Let’s put together a list of worldbuilding tips. What tips do you have for building worlds? I’ll start: Put a spin on real-world things to come up with stuff for your world, like a fancy big-city subway that only the super rich can use (a spin on the NYC subway).
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Build your world slowly in the script. Don't write the first page (or worse, two pages) as a monolithic description. Introduce the first striking element in the first action lines. Let that flow (dialogue, character action whatever). Then introduce the next. And then another, and then another, naturally with the actions of character and unfolding of drama. Don't repeat. Keep looking for natural ways to introduce new elements.
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Those are great tips, John Clive Carter! I especially like "build your world slowly in the script." It can feel overwhelming when reading a script/watching a movie or show and everything's described at once.
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What I personally do is live in the world in my head for a while, get a feel for how it affects characters and vice versa, and then introduce it gradually in writing like John Clive Carter said. Think of it as a place that only you know that you're excited to invite the reader/viewer into.
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Those are great ideas, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh! Live in the world in your head and get a feel for how it affects characters and vice versa. I'm gonna try those. Thanks for the ideas.
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Thank you and you’re welcome as well, Maurice Vaughan, glad to help!
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You're welcome, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh.
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I’ve always loved history, so when worldbuilding, it’s always tied to a fictional or real history. I feel a world is that much more alive when you think about it in that headspace. Where has this world been? Have they learned from their mistakes? How has this history shaped their worldview?
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Those are great questions to ask, Garrett Dunne!
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I think my big recommendation for world building is to set consistency and stick to it. Everyone living in the world has to abide by the same rules of the world be they magic, technology, etc. it's also good to slowly unveil the world and meaningful ways so that the audience learns as they go.
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I agree, Patrick Koepke. I'd be ok with the world in a movie/show changing if there was a good reason though, like if a catastrophic event made things change.
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Good sewage system…..it all flows downhill….
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What gets to me is how no matter how strage or different or alien the world is everything always has the same name. People from another planet 300 years in the future will call a common item the same thing we call it.
Just for fun in a book series I wrote I occasionally threw in new things that are common for us but the characters were unfamiliar with. Their first trip to Great Northern Icefields they found a compound that had these tubs of this cold, frozen, dairy like substance. They had no idea what it was but they agreed it would be great with chocolate. I never once called it ice cream.
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Great point, Bill Albert! Don't give things common names. Or come up with unique names for them.
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I never thought about sewage systems for my worlds, SL Dobbins. Thanks for the idea!
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Great topic Maurice Vaughan! I implemented the concept in my film for many technical reasons, to be detailed. The conversations are going great!
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Thanks, Eon C. Rambally. Hope the comments help writers build worlds!
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Oh most certainly Maurice Vaughan. That's the intent! They can take a look at my bio for now of my film "The World of Thought Perception & Creativity"! Very important for discussion, as it got good comments at two film festival competitions, (after further editing) for further development. Can leave a Vimeo link if required of the further edited version, for the competitions.
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For world-building in my sci-fi scripts, I avoid being "too descriptive or expository" by assuming most of the reading audience is quite capable of visualizing most action/descriptions without painting every scene explicitly and save the detailed descriptions for the not readily visualized scenes (strange, new worlds) that are important to drive the story forward.
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I do the same thing, Matthew Kelcourse. I also like to step back and ask myself "will they [the reader] understand this" when I'm describing worlds, especially strange, new worlds.
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War: War is hard, but Ive seen that War shouldn't be a plot point.
If you want to write a War between fictional states/factions, USE real life instances and historical examples. War is as old as Humanity itself. Revolutions, Civil Wars, Wars of Extermination, Alliances, Nationalism, Politics, Religion, Etc.
What technology does each side uses?? Technology evolves warfare and during wartime the most investment goes into it.
If it's fantasy, are there great beasts that roam the battlefields? Magic being used??
Is the war Conventional or Unconventional??
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Great questions to ask when building a world, Justin Groats! War and militaries are big parts of real-life society (sadly), and they'll be big parts of a writer's world (or not -- maybe it's a world without war and militaries.
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world building is fun, and so can easily become a massive timesuck, as you merrily invent cultures, religions, histories, technologies etc that, in the end, have little impact on the actual narrative or your characters – i've done it myself ... many, many times
now i try to plot out my story first, and then try to identify where the world building needs to happen for the narrative and characters to work
after that i may see if there’s some world building that can help express the theme of the story – and finally if there’s some world building that can add something new or interesting to the audiences’ experience of the story
and even then, it’s still hard not to get carried away with world building
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You're right, Robert Bruinewoud. Worldbuilding can easily become a massive timesuck. I do something similar. I figure out the story/characters/etc., then I identify where the worldbuilding needs to happen for the narrative and characters to work. Sometimes I'll think of things for the world while I figure out the story/characters/etc. though.
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World building is my favorite time suck. lol! I love it and can happily get lost in it for hours, days, weeks, months… But I’ve found that world building, even extensively, does help me when I get stuck later. It helps me understand my characters, their backgrounds, their stressors/ triggers, their relationships, etc. so much better and I go into writing with so much reference material to review when I need it. It helps me break out of “writer’s block” while still feeling productive and often re-inspires me.
My tips- Inkarnate.com has a wonderful map builder that can help you literally build your world out with a visual reference that you can use to make your world feel real.
I've never made a map for a script or series, Ashley Renee Smith. I'd like to! Thanks for the link!
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What I keep in mind is title and genre. Solitude well written in screenplay also of subjects that gives good perspective from an individualistic pov
In my film there’s a futuristic city built around an ancient site that spurred extensive scientific research, because of significant out of this world, even alien like discoveries and ultimately industry. But it’s in a fictitious futuristic world.
Real responsibilities and technicalities with telling such a story, hence the scene of solitary expressing deep thoughts “before” the real action, drama, mystery, thrills and “technicalities” etc. begins!
It’s a Thriller, Mystery, genre btw :)