Want to start worldbuilding but don’t know where to start? I’ve created an outline that goes over all the important aspects of your world that you want to create. Feel free to use this as a template for getting the first ideas for your world down!
Some tips:
1. Focus most on what’s important. This is key to building your world deeply, not broadly. Spend less time on details that aren’t necessarily significant and more time on what you expect will be important throughout your story. If you want to add some fun details, great! Just be sure not to get too distracted. That being said,
2. Don’t world-build too much. Sometimes, writers get caught up in worldbuilding for so long that they never actually write their story. Come back to this outline when you need it, but start writing when you have a good chunk of information that you want and need.
I’ll go into further detail on each of these sections eventually. In the meantime, use this as a basic outline for getting your world down on paper.
1. Physical World
a. Geography
b. Nations/states/provinces/countries
c. Important cities
i. City names
ii. Borders
d. Rivers
e. Mountains
f. Important/sacred places
g. Climate
i. Typical climate in important nations
h. Weather
i. flora and fauna
j. Natural laws
2. Society and Culture
a. Laws
i. Crime and punishment
ii. Law enforcement
iii. Military
b. Government
i. Tulers (monarchs, presidents, etc.)
ii. Nobility
iii. Governmental systems (feudalism, democracy, etc.)
iv. Economy
v. Currency
vi. Politics and political parties
vii. Factions or rebel groups
c. Religion
i. Deities
ii. Core beliefs
iii. Churches
iv. Religious holidays
v. Sacraments, commandments, etc.
d. Culture
i. Taboos
ii. Customs
iii. Dress/fashion
iv. Tattoos/piercings
v. Holidays
vi. Food and drink
vii. Leisure
viii. Jobs
ix. Games/sports
x. Funerals, weddings, etc.
e. Technology
i. Transportation
ii. Communication
iii. Medicine and medical science
f. Magic
i. Rules of the magic system
ii. Source of magic (elemental, spiritual, etc.)
iii. Spells and incantations
g. People and people groups
i. Gender and sexual orientation
ii. Social norms by gender
iii. Physical attributes (hair, skin, eye color, etc.)
iv. Common dress
v. Common jobs
3. Cosmology
a. Sun, moon, and stars
b. Planets
c. Constellations
4. Mythology and History of the People
a. Important Deities
b. Important battles
c. Important people throughout history
d. Folklore (fairy tales, fables, etc.)
e. History of creation
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