Worldbuilding- How to Build a Fictional World

[Ouvii]

1. Are there different physics/physical contexts? 0:36
2. Develop a specific region; reference existing regions. 2:55
3. Figure out what reasons, particularly basic needs and other resources, that draw people to your region/away from other regions. 4:49
4. What is nature- natural disasters, aggressive animals, etc.- like? How do people react/adapt to these antagonistic environments? 9:48

[alphasaith]

1:03
The planet from Pitch Black is not tidal-locked. It's just surrounded by three suns. The entire planet is engulfed in light save when it is eclipsed by some gas giants.

[CptainRedbeard]

I don't understand how these videos have so little views. I absolutely love them! Gonna be buying your books soon.

[Kaiel]

This was a nice video, and I enjoy you covering the basics of building societies. I'm just feet from the finish line on my first fantasy book, and I'm still trying to create interesting diversity in my world.

[michaelcain]

Reading Plot Gardening and your writing about Jurassic Park and research for building your world. That you have to research or... “I’m looking at you, James Patterson’s Zoo.” So funny!

[wilhelm]

Love world building stuff! hope to see more of it soon!

[ALEXA_beep]

Wow, the salt part is so true. I'm trying to write a story set in a somewhat medieval setting and I struggled for weeks trying to find a "business" for the protagonist, an important one and salt is what I ultimately landed on. So much so that I have consumed a number of documentaries on the process of making or mining salt. I really much love your videos, they are very exhaustive. :)

[Hikari]

I really needed this chris. Thank u so much for this and all ur other videos have really helped me out with my writing.

[ruthrouse]

Thank you, you have given me a lot to think about in regards to my own world. Especially with the resources and natural disasters, that opens a whole load of interesting things to play with

[HeyesFTWYT]

Thank you for your guidance! You've got some great insights that were really useful to fleshing out my world

[kelleycanwrite]

Thank you so much! That was great info with fantastic examples! The way you manage to simplify this kind of stuff really helps when I find myself feeling overwhelmed by crafting a story. You’re a great teacher Chris!

[tearstoneactual]

This video is very timely. I've been struggling with this. The sad thing is, I'm very good at modeling all of these things, I just have been ... waffling about stuff.

It's good to hear that I'm already on the right track, I just need to get back it. Thank you, Chris.

[lostdony]

Thank you for sharing this. Helped me figure out so many things

[gigartina]

Thanks - that really got my wheels turning!

[worldflutes]

Great stuff, Chris! Thank you for giving us such salient points to think about. I'm sure you're already hip to these, but a couple of resources I found to be fascinating when it comes to drawing inspiration from the world around us and translating that into our own world-building are John McPhee's "Annals of the Former World" (actually anything by John McPhee - even though it's technically about geology, it's a compelling picture of the natural world); several of Craig Child's books; and Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" and "Collapse."

[theextremeviking]

protip: if ur world is flat and a circle & you place a firmament ontop of it then it becomes a closed off system.

[layly]

Thank you so much for your advice ! Very helpful =D

[ericmalikyte]

Some good advice here! Thanks for this.

[MatiasBaldanza]

For me, the most important part in conveying a different world to readers is through the character's worldview, how they interpret their environment, what their expectations are, and how they rationalize their lives, decisions, and motivations. This requires a lot of time trying to think in your characters' shoes. You need the characters to show the world through their own eyes, not through the reader's. Hugh Howey comes to mind as particularly adept at this type of immersive writing.
This is particularly difficult to achieve, and requires multiple drafts to perfect.

[ryanmedina]

This is good and common sense. If you look at any old cities or towns, you will noticed someone settled them on or near water of some sort. Why? Cause water was critical for transportation, trade, drinking, or production of goods. And if they settled in a desert it's probably because something more valuable was there that they wanted.