World Building

https://www.novel-software.com/theultimateworldbuildingquestionnaire



Step 1: Plan the lie of the land
Creating a solid, believable physical world is the first step.The reason some fantasy novelists and readers seem so obsessed with maps is because the act of physically mapping the world grounds it. You don’t have to draw maps; you can make notes instead, but the point is that you need to have a sense of your world as a physical place that has boundaries.

Step 2: Give your fantasy world concrete rules
Just because this is fantasy and not science fiction does not mean that your world can lack rules or simply have arbitrary conditions imposed upon it. Maintaining consistency throughout your world building and writing is crucial. This adherence to rules will permeate every aspect of your fictional world, but to start with, be sure you are consistent in an overall sense. Whether you are basing your fantasy world on legend or real history such as medieval Europe, feudal Japan or Native American folklore or inventing it entirely out of your own head, every aspect must be consistent with the world you’ve created. If your fantasy world possesses a technology that seems out of step with its background, you need to have a good explanation for that whether it’s magic, intervention from a more technologically advanced society or something else.

Step 3: Decide how different inhabitants of your fictional world speak
Another thing to keep in mind is the tone of your novel. For example, if you’re writing a novel of high fantasy steeped in Celtic legend, you might write in a way that recalls the language of fairy tales and legends. Your readers do not necessarily want to begin in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien with its roots in ancient sagas and suddenly find themselves slogging through the bleak and murderous darkness of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series. Maintaining a consistent tone is critical for believability throughout your fantasy novel.This consistency of tone will be reflected in your characters as well. The values of the world will motivate your characters. In a world where honour and loyalty are considered of highest importance, characters will tend to behave differently from those in a world where power and accumulation of wealth are most valued. Of course, you can create characters whose values differ significantly from that of their world, but that difference is likely to be a source of conflict.

Step 4: Plan magic, religious, social and political systems
Most fantasy involves magic, and rules are important here as well. You can create any kind of magical system that you like, but the key here is that it does need to be some kind of system. Whether it is based on numbers, plants, words or something else, whether characters study for years to become proficient in it or are born with the ability, it needs to be consistent. Characters cannot suddenly develop new abilities or go outside that system.

Step 5: How to create a fantasy world people believe: The importance of plot
The key in creating a believable fantasy world is keeping in mind that ‘fantasy’ does not mean ‘anything goes’. In addition to keeping rules and consistency in mind as mentioned above, the story also usually cannot rely upon a deus ex machina to resolve its conflicts just because it’s fantasy. ‘Deus ex machina’ is the phrase for a plot device that seemingly comes out of nowhere. This can be clumsily or more effectively done. Some have argued that the eagles’ rescue of Sam and Frodo at Mount Doom in Tolkien’s Return of the King is a deus ex machina.Another example would be the frequent intervention of the gods in Greek myth. Contemporary readers may accept the former but would be frustrated by the latter. Use of a deus ex machina is always risky as it might stretch suspension of disbelief which can turn readers off.The ‘setting’ section of Now Novel’s story builder will help you to come up with detail for your fictional world, making it easier to flesh out a fantasy world that feels believable and alluring. Start creating your fantasy world and get constructive feedback on your efforts.

Myth
Creation myths Explain the creation and destruction of the world.

Morals Define what is good and bad.

Afterlife What happens when you die. Meaning Why we’re alive.

Supernatural beliefs Witchcraft, ghosts, etc. Superstitions. Rituals Daily, weekly commitments. Rites and ceremonies. Sacred places Churches, landmarks, places of worship. People will build an altar to whatever the source of power is, whether it’s God, the universe, the sun, or an AI. God(s) How many, gender, form, sentience, ground or sky, amount of power, our relationship to them. The form gods take depend on what these people see every day. E.g. South Asian cultures have monkey gods; indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast have raven gods.

Evil Why evil exists. Myths and legends Themes, morals to be taught, emotions to incite. How they are passed along. Bibles or scriptures. Realness How real the belief system is. Whether it has been correctly interpreted. Whether the gods are ever seen or met. E.g. in Avatar, we get a few indications that Eywa actually exists, like when Dr. Grace Augustine is dying and sees her. Adoption of beliefs In every culture, some are religious and some are not. Some are agnostic. Who are these in your story, and how does it affect their relationships with each other? Clergy and other roles Formal leaders. Monks and nuns. Age How old the religion is and how it has evolved. Maybe it was introduced by a monarch or government, or maybe it has always existed.

Holidays When and why. Traditions.

Rules of Magic

 * What things can magic  not  do? What are the limits to magical power? How do magicians try to get around these limits?
 * What is the price magicians must pay in order to be magicians — years of study, permanent celibacy, using up bits of their life or memory with each spell, etc.? Does anyone ever try to get around the price of magic?
 * Is there a difference between miracles and magic? If so, how are they distinguished?
 * Where does magic power come from: the gods, the “mana” of the world, the personal willpower of the magician? Is magic an exhaustible resource? If a magician must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician? Do different races/species have different sources for their magic, or does everybody use the same one?
 * How does a magician tap his/her magic power? Does becoming a magician require some rite of passage (investing one’s power in an object, being chosen by the gods, constructing or being given a permanent link to the source of power) or does it just happen naturally, as a gradual result of much study or as a part of growing up?
 * What do you need to do to cast a spell — design an elaborate ritual, recite poetry, mix the right ingredients in a pot? Are there things like a staff, a wand, a familiar, a crystal ball, that are necessary to have before casting spells? If so, where and how do new wizards get these things? Do they make them, buy them from craftsmen, inherit them from their teachers, or order them from Wizardry Supplies, Inc.?
 * Is there a numerical limit to the number of wizards in the world? What is it? Why?
 * How long does it take to cast a spell? Can spells be stored for later, instant use? Does working spells take lots of long ritual, or is magic a “point and shoot” affair?
 * Can two or more wizards combine their power to cast a stronger spell, or is magic done only by individuals? What makes one wizard more powerful than another — knowledge of more spells, ability to handle greater levels of power, having a more powerful god as patron, etc.?
 * Does practicing magic have any detrimental effect on the magician (such as becoming addictive, fomenting insanity, or shortening life-span)? If so, is there any way to prevent these effects? Are the effects inevitable to all magicians, or do they affect only those with some sort of predisposition? Do they progress at the same rate in everyone? Are they universal in all species, or are some races (dwarves, elves, whoever) immune to these detrimental effects?

Refrences
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