Worldbuilding...

Because I just started my worldbuilding of this new awesome novel I'll be writing, so yeah... I want to share what I do.

So for me to do any kind of worldbuilding I need to have a plot. A basic idea of what is going to happen, like the one-line-pitch you give when someone ask you to describe the plot of your novel.

Once I have this pitch I will make a word-document in which I make four headlines

1. World
2. Magic
3. Characters
4. POV

World

Backstory - It doesn't need to be this 2000 year old backstory of the world, but more a backstory that explains why the world is in its current state. That can be anything from a natural event to maybe a war. The possibilities are endless on this matter.

After this we have the basic information. Things like gender roles, traditions, religion... all of these are relevant here. Now if you have other races than humans, you might want to describe them and write down why they are different. My story only has humans.

Magic

Who has it? Who doesn't? What are the rules for the magic? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself when creating a magic system. I have found that magic systems are really fun to make up. And seeing how it interacts with the world is a journey in itself. 

Characters

In this section I write down all the characters who are going to play a special role in the story, and I write down a few lines about what kind of journey they come out during the story. You can also put down descriptions like what they look like, but I would rather discovery write this than have it outlined. That way they just feel a bit more real to me. 

POV

In this story I have a 3. person limited POV between four characters. This might expand to more, I haven't really decided yet, but so far this is how it is going to work. Some might argue that POV isn't really a worldbuilding thing, but to me it is. All the POVs are eyes which interpret the world differently, and their view needs to be shared.

As you can probably tell my worldbuilding is not as deep as someone like J.R.R, but this is my style, and it helps me get the details down without making me tired of the story, which is important in my book.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.