This quote is the most concise description of what requires World Building that I’ve ever heard.

“Anything that takes place in the present or past as it actually happened in history does not require world building – anything in the future or not in alignment with history is world building.” – Jenn George Hunter

If Kelly goes to the store, just like it is today, then no World Building is necessary. But if Kelly happens to see a Troll along the way… Now we’re World Building. Is seeing a Troll normal? Or like you or I today, would Kelly stop in their tracks and ask, “What is happening?!”

Some genres are pretty obvious when it comes to the use of World Building. Science fiction and fantasy, alternate history and historical fiction require it. Some genres commonly use World Building, like horror and comedy. And then there is a broad category that often requires World Building. That’s what I call deep niche storytelling. It uses a fictionalized version of current, real-world elements. Sons of Anarchy or Billions are good examples of this. The fictionalized lives inside a motorcycle club or among billionaires can require extensive World Building depending on how far from reality they go. And in these cases, reality can be pretty subjective.

Now we’ve got a foundation about what a World is, and the force that makes things work in it. So, I want to get into what that force is - what I call the Driving Force.

There are constants in every World that define it - Politics, Magic, Technology, etc.

Driving Force is at the heart of Narrative World Building. When we talk about World Building it seems like we talk -around- this critical element. But when everything else is stripped away, Driving Force is the one thing that remains. Because without it, nothing else works.

Without Magic, The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter don’t exist. Without Politics, The Hunger Games doesn’t happen. Without Technology, The Matrix and Horizon Zero Dawn can’t be.

In the end, every character action, every story or plot, conflict and revelation come back to the Driving Force and the World.

With Narrative World Building and a firm hold on what the Driving Force is, every word from a character’s mouth, every plot twist, every story and setting become inevitable expressions of these founding elements. From there, planet building, wizards’ councils and maps of exotic regions can flow easily because they are bound together. And you’ll be less likely to paint yourself into a corner (as I so often have!).

All fiction is character driven. Viewers, readers and players experience the world through them. To fill those experiences with emotion, conflict, highs, lows and humor, takes work. With Narrative World Building, creating Worlds that SHOUT! with depth and emotion is much easier.

what is WORLD BUILDING?

How do you do it?

World Building is as individual as the people who do it. For some it’s about planet building, ecosystems, with evolution, bugs, birds, and bad guys. For others it’s about Machiavellian scheming to create political structures with councils of wizards and nobles battling it out for rulership. Some people’s World Building is expansive, with massive vistas that can only be captured on maps. Others are more intimate, revealing just enough of the world to fill the viewer’s horizon. These are all valid World Building strategies, and they are equally valuable whether you’re writing a book, a screenplay, developing a game, or building an original costume. None are wrong or right; they are just different ways of going about it. I dive into these differences and details in my book and World Building course, but to start, I want to introduce you to a different way of seeing World Building.

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Who needs World Building?

I'm talking about Narrative world building.

Narrative World Building is about the soul of storytelling. The stories and characters a reader, viewer or player interacts with are driven by tectonic forces churning beneath the surface of the scenes and settings. Developing planets, creating magical societies, sociology, biology, ecology, or any of the –ologies happen as natural consequences of these forces. Narrative World Building is about how storytelling elements jostle against one another, colliding only to be thrown against other ideas, or to spin off, free from the rest to carve their own unique story in the cosmos. It’s about what makes plots, stories, settings and characters tick, deep down inside.
To start a conversation about World Building we need a common frame of reference. So the first question is…

What is a WORLD?

The World is the canvas that all story, plot, characters, and settings are painted on. It’s the thing that these other elements cannot exist without.  

Once you start looking at World Building from this perspective, vague elements can suddenly make sense and lines of plots become apparent that might take a lot of time and ink (real and figurative) to reveal otherwise.
If a World is the canvas these things exist on, then what are the other elements we need to help build it? To bring us more clarity, we need to ask a second question… question…