The Dos & Don'ts of Worldbuilding

[Greninjaman]

There are a lot of things that one should and should not do when building up the world of their stories.

One example of a don't is this: don't have character A from universe A be transported to universe B, only to not do anything regarding the fact that character A is from universe A.
Example of what I mean for clarification purposes: Taking Link from Hyrule (The Legend of Zelda) and plopping him in Kanto (Pokémon), only for the fact that he is from a different world to have no impact at all. If there is no impact, you might as well have Link be a character who has always lived in the world of Pokémon.

What examples of a do or/and don't do you guys have?

 

[LightningTopaz]

Do:

--always have some basic lore in place before you start (things like geography, culture, magic/superpowers, if any, technology level, etc.)
--have the ending in mind as you build the plot

Don't:

--introduce something and then either never see it again or only see it a grand total of one time
--rip off a better piece of media in your story

 

[Princess Viola]

A worldbuilding do:
- If you're writing a story in the speculative fiction genre, such as fantasy or science-fiction, make sure you maintain an internal consistency for how stuff is supposed to work in the story's world. You don't strictly need to infodump readers with all the rules of how magic in this world is supposed to work or whatever (hell you don't even need to come up with an actual rules system for it), but (as TV Tropes puts it) Magic A is Magic A. Not maintaining a level of internal consistency is just asking readers to constantly adjust their suspension of disbelief and that's not something you want to do because why would someone want to read a story if it seems you're just making up how stuff works as you go along?

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

These are things I've personally picked up/struggled with/etc, so I'm not sure how generally applicable they are, but...

Do build the world from ideas/concepts/characters you enjoy. It makes it much easier to flesh out the world.

Do write things down. (I need to take my own advice more on this one.)

Do think twice before completely tossing an idea. You never know when an idea you don't use now will be useful for another world or plot, or even just a different part of the same story.

Don't feel like detailed or large-scale worldbuilding is totally off-limits if you want to make an easy-to-follow story. How a world is unfolded and explained for the reader is a big part of how overwhelming or easy-to-understand a story feels.

Don't fret too much if the ideas aren't coming right now. Take a break. Go read/watch some well-made media you enjoy. The ideas will come back. (This was a tip I read from author John R. Erickson, and it's been the most useful advice on writer's block I've ever tried.)

Don't feel like your world has to be completely, utterly, never-before-seen NEW. Don't plagiarize, obviously, but so much has been done before that it's virtually impossible to make something unheard-of. You can make something original even if not everything in it is totally new.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Do:

--Know your story's main concept or theme before you write anything. Think of the one item, person, situation or concept you REALLY want to see in your story, then build your world around that (this is how the masterminds behind The Legend of Zelda build the games)

Don't:

--throw in everything but the kitchen sink into your world. A wise artist once said that it's easy to put things in, but harder to take them out
--create lore so complex you practically need an advanced degree to understand it.
--forget to have fun with your story. The D&D movie (and Zelda) are an excellent reminder that fantasy can be fun

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Greninjaman, that point seems less about worldbuilding and more about crossovers.

Anyway, a rule of thumb I have is the more you show of a world, the more questions the audience will have, especially when it's like the real world but with one major difference. A lot of discussion of Cars movies is making fun of how their society actually functions, and one reviewer pointed out that really started when Cars 2 came out.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Here are some things I do for worldbuilding.

1) Write down any concepts and/or mechanics that are included in said world (ie: spell/ability lists, common items, specific plot-related concepts, etc) as sub-documents so you can reference them at any time if you need to remember something.

2) Creating character bios to lay out the fundamental groundwork of each character (be it main, supporting, secondary, etc) so it'll be easier to identify their character traits, personalities, and roles in the story.

3) Don't be afraid to add things on the fly if something particular strikes you as a good idea. Sometimes an idea that happens on a whim can actually expand a certain scene/story/event and make it better. Just don't go overboard in the process, as @LightningTopaz mentioned, it's easier to put things in than take them out. I know I've done that at least a few times myself and came to regret it.

4) Have a plan for how the world and its cast grows and expands while also laying out the basic rules of said world so you can keep things consistent and not accidentally create plot-holes.

That should do for a start, especially since it's early in the morning and I just woke up.

 

[Greninjaman]

Greninjaman, that point seems less about worldbuilding and more about crossovers.

That's fair.

Anyway, here is a don't from me: Don't put areas in if they won't appear at all. If there is a sequel, save them for that. If there isn't, just cut the ones that don't matter to the story.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I think generally a good idea is to think things through. How far you think them through depends on how seriously you intend the world to be taken - it's a sliding scale - but the slip-ups tend to manifest when the author has come up with an idea that's convenient for the plot without considering how it would affect the rest of the world. Avatar: The Last Airbender does this really well when it comes to the magic system

 

[Steel_Justice]

Guess I'll toss my hat into the ring. Here's some things I do or ideas I agree with.

1. Have relevant history figured out before you start the story or at least before it becomes relevant. By relevant history, I mean history that causes or is important to the plot and/or themes to the story. Don't feel that you have to go back 100s or 1000s of years and detail ancient events unless you actually need to.
2. Don't slam the reader with a semester's worth of exposition in one go. Reveal bits here and there organically. Think of it like how many good RPGs do it or how you would learn about cultures and places as you go when you travel.
3. Have the main characters or even the antagonists interact with the common populace. An organic and living world has everyday people going about their business. How those people interact with the big players and how the big players respond in kind can make a world feel more alive.
4. Have a consistent and general theme/idea for your world. It helps make things more cohesive and likely helps ideas flow better.
5. Have fun. Creating a world and figuring out locales and how people live can be fun.

 

[Cavespider_17]

1) Remember to make important call backs to things that have happened earlier. If Character A says "Oh the bridge is broken, they are fixing it now." You can make a call back to it later on. It makes the world feel more alive.

2) Speech doesn't have to make 100% sense. What do I mean by this? Well if Bob and Tom are friends and they are talking about going out to the place they always go to you don't need to specify that in the speech. If you were going out with your friends to a place you always go you wouldn't say "Oh yeah, Let's go to Lionel's big skating ring by the pond." - You'd say "Let's go to Lionel's" Right?

3) Build your history. What happened before the main story? What are these character's backgrounds?

4) World Politics - if you have an expansive world where a character will cross borders - think about the politics. Do they need a passport? Would they need a visa? How would they get there? Are their any restrictions? Who is in charge of that region?

 

[Greninjaman]

I will freely admit that this would apply to all parts of writing and not just worldbuilding: Take your time. Don't rush.

If, for example, you are writing a Pokémon Journey fanfic, don't have the main character get their starter in chapter one only to be challenging Brock in episode 6 with a full team of Pokémon. Take your time with it, but don't drag your feet. You don't want to take so long that getting the first badge happens on chapter 25.

 

[Welkamo]

When it comes to writing advice, I don't like to think in terms of black and white, do and don't. It is a good idea to think about why a rule of thumb/piece of advice is so common, and then from there you can break it. That being said, here are some things I would tell younger me:

• Don't worry too much about canon. Pokemon already has a bunch of canons going on that contradict each other, so if something in your fics doesn't line up with canon, it's all good. (What do you mean Wallace and Winona broke up in the manga? This isn't the manga. I didn't even get into the ship through the manga. This is my canon and in it Winona pulls all the Champions.)
• Keep your worldbuilding notes organized, preferably in one location. A Google Doc, an Excel sheet, a World Anvil, a BulbaBlog, whatever will help you stay on top of your worldbuilding.
• If you're going to go in depth on anything, be it language or politics or whatever, do your research.

 

[StormyStinger]

Don't try to make an emotional death scene when you have established that resurrection is a thing that can just happen in your universe with no proper drawbacks,
Because if people can just come back to life with no penalty, then you've just made dying a slightly more graphic way of being knocked out cold for a while.

 

[Greninjaman]

Leave the world-saving globe-trotting stories/adventures for later when you have more experience. Start small, with something like "bandits abducted the farmer's daughter to extort the farm" or something like that. That is an example of a small scale/scope story. Keep the lore down to the bare minimum needed. As @LightningTopaz said, you don't want to overwhelm yourself by creating such a deep and complex lore that you can't make heads or tails of it without an advance degree.