How to build a fictional world - Kate Messner

Why is J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy so compelling? How about The Matrix or Harry Potter? What makes these disparate worlds come alive are clear, consistent rules for how people, societies -- and even the laws of physics -- function in these fictional universes. Author Kate Messner offers a few tricks for you, too, to create a world worth exploring in your own words.

Lesson by Kate Messner, animation by Avi Ofer.

[EpicFishStudio]

For me, making the world itself, characters etc is the easiest part. Making a working storyline is often the thing breaking down everything I have done. So sad.

[EC-mlrj]

How to build a fantasy world step by step

Step 1 : build a fantasy world

[SanaSamaha]

I spend so much time thinking about my fictional world that I don't write anything.

[R]

Not joke
Step 1: looking for idea
Step 2: watching some fantasy film
Step 3: play some game
Step 4: try imagine a world
Step 5: draw it
Step 6: fix it
Step 7: draw it again
Step 8: profit

[curlytopz]

My mum's great at this, I really think she should be an author, she wrote a book called 'shards of the greenhouse' which was about history in her more realistic fantasy world, I look up to her so much

Edit: Guys, I don't think she intends to publish it. She made it years ago as a personal project and while i would love for her to publish it, I don't think she wants to. The problem is not money or finding a publisher, it's just her preference.

[ErrorNull]

I started my fictional world as a child when I was just playing with my stuff animals. Somehow I decided to continue the same storyline for years. And now all my old suffies & handmade toys are now my OC, have a bloodline, generation (timeline), and have a world that isn't always logical.

Due to the years, many memories are lost, but certain topics have so much details and thoughts into it that It's very hard to organise it. Hopefully I can write a story off this, and erase alot of cringy parts.
Just wanted to tell someone all this.

Wish you all good luck with your own! :3

[athena]

How To Draw An Owl
Step 1: draw two circles
Step 2: draw the rest of the owl

[claraashdown]

She actually starts talking about the process of creating the story at around 3:14. Up until then it was just her talking about popular stories like Harry Potter.

Also, I went to turn on the captions and they have captions in like 50 languages. I've never seen so many options before, it's cool.

[SunyiSideUp]

Here's the Character Bio Form I got in one of my film classes (screenwriting.) It can help with worldbuilding, for those of you who came to the video looking for more concrete information on building a world. It's more focused on the character specifically, but going through the form can help you decide stuff about how the world your character lives in functions. (Apologies if this still has any of my character's info in it. I went through and deleted my answers to provide the clean form.)

CHARACTER BIO FORM

Character's Full Name:
Reason or meaning of name:
Nickname: Reason for nickname:
Birthdate:

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:
Age: How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color: Glasses or contacts:
Weight: Height:
Type of body/build:
Skin tone: Skin type:
Shape of face: Distinguishing Marks:
Predominant feature:
Hair color:
Distinguishable hair feature (bald, receding hairline, etc.):
Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?):
Character's typical hairstyle:
Resembles:
Is s/he healthy?
If not, why not:
Physical disabilities:
Favorite clothing: Why?
Least favorite clothing: Why?
Jewelry/ Other accessories:
Drives:

FAVORITES:
Character's favorite color: Why?
Character's least favorite color: Why?
Favorite Music: Why?
Least favorite Music: Why?
Food:
Favorite book: Why?
Expressions:
Mode of transportation:
Daredevil or cautious?

HABITS:
Smokes? Drinks? What?
When and how much?
Hobbies:
How does character spend a rainy day?


BACKGROUND:
Hometown:
Type of childhood:
First memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:
Education:
Religion:
Finances:

FAMILY:
Mother:
Relationship with her:
Father:
Relationship with him:
Siblings:
How many? Birth order:
Relationship with each:
Children of siblings:
Extended family?
Close? Why or why not?
Does character have child(ren)? If so, how many?
Are all children with the same partner? If no, Why?
If no, what is the custody arrangement?
How does character relate to his/her child(ren)?
Is relatioinship with children important to character?

OCCUPATION
Where does Character work? For how long?
How does s/he feel about co-workers? Get along with co-workers?
Like his/her job? Why or why not?
Character's dream job:

ATTITUDE:
Character's greatest fear:
Why?
What is the worst thing that could happen to him/her?
What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil?
Why?
Character is most at ease when:
Most ill at ease when:
Priorities:
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self:
If granted one wish, what would it be?
Why?



PERSONALITY:
Greatest strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as such or not):
Greatest weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as such or not):
Character's soft spot:
Is this soft spot obvious to others?
If not, how does character hide it?
Biggest vulnerability:
Which of the 7 deadly sins does your character fight (or give in to, willingly or not)?
(lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride)
Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?
(prudence, justice, restraint, courage, faith, hope, charity)
Optimist or pessimist: Why?
Introvert or extrovert: Why?
Drives and motivations:
Talents:
Extremely skilled at:
Extremely unskilled at:
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character's darkest secret:
Does anyone else know?
If yes, did character tell them?
If no, how did they find out?
Where does character live?
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc:
What does s/he do too much of?
Too little of?
Most prized possession: Why?
Play musical instrument? Which?
Person character secretly admires:
Why?
Person character was most influenced by:
Why?
Most important person in character's life before story starts:
Why?



SELF-PERCEPTION:
One word character would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how character would describe self:
What does character consider best physical characteristic?
What does character consider worst physical characteristic?
Are these realistic assessments?
If not, why not?
How character thinks others perceive him/her:
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why?
If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?
If not, why not?

INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:
Is character divorced? Why?
If divorced, how many times?
Has character ever cheated on significant other?
How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by...
Strangers?
Friends?
Wife/Husband/Lover?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?

GOALS:
Immediate goals:
Long range goals:
How does character plan to accomplish goals?
How will other people around character be affected?

PROBLEMS/CRISIS:
How character faces problems:
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How character reacts to change:

[antonioflorian]

3:15 is the time when she actually gives some tips

[soroushkowsarian]

Actal tips( from experience )

Step 1 : get the first idea
Step 2 : find out what kind of story you want (romance, superhero ... )
Step 3 : name your basic main characters with code names instead of actual names
Step 4 : start drawing a little to get an idea of some of the key things from paper
Step 5 : choose the races and characters in your world
Step 6 : make a map
Step 7 : write

[bluepurge]

When im bored at school i just make up a scene in my head, most of them are of me as a superhero 😂 lol

[realitypolice]

Well, first of all you need to
t h i n k .

Second, you need to make a
c o n t i n e n t.

Then you make
c h a r a c t e r s.

Y a y

[peterkx]

I have these fictional worlds in my mind, some of them are pretty cool, yet I just never get to write them. I create stories, sometimes just think about them to get my mind off of something.. I'll even go as far as writing down some things and stories here and there and draw maps and concepts but, I never get to fully write these things down as a full story. I want to one day.

[moonlverr]

Honestly I think my imaginary world are based off of music.
Characters are defined my songs
How they act, how they talk, how they see others are in music.

[mc]

I've found the best fictional stories I've read are always somewhat logical. Not necessarily believable, but logical. The laws of physics and science may be changed, but they still exist, only written differently. The world itself must also be different enough to warrant interest, but the issues, conflicts and emotions reflected must be completely relate-able to that of the real world.

[enoch]

It's not leviosA, it's LeviOsa.

[Galaxy-qfvc]

Me: *Makes entire World in my head*

Also Me: hat is good yes

[hrpang]

In a way, she's explaining from the beginning. Understanding what makes the world consistent basically is the first step. A believable fake world, is a great world.

[adnanilyas]

I'm going to go ahead and answer this question properly based on what I think should go into a crafted world. My thinking on world-building centers on two principles which I will (gradually) explain: 1) consistency and 2) imagining more than your reader. 

The first thing you need to know about creating a world is that you are limited in your control of the reader's imagination. No matter what you do, you won't be able to put the same image that's in your head into someone else's. And you need to be able to accept that. 
Second, consider how a bunch of different works created their own fictional worlds. Go look at how Rowling created Hogwarts for Harry Potter, how Tolkien builds layers upon layers of history for Middle Earth for the Lord of the Rings. Now, these examples don't strictly have to be novels. There are comics, movies, and television shows (especially animated ones, or even anime) that do some great world building. I really like how shows like Avatar the Last Airbender build fantasy worlds that do not conform to the medieval European model. I also like how Fullmetal Alchemist weaves together a very authentic steam-punk feel. 

Now, on to actually creating a world. You are going to need to take some massive notes. You need a very general setting. Is this an alien world? Is this a fantasy world? Is this underwater? Is this a different dimension? Is it medieval? Is it ancient? Prehistoric? These are the first things you need to think about. Maybe you want to build your world within an existing world, like how Harry Potter's fantasy world is built inside of Britain. Once you have something very, very general, you need to lay your world out and begin to put landmarks in it. I like making a map for this. Where do the rivers, lakes, oceans, deserts, and mountains belong? Are there borders between countries? Where are they and what determines them? Where should cities go? Consider where cities go in the real world. It would be odd to find a city in the desert with no water anywhere nearby (or, it might be really interesting. But you'll have to thoroughly explain why it is there.). Similarly, you might have to find ways to put places together in such away that they don't clash. For example, Diagon Ally in Harry Potter is in the heart of London, but Rowling cleverly hides it, which helps create the feeling that the wizarding world really is a secret and hidden world. Now, make sure you imagine a world that's bigger than what you plan to use in your story. If your story takes place in 5 cities, all close together, imagine those 5 cities and an additional 10. That way characters will be able to talk about those places authentically if they have to, even if they don't actually appear in the story. For example, in the Lord of the Rings, the story never goes to the lands south of Gondor. However, there are enemies from there. Tolkien has figured out what those lands are like and what the motivations for these people to fight are, which means that he is able to describe them in a way that feels authentic. It also doesn't hurt that those lands are included in the book's map. 

Next, you need to make things feel distinct. Within the world, which mountains and streams are important? Which cities? Why are these things important? Within each of the cities, what are the central points? Where do people gather? Where is the center of power? What do people do in this city? What kind of work do they do? Are they farmers, fishers, engineers, astronauts, beggars, or priests? Do the people have a religion? What do they believe in? What do they value? Are they wealthy or poor? Is this a new city or an old one? Are things run down? Is the city big, or is it really just a town or a village? What do the people eat? Are the buildings made of wood or stone? Are houses and stores close together, lined up on streets, or are they spread out and arranged sort of haphazardly? You should give individual places distinct landmarks that make them different from other cities. City 1 could have an amazing bridge. City 2 could have an enormous cathedral. City 3 could have an intricate castle. City 4 could be built on a lake. City 5 could be built on a series of canals. City 6 could have a distinct black market. City 7 could have a mansion built out of spaceship parts. And the list goes on and on. Next, isolate the common elements. If you have a country, what makes all the cities in that country feel like they belong to that area? What are the common elements? Is it in the names? The people? The behavior? Is it in the architecture? 

Next, you need to make rules for your world. The thing about these rules is that they must be absolutely unbreakable (unless it is absolutely vital to the plot, in which case, they may be broken only one time.) In Aladdin, Genie gives exactly 3 wishes. There is no way to get any more. That is an example of a rule that cannot be broken. In the show/comic, Fullmetal Alchemist, there is a sort of magic with the rule called Equivalent Exchange. If you want to make something, you have to put in an equal amount of the needed parts. In Avatar, the Last Airbender, one of the rules for the world is that there is only one Avatar, a specially powered being. That rule is never broken. In Star Wars, the Force can be used to push and pull things, to heal, to sense things, and even to make lightning. But you can't use the Force to give someone else the power to use the Force. If you break this rule, you risk alienating your reader. The most important thing for the reader while they are reading about your fantasy world is that they stay engaged with the world. They can't be pulled out of the story. And breaking rules is a huge risk for that. 

Now, you have to populate your world. Start off by building the characters you need for your story. Next, add random people to populate your world What sort of people live where? Are there soldiers? Farmers? Doctors? Prisoners? Where are they, what do they look like, and where do they live? What are the daily routines of the general populace? What is their skin color? What language do they speak? Unless you want a very cosmopolitan setting, don't mix green individuals who speak Elvish with 8th century Mongolian individuals, with contemporary Native Americans. Consistency is important. One of the things that J.K. Rowling did in Harry Potter was create a list of characters from each house in Hogwarts. Whenever she needed someone, she pulled the next name on the list. 

Finally, the world needs some history. One of the interesting things about a lot of good works is that the backstory almost seems more interesting than the actual story. Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Eragon, all these series have very involved and interesting backstories that affect how things in the world are in the time of the story. And that gives your world depth. It's not just a randomly created setting, it's a setting that's been around for some time, with characters and places affected by what's gone on earlier, that the reader doesn't know about. 

And that's how I like to build a world. That's the kind of notes I end up making.