How to Research for Worldbuilding the Right Way
Table of Contents
Worldbuilding is one of the most exciting parts of writing a fantasy, sci-fi, or speculative fiction story. It is also one of the most intimidating processes along the way, and a big reason for that is that a lot of writers are not sure where to actually start. Many writers and worldbuilders have cool ideas but sometimes, those ideas do not always connect into something that feels like a real and functioning world. A lot of the time, the missing piece in this scenario is research. Research is something that I talk about a lot on my blog and in my guides because it is genuinely one of the most important parts of the worldbuilding process. It also tends to be an overlooked one, as many people just assume they have enough knowledge about something to just create parts of the world from. But, it’s a bit deeper than that. So, for today’s post, I’ll be going over what research actually is in the context of worldbuilding, who needs it, why it matters, and then a full step-by-step breakdown of how to research for worldbuilding the right way.
And before we get into it, if you are new to worldbuilding and are not sure where to start, grab a free copy of my 10-question worldbuilding primer. It is completely free and it will help you start thinking about your world in a more structured, intentional way.
What Is Research in the Context of Worldbuilding?
When most people hear the word “research,” they picture dense textbooks or long academic papers. That is not really what we are talking about here.
Research for worldbuilding is the process of studying real-world systems, histories, cultures, and structures so that you can use them as a foundation for your fictional world. It is not about copying reality into your story but is more about understanding how things actually work so that your invented world has that same kind of internal logic and consistency.
For example, if you are writing a fantasy kingdom with a rigid class system, researching how feudalism actually worked in medieval Europe will give you a much stronger foundation than just guessing at how that kind of society would operate. The same applies to economies, religions, warfare, trade systems, and law.
Who Needs to Research for Worldbuilding?
The short answer to this question is anyone who is building a world for a creative project. This includes:
- Fantasy writers working in subgenres like high fantasy, epic fantasy, dark fantasy, grimdark, and light fantasy
- Sci-fi and speculative fiction writers designing future societies, alien civilizations, or dystopian governments
- Authors writing historical fiction or stories set in real-world inspired settings
- Game designers and dungeon masters building out worlds for tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons or campaigns set in homebrew settings
- Video game writers and narrative designers creating the lore and setting for games
- Anyone building a world for a creative project, whether that is a novel, a short story, a game, or something else entirely
Worldbuilding research is not just for writers of massive epic fantasy series. Even if your story is smaller in scale, the world your characters live in still needs to make sense. Research is what helps you get there.
A tool I recommend to use for world building no matter what genre or project you’re taking on is The Ultimate Guide to World Building, which is a fantastic tool that you can grow a whole universe with. You get access to over 340+ pages of instructional material and guided questions so it feels like a course in the palm of your hand. Grab yourself a copy today → The Ultimate Guide to World Building
Why Is Research Important for Worldbuilding?
A lot of writers feel like research is going to slow them down or box them in creatively. That is actually the opposite of what happens. Research gives you more to work with, not less.
Here is why research matters so much for worldbuilding specifically:
It makes your world feel believable: Readers, players, and viewers can tell when a world does not hold together logically. When the systems in your world reflect how things actually function, it creates immersion that is very hard to manufacture otherwise.
It gives you story ideas you would not have thought of on your own: History is full of conflicts, power struggles, social tensions, and cultural dynamics that are genuinely fascinating. When you study these things, you will find ideas that are far more interesting than anything you could invent from scratch.
It helps you avoid common mistakes: A lot of worldbuilding errors come from writers assuming how things work without checking. Research helps you catch those assumptions early before they create inconsistencies in your world.
It saves you time in the long run: It might feel like research is adding extra steps, but it actually prevents you from having to go back and rework large parts of your world later because something does not add up.
How to Research for Worldbuilding Step by Step
Step 1: Figure Out What Your Story Actually Needs
Before you open a single browser tab or pull out a single book, you need to get clear on what your world actually needs to support your story. A political fantasy is going to need very different research than a sci-fi dystopia. A dark fantasy story built around religious corruption needs different details than an epic fantasy quest narrative.
You need to think about the themes and the style you’re going for in terms of tone. You also want to think about what will matter the most in a fundamental sense to your overall narrative such as particular elements (i.e., government, religion…)
This step matters because it filters everything else. Without it, you will end up collecting a ton of information that has nothing to do with your story, which is one of the main reasons research starts feeling overwhelming for writers.
Step 2: Research Systems
One of the most common mistakes in worldbuilding research is focusing only on how things look. Clothing, architecture, and landscapes are all important, but they are not what makes a world feel real. What makes a world feel real is understanding how it functions.
So instead of just researching what medieval towns looked like, dig into the details that will matter to the lives of people living in your world. For instance, land ownership and taxes.
This applies across genres too. If you are writing sci-fi or speculative fiction, research real economic and political systems so your fictional government or society has a believable structure behind it. If you are building a DnD campaign world, look into how real historical armies functioned, how cities were supplied, and how religions shaped political power. Those details are what give a world its weight.
Step 3: Use Real History and Culture as a Foundation
You do not need to invent everything from scratch, and honestly you should not try to. The strongest fantasy and sci-fi worlds tend to be built on real-world foundations that have then been adapted and reshaped into something new.
You can choose to study specific things like historical empires, how they expanded, governed, etc… You can also study cultures and religions or geographic regions.
Then take what you have learned and adapt it. Combine elements from different time periods or cultures. The goal is not to copy history into your story. You want to use history as a framework that supports your imagination and gives your world a sense of depth. Plus, many readers actually search for stories inspired by particular eras or events in history, so that’s a good marketing tip.
Speaking of marketing, grab my free ultimate marketing checklist for authors below!
Step 4: Go Deeper Than Surface-Level Information
If you want your world to feel genuinely immersive, you need to ask better questions than the obvious ones. Instead of stopping at the basic facts, you’ll want to dig a little deeper than just what a place looks like aesthetically. You may want to pick particular eras within the history of something specific. For example, Ancient Egypt was vast so just saying inspired by Ancient Egypt could mean quite literally anything from Ramses II to Amenhotep to Cleopatra. Be more specific so that you can actually write a cohesive world.
For example, if you are researching monarchy for a high fantasy story, do not just learn who ruled and when. Look into how decisions were actually carried out at a local level, how corruption showed up in practice, and what life looked like for someone at the very bottom of that system. That is where your story ideas are going to come from.
Step 5: Research Daily Life, Not Just Major Events
It is very easy to focus all of your research on big historical events like wars, conquests, and political upheavals. Those things are important, but your world is going to feel hollow if you ignore what everyday life actually looked like.
You’ll want to look into things like food, the economy, education, transportation, entertainment, etc… These are all parts of what make societies different and that needs to be shown in some depth in your own world.
Step 6: Apply Your Research to Your Specific Genre
Research looks a little different depending on what you are writing, so it helps to think about how the information you find connects to your specific genre.
For fantasy subgenres like high fantasy, epic fantasy, and dark fantasy, historical research into medieval and ancient societies is going to be very relevant. Look into feudal structures, religious authority, siege warfare, and the realities of pre-industrial life.
For grimdark fantasy specifically, research the darker and more brutal aspects of historical societies, including things like how disease spread, how justice was carried out, and how power was abused. Grimdark worlds need that kind of ugly realism to work properly.
For sci-fi and speculative fiction, research modern and emerging systems like surveillance technology, political theory, economic structures, and environmental science. These give your futuristic or alternate world a believable foundation.
For DnD and other tabletop game worldbuilding, research that covers a wide range of historical periods will serve you well since campaigns can pull from many different eras and cultures at once.
For video game narrative design, think about how the world’s systems will interact with gameplay and research accordingly, focusing on things like faction dynamics, resource economies, and how conflict escalates over time.
Step 7: Organize Your Research So You Can Actually Use It
Research becomes a problem very quickly if you do not have a system for keeping track of it. A lot of writers end up with pages and pages of notes that they can never find when they actually need them.
Find an organization method that works for you. I actually have a great tool that’ll work amazingly for you: The Ultimate Guide to World Building. It’s a 340+ page workbook and guide that’s broken up into sections for you so you can organize all your notes and it even includes extra note pages for you to jot down research, ideas, and brainstorming stuff.
Keep your notes focused and practical. You are building a story, so write down what is useful to you and leave out what is not. Don’t overwhelm yourself as you’re not going to be writing a whole research paper!
Step 8: Know When to Stop and Start Writing
This is the step that trips up a lot of writers. It is very easy to keep researching instead of actually building your world and writing your story. At some point, you have to make the call to move forward.
A good way to think about it is this: if you can answer the key questions that your story depends on, you have enough to start. You do not need to know everything about your world before you begin writing. Worldbuilding is not a one-time event that happens before the story starts. It evolves as you write, and you can always fill in gaps along the way.
Conclusion
Research is not about collecting as much information as possible but is more about understanding how things work well enough to build something believable on top of them. Whether you are writing high fantasy, dark fantasy, grimdark, sci-fi, speculative fiction, or building a world for a DnD campaign or a video game, research can really help give your world its needed foundation.
And if you want a structured way to start putting your world together, grab a copy of my Ultimate Guide to World Building. It is over 340 pages and includes intensive instruction, guided worksheets, and practical tips for building worlds that feel real and immersive. Check it out here → The Ultimate Guide to World Building.
Be sure to grab a copy of my 10 question worldbuilding primer before you head out as well!
FAQs about Research for Worldbuilding
Enough to support the key elements of your story. You do not need to become an expert in medieval history or political science. You just need to understand the systems your world depends on well enough that they hold together logically. Focus your research on what directly impacts your plot and characters, and do not worry about covering everything.
You can try, but your world is likely going to feel thin or inconsistent in ways that readers and players will notice even if they cannot quite pinpoint why. Real-world research gives your world the kind of internal logic that is very hard to manufacture on your own. Even a little bit of targeted research goes a long way.
Books, documentaries, academic articles, and credible online resources are all useful. For historical research specifically, books written by historians tend to be more reliable than Wikipedia alone. Using multiple sources is always a good idea so you are not working from just one perspective.
Absolutely. Sci-fi and speculative fiction writers benefit just as much from research as fantasy writers do. Research into political systems, economics, technology, and social structures will make your futuristic or alternate world much more believable and internally consistent.
Originality comes from how you combine and reshape your influences, not from avoiding them. Take elements from different historical periods and cultures, change the outcomes, introduce new variables, and add your own creative ideas on top of the foundation. The research gives you a structure. What you build on that structure is your own.
Set a clear goal for each research session before you start. Know what specific question you are trying to answer and stop when you have answered it. It also helps to give yourself a time limit. Research is a tool to support your writing, not a replacement for it.