How to World-build

Here I show you and reveal in a way which you can use for yourselves, the ways in which to world-build. Ranging from map-making, place naming, to story-telling. All things Lore are found here.

The summaries listed below are explained in full in video form on my socials below:

Map-Making

What is a Map:

  • The place where your story happens.
  • Remember a map, despite having the most in-depth lore in the world, is nothing without  compelling and relatable story to go with it.

Map design:

  • think about things logically;
  • Rivers move downstream, so they should always start from the highest places - namely 'mountains';
  • Forests grow around water;
  • Water bodies widen the closer they get to the ocean

Settlements:

  • Most settlements are located in places of strategical advantage;
  • Next to watercourses (like rivers or lakes), forests, high up places (like hills).

Naming Places

Context:

  • People
  • Place
  • Landscape
  • Power System

People:

  • What do they look like? what do they wear? How do they speak? 
  • How do these things define a group of people?
  • How they speak will enforce what the name of their settlement is
  • The meaning of the name should reflect who they are as people

Place:

  • Architecture - you can draw from real world examples and use that as your reference within your world

Landscape:

  • Where is is situated geographically? (by a river, hill, mountains etc)
  • What is the climate like there?

Power System:

  • What (if any) are the power systems of your world, and how are they reflected in your people(s)?

Making Names / Words

2 things to consider when making words:

  • Aesthetic
  • Flow

Aesthetic:

  • How pleasing is the word to say? 
  • Does the word sound satisfying?

Flow:

  • How does the spine of the word sound?
  • Do the letters used work well with each other?
  • Are there too many sharp letters being used (z, k, v, x, q etc...)?
  • Use more soft letters like vowels to make a word roll of the tongue better (a, e, i, o, u, l, m, s etc...)

The Essence of DIM

Each of these 3 sections will help you get well on your way to your own world.