One of my favorite aspects of fiction is having the ability to be as imaginative as possible. Cars are important to get around in, yes, but what if they could do more? Maybe they can hover or drive themselves (yes, I know we’re on our way to that anyway, but play along) or maybe they can float in water (now I want to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).
You’re able to play around with real life things and turn them into something else. Make them your own and have it fit into your story allowing your characters to treat it as a normal everyday thing for them.
World building is one of those things, as broad as it is.
What is world building?
World building is exactly how it sounds. You’re building a fictional world, a brand new setting that’s all your own. It’s an imaginative setting for your fictional novel (or whatever you’re creating) that includes various places and terrains, a thorough backstory, people and their history, and so much more.
Is world building just for fantasy?
While world building is the most common in fantasy as people create their own maps and races, I don’t think it has to be limited to fantasy only. As long as you’re writing fiction, I think you can throw in some world building.
You don’t even have to create something brand new either. You can make a city based off of your hometown but alter it to cater more to your characters and story. That doesn’t necessarily have to be fantasy.
Why is world building so important?
1. Imagination
In order for your readers to get the full effect of your story, you need to paint a realistic picture for them. How much time passes between your characters’ going from their house to their work? Or to the park? What kind of people do they meet along the way? What landmarks do they pass by?
2. Time
Speaking of time, establishing the setting is important for the time period. Time period shows how people dress, how they speak, where they work, etc. It also, as stated before, shows how much time has passed between one point in the story to another.
3. Make It Real
I know I made the first point to be “imagination,” but, at the same time, you want it to be as real as you can make it. You want to make your readers want to live there themselves. Or maybe you want your reader to not want to live there. I don’t know about you, but I’d love to live in the Harry Potter world but the Hunger Games? No, thank you.
Why is world building important to you? What are your thoughts on it in general? Let me know in the comments below!
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A great post, Rachel. My favorite books are ones with colorful, detailed worlds!
That’s another good point – they’re fun to look at! 🙂
Great points. World building is a big thing for me when reading material. I want to be able to transport myself to where the story is taking place and to experience the story as such. Without it, it becomes characters talking and doing actions on a blank screen.
Exactly, there’s so background to it. Setting is so important.
World building is one of the things I love most about the fantasy genre. It’s just such a joy to read and learn about new worlds and settings plucked straight from someone’s imagination—when it’s done well. I never realised how hard world building can actually be until I started it in earnest for my own fantasy WIP. There are so many little bits and pieces you have to decide on to make your world feel authentic! But at the end of the day it’s a lot of fun and why I keep coming back for more!
I agree with everything you just said. The imagination on some people astound me. I can only hope to create such worlds!
Good points. Sometimes I forget about time.
I always forget about time, lol.
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this great post from Rachel Poli’s blog on why world building is important
Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure. Another great post.
Reblogged this on Anna Dobritt — Author.
Thank you for the share!
Reblogged this on Plaisted Publishing House and commented:
Building your worlds. I know one author who uses Minecraft to do this…
Thanks for sharing.
Welcome
You’re so much more concise than my series on world-building being important! Also good to see someone else mention building a sense of time-period. It’s something that gets forgotten easily, but it really matters for how much I’ll buy into the actions and motivations of the characters!
Thank you, I try. 🙂 I often forget about time as well. I make sure to talk about it a lot, but you can forget about it when I’m actually writing, lol.
Thanks for stopping by and adding your input. 🙂
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Thank you for sharing!
Great advice.
Thank you.