a whole new world

[Sonata]

Where do you start when worldbuilding? Do you start with the planets, the people, the gods, or something else? When you make an original world, do you think ahead to how big it could be, or do you only do what you know you'll need for your story now and worry about everything else later? Do you use visual aids to help you keep track, or are written/spoken notes enough for you?

 

[Ice1]

I start with a narrative. I try to work in every aspect of my worldbuilding into this cohesive web of story. I write my stories while I worldbuild, approaching it as a singular process. That way I don't develop too much of the parts of my world I'll never explore in my narrative, while I do get the chance to incorporate the parts I'm enthusiastic about. If I get an idea for either my world or my story, I try to see how I can adapt it to involve it.

 

[Sonata]

I either wing it or start with an idea of a character or a concept and go from there, running from coast to coast across the country that the intended story will take place in at the time of writing, then I run time backwards in my head to the point of creation and ask myself why it happened, then build up some lore based around the beginning times and the people who lived then. Then expand outwards towards any other land masses and eventually into space to any other worlds.

 

[Jason Wolf]

I could best explain mine as concentric circles going outward from wherever the story actually starts. Start with just trying to give the character a house, and then that house determines what the rest of the houses in his town are like. Then where does he get food. Where does he work? And so on.

I center the worldbuilding on the main character as thats the world that he knows, so it'd be weird if he could also tell you all about what's going on in Kalos when he lives in Unova. I do also fill in those gaps, but never in the book. Those are saved for the textbook.

 

[Vragon]

I normally start with a story concept and build up a world from that.
When I have an idea about what a story could be about I try to build the mechanics. Once those are mostly done I turn to culture/history/lore.
After those I dabble in other things like places and any additionally pieces. The characters and how they are in this place along with interactions will come near the end of the idea grinding.

 

[User19sq]

I usually just start in media res and/or with the exposition, that way the audience can experience the new world alongside the main characters. But I usually start with the idea and keep going as it develops into something.