(The sound of a pen scratching). LOGO.
Hellooo everybody! A while back, I broke down the 10 worst
tips for world building and today is opposite day! I am breaking down the 10 best tips for world
building in my humble, modest, completely correct opinion. If you're writing fantasy, sci-fi,
dystopian, any genre that requires creating a completely brand new world, these tips are for
you! Before we get started, I want to give a shout out to Milanote who has sponsored today's video!
Milanote is an easy to use tool that allows you to organize your projects and ideas into visual
boards. It's not the same as traditional software. Most traditional software exists
as a linear document, whereas with Milanote, it exists more like a poster board or a studio
wall. You can organize shit all over the place, which makes a lot more sense because creativity
isn't exactly linear. Milanote allows you to take your big mess of ideas and organize 'em
and move 'em around however you please, which is perfect for brainstorming! It serves as a
creative hub for whatever you're working on, whether that's organizing your author platform,
creating characters, plotting your story, and of course, world building. In fact, Milanote has an
entire template specifically for world building. You can click on it and modify it as you please to
suit your specific world building needs. On top of that, you can share your work with critique
partners if you want comments or feedback. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Milanote! I use this
platform literally every day. I use it to plan out my YouTube content, I use it to work on my
newsletter, and of course, I use it to map out my writing including the characters, plot, and world
of my current work in progress The Savior's Army. And even better, you can use Milanote for free!
Like, zero dollars! If you're ready to start building your world, try out Milanote for free
right now! I've got it linked in the description, and if you're super hyped about the platform,
check out their pro subscription. It's awesome! It's what I currently use. I cannot recommend
Milanote enough! While you're here, don't forget to subscribe to my channel and ring that bell!
I post new videos on Wednesdays. Sometimes I've got bonus content on Mondays, and I give writing
advice, and I also bitch about writing, and I also gush about writing. It's just a big writing and
bookish kinda family we got going on here. And don't forget, my number one best-selling dark
fantasy romance The Savior's Sister is currently available in audiobook. It turned out so amazing!
I'm SO proud of the finished product, so if you're a huge fan of audiobooks, definitely check it out
and if you're new to audiobooks, you can listen to TSS for free! I have it all linked below. Now,
let me get into my 10 best tips for building your fancy-dancy world! Number One (1): Understand your
story. What story are you trying to tell? Is this an exploration? Are you traveling to new
worlds and meandering through the experience? If yes, then your novel is going to be world centric
and your world building is going to be pretty prevalent throughout the course of the novel.
Is the story about the growth of your characters, their relationships with one another, their arcs?
If yes, then you are writing a character-driven story, which means that the characters are the
focal point of the story and your world building is going to be more of a supplementary backdrop.
Are you writing a story that is constantly on the move? We're talking lots of action,
lots of beats. In this case, you are writing a plot-driven story, and again,
your world is there to drive the plot forward. Of course, it's possible for your book to fit
into more than one category. It can be character and world-driven. It can be plot and character
driven. But it's important to understand the type of story you're telling because it will determine
how much or how little world building you are going to include in the final product.
Number Two (2): Understand your target audience. Different audiences have different expectations,
and this includes world building depth. For example, high fantasy or space opera readers are
going to expect a lot more world building than say, romantic fantasy or romantic sci-fi readers. Both
high fantasy and space operas lean heavily on new worlds, entire universes, or galaxies. But while
romantic sci-fi and romantic fantasy do often take place in different worlds, the stories are
mostly focused on the romantic connection. That means that while you still need to implement world
building, the stories should be character driven. I once read a fantasy romance that was so packed
with world building for the first 150 pages and the romance didn't even begin until page 200. This
is a bait and switch. It's a complete betrayal to the genre, and readers are gonna be pissed.
Number Three (3): Use a template. This is great for writers who are brand new to world building
and have no idea what they're doing. There are entire templates available for you to download and
use as a guide. As I already mentioned, Milanote has an entire world building feature that gives
you an idea of how to organize and brainstorm all of your world details. World building
can be extremely overwhelming, so if you're a newbie, I highly recommend taking advantage of
all resources available to you. It'll not only get you started, it'll make you a lot more comfortable
with the process so it turns into a habit. And that way, with future books, you know what to do
going forward. Number Four (4): Visuals. I am a very visual person. It's a lot easier for me to
describe something if I can see it in my mind's eye or if I can see it laid out before me. This
is why assets like mood boards can be beneficial. You can collect reference photos of architecture,
clothing, landscapes. And of course, all world builders know the importance of maps.
This is especially important if your characters are traveling. In my current work in progress,
The Savior's Army, my characters are traveling all over the place. So I needed to create a map
so I could get an idea of how close they were to the sea, how far they were from the palace, and so
on. I keep it open as I chart their course, and it has made the writing process so much easier.
Number Five (5): Create a hub. World building is a messy process. You'll have maps, charts,
routes, terminology, I could go on. It is so much easier to keep track of the details of your world
if you have them all in one place. This is why something like Milanote is super helpful. You
can create a board for your story, another board for your characters, another board for your world,
or you can have it all in one place. Totally up to you! But regardless, it is super important to have
a central location with all of your world building details that you can access easily because let's
be real, you're not gonna to memorize that shit overnight. Keep your stats, maps, lists,
and references all in one place and make it easily accessible. Number Six (6): Build as you go. You
don't need to spend years building your world before you even start writing. In many cases,
that is a big mistake. It's a trap! I've lost track of the number of writers who have told me,
"I spent all these years building this world, but now I don't have a story that fits into it!"
Your world is supposed to fit the story, not the other way around! This is why you build as
you go. As you create your characters and assemble your plot you build the world bit by bit. Say you
decide your main character is a wizard. This automatically means that your world has some
semblance of magic. Is your main character the only wizard? Are they part of a guild? Is magic
everywhere? This rule also applies to writing the novel itself. You don't want to dump the entire
history of your world at the start. This is the quickest way to piss off your readers. Instead,
introduce the world as it becomes relevant to your story. If your character enters a castle,
this is the time to describe the architecture or the monarchy. I cannot stress this enough. Don't
be the guy who gets so sucked into their world building they never get out of it.
Build as you go. Your readers will thank you. On a related note, Number Seven (7): Read the room.
The biggest complaint I see readers having about world building is when it sucks the life out of
the story. This is commonly referred to as info dumping. Pages upon pages of facts that bore the
shit outta readers. So if you're ever unsure about whether or not the world building fits the scene,
read the room! Does your world building provide information that readers need to know in order
to understand the scene? Take a description of a setting that the character is entering for
the first time in this book. In this case, the world building is absolutely necessary
because your readers have never been in this place before. Another example is if your characters are
attending a party and this particular world has a very specific and unique social etiquette. You
can easily weave their customs into the scene, and readers will thank you for it. But if your
character is dragging their weak body through the desert, now is not the time to take a break to
describe the political system. Read the room and be honest with yourself regarding what information
is relevant and what is self-indulgent. Number Eight (8): The society is yours. You're not
only creating the climate and landscapes, you're creating the social customs and norms.
That means contrary to popular belief, you don't need to ascribe to norms that were
prevalent throughout history. This is something that's lost on a lot of writers. They regurgitate
class systems, gender expectations, and government hierarchies that they've seen throughout history
because they think that's what they're supposed to do. But world building is a creative process and
you get to create the beliefs of your society. That means you don't have to write a homophobic
kingdom if you don't want to. In fact, if we're following history, plenty of ancient
civilizations didn't see sexuality as a social identifier. It also means women can wear pants and
men can wear dresses. Hell, you can ditch gender altogether. This process is not exclusively about
the physical; you are building the sociology of your world, as well. Number Nine (9): Trust your
reader. When world building, there's a tendency to describe every leaf on every tree. Writers
will describe a room down to its square footage. A dress down to the placement of its buttons. As
we read, many people visualize the scenes in their mind. We imagine the scenes and fill in the blank
spaces. The more hyper-specific the detail, the more the image in your mind becomes contradictory
and convoluted. This isn't to say you shouldn't provide detail–descriptions are absolutely
necessary, but find a middle ground. I like to think of it as a connect the dots drawing: provide
the dots–the most important descriptors that set the tone–and then allow readers to connect
them. Say you've got a flowing lilac gown. It is floor length, it has a cinched waist, and has a
heart-shaped neckline. That right there creates a picture, but if you describe the exact style of
the lace, if you describe the placement of every single bead, the hemline, the length of the train,
a million other details, all of that will become a muddled mess in the reader's mind. Trust that
they're capable of their own thought and creation. It's your job to entertain, not to control. And
lastly, Number Ten (10): Stop! In the late stages of world builder's disease, the patient will be
stuck endlessly building the shit out of their world. Just building and building while the story
remains unwritten until one day they're alone in their basement covered with Cheeto dust thinking,
"What have I become?" There's only one treatment for this affliction: good fucking God, stop! "But
Jenna, what if I forget something?" Then you can fill in those details later! You know,
while you're writing the book. Start the project and if you realize you're missing information,
pause and gather that information. But it's time to step away from the maps,
admit you're procrastinating, and write the damn book. Stop being a baby and do it! I support you!
So that's all I got for you today! A HUGE thank you to Milanote for sponsoring today's video!
If you are writing a new story, creating its structure, creating characters, and of course,
world building, this platform is absolutely amazing! Like I said, I use it every day
and best of all you can use it for FREE! I've got it linked below. Definitely check it out!
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new videos on Wednesdays and if you want to be
alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell! The Savior's Sister is available in audiobook, so if
you want to check out my number one best-selling dark fantasy romance, now is the time to do it!
And even better, if you are new to audiobooks, you can listen to TSS for free! It's all linked below.
And be sure to follow me on social media! I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Bookbub, and Facebook. And
of course, you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
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