict in a fantasy world. Book writing tips writing promps writing characters english writing writing words fiction writing writing resources writing help writing skills. Invaluable ideas, tips and templates for world building. Within these categories are topics with simple questions designed to help formulate these details.
Depending on the type of story you write, some of the items above might be unusual. The ultimate world building questionnaire 1 questions. Of course, the bridge has nice symbolic connotations about uniting and joining. How does the geographical location affect this city, town, or village. Great authors can create a living, breathing environment for their stories, invite readers into another world, and make us homesick for a place weve never been. In novelwriting, world building is an important concept, especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction that explore alternate worlds. Morin shares twenty questions authors must ask themselves when world building. It doesnt matter if youre writing short fiction, an episode of a web or television series, or the screenplay for a major motion picture, you need to be able to create worlds that your readersviewersaudience would want to visit or live in. If you come to a section that doesnt pertain to your worldbuilding, feel free to cross it out or just leave it blank. Creating a fantasy world worldbuilding book writing. Below the checklist are questions you might consider for each category. Great authors can create a living, breathing environment for their stories, invite readers into another world, and make us homesick for a place weve. The following list of questions is meant to aid authors of fantasy fiction who are seeking to create believable imaginary settings for their stories. World building worksheet this is an extra resource to go along with the original article.
They discuss what makes a story fantasy and identify which stories include something that could not happen in the real world. Ive been thinking of imagining a world and am currently decided whether its gonna be science fiction, science fantasy or fantasy. Thats why ive created worldbuilding warrior, a digital workbook designed to walk you through the process of building your next fictional world stepbystep. The only worldbuilding guide youll ever need plus a free. By following their guidelines, we can strengthen our setting and make our worlds more complete. What are the names of cities, towns, and villages used in the story. The world building worksheet will not only keep track of each area, it will step you through questions to consider to create variation and differences. The idea of a bridge linking the two continents sprang to mind, and thereafter the worldbuilding for the moontide world became about creating and justifying that bridge.
However unlike the first two, fantasy is very hard to make immersive for example like the elder scrolls and dragon age. Oct 02, 2017 in novelwriting, world building is an important concept, especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction that explore alternate worlds. In this post, we have included the ultimate setting checklist to help you with your worldbuilding. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Where theyre built, what theyre built on, why theyre built where theyre built, who theyre built by all these questions seem ripe.
Feel free to add any other specific parameters that are relevant to create. The creation of new worlds and new universes has long been a key element of speculative fiction, from the fantasy works of tolkien and howard, to the sciencefiction universes of burroughs and asimov, to the tabletop realm of gygax and barker, and beyond. So, what i have done is create another list of world building assists that i believe. My names brazyer and ive being working on a worksheet for providing a hyperdetailed overview for a species and their culture. Good world building questions will help you create a detailed and immersive world. Creating a fantasy world lesson plan for 9th 12th grade. It is not necessary for an author to answer all, or even any, of the questions. The scriptorium world building basic worksheet science fictionfantasy fundamentals story title. You should consider them prompts with which to write a short essay. Worldbuilding is a term youll hear from a lot of writers especially.
Will it be another version of the world that we live in. One important element for developing a realistic fantasy race is the environment in which that race lives. The only worldbuilding guide youll ever need plus a free worksheet. Plus this bundle comes with the map building cheatsheet. Its that time when you are god and you get to create everything. A avid fans opinion on how to build a fantasy world. They will also create an illustration to go with their written description. One of the fastest ways to create unique environments for your novel, and build distinctive regions, is to start with a map. This creating a fantasy world lesson plan is suitable for 9th 12th grade. For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike.
In fantasy, your world becomes just as important as any other character. A characters world plays a huge part in forming who they are. Think about the laws that govern the world, the way the government works, the worlds history, geography, technology and mythology. Make sure you also address the rules, laws, and taboos of the world. I, for one, am excited that youre writing a fantasy this world. Due to the nature of these questions, they are not intended to have brief answers, certainly not yes no. Yeah, you probably wont want to complete all of them. Oct 03, 2019 how to create a fictional world from scratch. World building worksheets pdf ultimate novel planning. Feedback on our courses as usual i already love the course on irresistible fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson.
It is meant to be used as a checklist, to make sure that you have the most important areas covered and to give some structure to the process. World building worksheets part one future imperfect. Nov 15, 2016 this sheet is intended to be used by people who want to create a historical, fantasy or science fiction world for role playing or writing. Recently i guest posted at and spoke about random generators in sci fi and fantasy and historical world building. Read our interview with nicole peeler on fantasy writing. In my blog post, creating a fantasy world names, i discuss name creating indepth, so feel free to check it out as well. Magical realism, contemporary, dark, and paranormal romance all have a place in the fantasy genre.
Today my students will be creating their own fantasy world, based on their responses to questions on a handout. Read 10 questions that will help you learn how to create a fantasy world. The ultimate cheat sheet on creating your fantasy world if youre writing specfic, creating your fantasy world can be as important as your characters. It is categorised into what i consider vital components for making a fantasy species and culture. If you come to a section that doesnt pertain to your world building, feel free to cross it out or just leave it blank. If youre writing specfic, creating your fantasy world can be as important as your characters. If you are writing in a historically accurate version of earth, you have established cultures into which to fit those inhabitants. Below are some of the important questions to ask yourself when creating a fantasy world. Creating a fantasy world introduction author iulian ionescu.
Worldbuilding guide for writers and world builders part 1. How to create a breathing world for your fantasy novel time if you could compare the era of your story to one on earth, when would it be. The ultimate cheat sheet on creating your fantasy world. Creating a fantasy world worldbuilding book writing tips. This is an extra resource to go along with the original article. Download this worksheet pdf this worksheet contains 3 pages of questions to help with worldbuilding cities.
Ive always been fascinated by the way cities develop. These are questions to get you thinking about the world you are creating and the beings that inhabit it. You may be creating a fictional world for a novel or for a series of books set in the same world. The ultimate world building questionnaire the novel factory. The idea of a bridge linking the two continents sprang to mind, and thereafter the world building for the moontide world became about creating and justifying that bridge. These resources will guide you through creating your world. Creating a fantasy world involves more than magic and mythical creatures.
Mobi for use with kindles and mobipocket software as of 2007, the worldbuilder exercises are licensed under a creative. While many of these questions may be helpful or crucial to certain stories, they will not all apply to every story. World building is an important component of fantasy writing because your fantasy world must be grounded in a history and abide by certain rules in order to persuade your readers to suspend their disbelief when you bring in magic, fantastical beasts and other implausible elements. The ultimate cheat sheet on creating your fantasy world zed amadeo november 25, 2015 the writing process 0 comments if youre writing a speculative fiction story, creating a compelling setting can often be equally as important to the characters that populate your world. Writing good science fiction or fantasy requires strong worldbuilding skills. Go beyond just outlining the setting your characters live and work in. When you create a world, you need to create its inhabitants. Jan 08, 2020 feel free to add any other specific parameters that are relevant to create your basic character. Creative writing worksheet make trouble pdf the trouble with writers is that. Last week i discussed the importance of setting and what we can learn from scifi and fantasy writers about worldbuilding.
Characters are at the heart of every story and developing memorable characters is a vital writing skill. Apr 04, 2016 an extensive checklist to help authors invent a fictional world for fantasy, scifi, and other stories. Sep 20, 2018 a avid fans opinion on how to build a fantasy world. Start by detailing the setting the environment of the world. Is there magic or other supernatural in this world. A welldeveloped culture can make or break your worldbuilding. On the other hand, an extra sheet is included at the end of this workbook should you run out of room, or your world requires development on something not already covered. In so many fantasy and science fiction stories, the culture in a world entirely unconnected from. Creating fantasy characters writing character profiles. Aug 30, 2018 worldbuilding is a term youll hear from a lot of writers especially when youre talking about the science fiction and fantasy genres. Pdf for printing out at home or reading on a computer. The scriptorium world building basic worksheet science fictionfantasy. Jun 28, 2017 writing good science fiction or fantasy requires strong worldbuilding skills.
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