Worldbuilding is Completing a Puzzle
... Without the Edge Pieces or Box Cover
Worldbuilding is completing a puzzle, but without the edge pieces or box cover. And, most of the puzzle pieces are blank until you pick them up.
Usually, a character or a story idea is the catalyst for the creation of your unique world. Multiple guides are available online to help you structure your initial creative sparks into an inventory for the world’s components. I generally refer to them as the list of lists. They contain categories such as cultural norms and traditions, religions, politics, economics, and many more.
Which list of elements is the right list for your story?
As building a world can be an enormous, and unending labor of love, to prioritize your time and energy, focus on building the details of your world based on the major themes of your story.
If your story is about exploring an unchartered wilderness then a suitable reservoir of beasts, plants, geographical features, weather patterns, adventuring gear, survival techniques, a history of prior successful and failed expeditions, and the cost to outfit a proper expedition may be some of the necessary components, in addition to the basics of culture.
Note: the cost to outfit a proper expedition could feed into character ideas for particularly stingy or lavish benefactors. As you build the world, think about how these elements can connect back to characters.
Alternatively, if you wanted to tell a story centered around the fêtes, protocols, and intrigues of a royal court, several of the items above may not make the cut, maybe just a passing reference to a newly commissioned expedition departing for the trackless boreal forests.
There are no true edge pieces to your world, other than when you think you have enough details to tell the story you want to tell. And, the borders can evolve over time.
As an additional aid when building a world from scratch, think about what inspired you to start worldbuilding. If your worldbuilding was ignited by a historical place and period, use that as a framework. Instead of looking at blank pages of the yet-to-be-completed list of lists, use the historical analog as a stand-in while you create the specific details of your world.
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― Andy
You’re right in that there are many lists of lists out there, and thanks to your post, I now realize that not every list needs to be considered when building a world. For example, in Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards fantasy series the monetary system is explained, but magic is not. That’s because the protagonists are thieves, not mages. On the other hand, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series includes a comprehensive explanation of the magical system that extends throughout a dozen books, but never does the financial system come into play (main characters all touch the “one true power,” and don’t need to buy things). Thanks for helping me reach this realization. It shows me where to focus my creative efforts (i.e., which lists to choose from and which lists to disregard) when creating my own worlds.