🖊 5 Worldbuilding Tips for New Writers🖊

One of the most exciting parts of writing—especially in fantasy, sci-fi, or speculative fiction—is building your own world. It’s also one of the most intimidating.

If you're a new writer, you might feel like you need maps, magic systems, languages, and centuries of history just to get started. But worldbuilding doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, some of the best stories are rooted in just a few well-thought-out details.

Here are 5 worldbuilding tips to help you build rich, immersive settings—without falling into the black hole of planning forever:

1. Start Small and Build Out
Don’t try to design the entire planet on day one. Focus on one town, city, or region—where your story actually begins. Think about what the characters would see, hear, smell, and feel there. Let the rest of the world expand naturally as your story demands it.

2. Ask “Why?” Behind Every Detail
Is your kingdom built on floating islands? Cool. Now ask: why are they floating? Is it magic? Lost technology? A natural phenomenon? When you give your world logic and cause-effect reasoning, even the strangest elements feel believable.

3. Use Real-World Inspiration (But Twist It)
Pull from history, cultures, geography, or even architecture you love—but remix it into something new. A desert empire based loosely on ancient Mesopotamia with sky serpents and sand-powered machines? Now you’re talking.

4. Let Culture Drive Conflict
Politics, religion, class systems, languages—these aren’t just setting details. They shape how people live and interact. When your world has real cultural depth, it naturally creates tension, drama, and stakes that will enrich your plot.

5. Don’t Let Worldbuilding Stall Your Story
It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of worldbuilding and never write the actual book. Don’t wait until your world is “perfect.” Start writing. You can always revise the world as you go. Think of it as discovering the world alongside your characters.

You don’t have to be Tolkien to create a world that feels alive. Focus on the parts that excite you, that feed your imagination—and trust that readers will feel that magic too.

✨Happy Writing ✨
Let your world breathe, evolve, and most importantly—tell the story you want to tell.

-Chloe🤍