world-building
Fictional setting creation
World-building is the craft of creating fictional universes—inventing geography, history, cultures, languages, and rules that govern an imagined setting.
The term comes from fantasy and science fiction, where authors construct elaborate worlds for their stories: Tolkien's world-building in Middle-earth set the standard for the genre.
Video games, tabletop RPGs, and television series now engage in world-building as extensively as novels.
The practice has expanded beyond fiction; brand strategists and theme park designers also speak of world-building when creating immersive experiences.
Traditional knowledge transmitted orally
- backstoryCharacter's past narrative
- settingContext of events
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- plotStoryline or land parcel
conflict · themes · arc · tone · genre · canon · timeline · history
All gods of a religion
- deitiesWorshipped supernatural beings
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- creationMaking something exist
- mythosBody of foundational legends
legends · folklore · archetypes · prophecy · rituals · heroes · monsters · underworld
lore
Traditional knowledge transmitted orally
- backstoryCharacter's past narrative
- settingContext of events
- charactersPersons in a narrative
plot · conflict · themes · arc · tone · genre · canon · timeline · history · factions
pantheon
All gods of a religion
- deitiesWorshipped supernatural beings
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- creationMaking something exist
mythos · legends · folklore · archetypes · prophecy · rituals · heroes · monsters · underworld · afterlife
cartography
Creating geographic representations
- terrainLand's physical features
- continentsEarth's largest landmasses
- islandsLand surrounded by water
oceans · rivers · mountains · forests · deserts · climate · biomes · regions · borders · cities
magic
Supernatural or illusory power
kingdoms · sorcery · wizardry · alchemy · goblins · trolls · enchantment · portals · runes · mana
- fantasywizard, witch, magic, dragon, elf
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- fiction writingfiction, novels, plot, chapters, character
- franchisesfranchise, Star Wars, franchising, franchises, franchisor
- literary settingssetting, narrative setting, Hogwarts, Narnia, Middle-earth
- writing tipsshow don't tell, brevity, conciseness, clarity, flow
world-buildingplot
Storyline or land parcel
character development · characterization · narrative · storyline · dialogue
world-buildingdeconstruction
Analysis exposing self-contradiction
world destruction · unmaking · dismantling · erasure · apocalypse