Moonie
S.T.A.R.S
I wanna start worldbuilding. But I have no idea where to start! Any tips and help would be greatly appreciated! Thank youu
World Building Any tips for someone who's never done this?
- Thread starter Moonie
- Start date
Bone2pick
Minority of One
Start with what kind of stories you enjoy reading & writing? What genre, what tone, what era, ect? The world you create should be an ideal setting for the type of stories you want to tell.
Moonie
S.T.A.R.S
Okay. I'll definitely keep that in mind. Honestly, I wanna model the world off of north korea. So a type of secretive, you dont know whats gonna happen next type thing.
Bone2pick
Minority of One
That's very specific. Excellent. So a dystopian world. Horribly oppressive. Suffocating misery. Would you like to leave the possibility open for the world to "heal" or do you need to keep it broken? For instance, in Warhammer 40k the universe is virtually doomed.
Moonie
S.T.A.R.S
I'd love for it to stay doomed. The leaders of this world won't listen to their people. And its slowly falling into a state of collapse. Really, I'd like it to stay at a point where its a broken system but its still standing. So famine, poor get poorer rich stay rich. Maybe even space for some sort of revolution to take place
Bone2pick
Minority of One
But ultimately a revolution doomed to fail, correct? Or possibly, at best, trapped in a neverending, corpse-piling, civil war? I ask because a dystopian world that can somehow (through epic effort) be saved has slightly different stories that it can support versus ones that can't.
Also, are you imagining roughly late 20th/ early 21st century? Alternate Earth or a new planet?
Also, are you imagining roughly late 20th/ early 21st century? Alternate Earth or a new planet?
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Moonie
S.T.A.R.S
Yes, a revolution doomed to fail. I was thinking a whole new planet. Or maybe even something sci fi, with 'countries' being stations and ships. Because that sounds fun
Bone2pick
Minority of One
It does sound fun. Doomed dystopian world, mass poverty, relentless tyranny, not Earth, possibly scifi...
That's your skeleton. From here you continue to brainstorm. Are you interested in including the supernatural? If so, how much and what type? Do you have a vision for the world's aesthetics? What do the people look like? How about the architecture & city design? How is the corrupt/evil government organized?
That's your skeleton. From here you continue to brainstorm. Are you interested in including the supernatural? If so, how much and what type? Do you have a vision for the world's aesthetics? What do the people look like? How about the architecture & city design? How is the corrupt/evil government organized?
Moonie
S.T.A.R.S
Hmm, probably not anything supernatural. The world would just be a dark place. The stations would appear shiny and hi tech on the outside. But inside they're grimey, theres disease and death everywhere. Of course the one with the leader in it would be tip top condition.
The people, I'm not entirely sure tbh. I'll get into thinking on that. And the city design I'll have to think on. Umm, as for the government, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that
The people, I'm not entirely sure tbh. I'll get into thinking on that. And the city design I'll have to think on. Umm, as for the government, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that
Bone2pick
Minority of One
It sounds like you're definitely imagining scifi; let's go with that. It's often helpful to follow your instincts on creative projects. So space stations. Advanced tech, but on the whole, in a state of squalor & decay.
No on the supernatural. That's easy enough. Here's the point where I'd get to work on the people & faction who hold the setting's power. You need to understand what kind of evil and corruption are keeping humanity under their bootheels. Who are they? What do they want? How did they rise to power? Who is loyal to them? What are their strengths & weaknesses?
No on the supernatural. That's easy enough. Here's the point where I'd get to work on the people & faction who hold the setting's power. You need to understand what kind of evil and corruption are keeping humanity under their bootheels. Who are they? What do they want? How did they rise to power? Who is loyal to them? What are their strengths & weaknesses?
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Idea
The Pun Tyrant
The most important part of worldbuilding is consistency. Consistency in every aspect. Anything that you put in your world has to be consistent with how that world works and must have effects outside of itself that are direct consequences of it's presence. The question of people would respond to any changes is also quite the important one. Depending on the worldbuilding, you might end up having to restructure all of society. And I know that may seem a bit scary or overwhelming at first, but it allows great worldbuilding, which leads to the most well-crafted settings and unique places to have your story take place in.
From there on out, it's a lot more about different techniques, as far as the technical aspect goes (I can't really help you with the creative aspect since I can't implant actual ideas into your head). Worldbuilding is first and foremost divided into two types: Top down and Down top. The first is basically you have an idea about what you want to have in your world, and you worldbuilding a place which could create that idea. The second type is when you have an idea for an aspect or rule for the world, for example, a world with a particular kind of magic system. In that type of worldbuilding, you see how the change would affect the world and society in their development from scratch, let them develop more organically and then work with the results whicever they may be.
Your idea seem to me to be asking for Top down worldbuilding. What you'll be trying to do is think of the kind of world and history which would be able to host that idea of the scifish North Korea empire, if I understood correctly. You can either take our own history and simply guide the course of history towards that kind of future, or you could try to set up the world where that event would occur. I suggest doing some research into those sorts of regimes and seein gthe necessary consequences or inciting events, then working out a way for those to exist. As for technology, I highly suggest that you attempt to craft from currently known means of creating and inventing technology, because exploring their merely forseen possibilites.
From there on out, it's a lot more about different techniques, as far as the technical aspect goes (I can't really help you with the creative aspect since I can't implant actual ideas into your head). Worldbuilding is first and foremost divided into two types: Top down and Down top. The first is basically you have an idea about what you want to have in your world, and you worldbuilding a place which could create that idea. The second type is when you have an idea for an aspect or rule for the world, for example, a world with a particular kind of magic system. In that type of worldbuilding, you see how the change would affect the world and society in their development from scratch, let them develop more organically and then work with the results whicever they may be.
Your idea seem to me to be asking for Top down worldbuilding. What you'll be trying to do is think of the kind of world and history which would be able to host that idea of the scifish North Korea empire, if I understood correctly. You can either take our own history and simply guide the course of history towards that kind of future, or you could try to set up the world where that event would occur. I suggest doing some research into those sorts of regimes and seein gthe necessary consequences or inciting events, then working out a way for those to exist. As for technology, I highly suggest that you attempt to craft from currently known means of creating and inventing technology, because exploring their merely forseen possibilites.
