Feeling Stuck? How to Start World Building When the Page Is Blank
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Do you find yourself ready to start world building for your next project but suddenly feel like you just have no ideas? Do you find that you end up staring at a blank page more often than not and just aren’t sure what to do next? Well, I’ve got some good news for you, because it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. For this post, I’ll be discussing how you can start world buildiing when the page is blank and you’re feeling stuck.
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1. Pick One Foundational Lens
Instead of brainstorming everything all at once, choose a single “lens” that excites you and free-write for five minutes before you start world building.
The lens can be pretty much anything you want, but it’s something that’s meant to spark questions and get you to find ansewrs to them. This can be something like the people, the places, or the problem that exists in your world.
Here’s an example of this in application: In terms of place, what is the most dangerous landmark in your world that your character can travel to within a day? Why is it so dangerous?
2. Use the “3×3 Post-it Method”
Here’s a bit of a fun thing you can try for getting that world building spark. Grab three sticky notes or pieces of paper or even three small digital sticky notes and do the following:
Label one geography, one culture, and one conflict. Add three bullet points to each. These should just be small, quick thoughts. You can write anything down, like an image you have of something within each category or maybe something that you saw that inspired you recently.
One WIP I have in the queue was actually inspired by the Venetican Carnivale masks, so under culture, I’d probably write “carnivale inspired.”
Now, if you’re still feeling a bit lost, one of the things with The Ultimate Guide to World Building that I did is that I broke each thing down and explained every world building concept in depth. Then, I provided worksheets with guiding questions that get you to take the concepts and break them down further so you can actually get a full understanding of what your world is going to be like.
3. Borrow, but Twist, One Real-World Element
Take a real culture, era, or place that you know about and think about everything you know regarding this topic. Then, add one one speculative twist to that real-world element. For instance, the silk road but the merchants ride robots that fly through the air instead of camels or other animals.
These little twists that you can add to real things helps to deliver freshness and also puts you in the mind of a world builder.
Now, to do this, I recommend doing some research if you aren’t entirely sure about certain cultures or places. I talk about how you can do research like a pro in The Ultimate Guide to World Building and how you can take your research knowledge and apply it to your world through each section.
4. Map a Journey
Imagine traveling 24 hours in the world you’re designing. Now, think about questions like these:
- What terrain do you cross?
- Who do you meet along the way?
- Which smells are there?
- What obstacle forces a detour?
This sort of 24-hour trip is really interesting because it lets you think about the sensory details of your world and may also introduce a certain plot point that you can add to your story if you’re world building for a book.
5. Stop and Draft a Small Scene
Something that sometimes helps me as a writer is to just draft out a quick scene of something I’m seeing in my head for an idea I have. For instance, maybe I’m imagining a battle between a sorcerer and an assassin in the middle of a desert. This can actually help you learn about your world through your own imagination.
In a way, you learn about your world building from your storytelling. This method might not be the best if you don’t like working backwards, but I’ve found that it can help to get ideas out on a page. I actually did this process for my series, The Fallen Age Saga.
FAQs
It depends on what genre you’re writing. I do think you should go through 90% of the process before you start because it reduces confusion later.
That’s perfectly fine and very normal. Just remember to keep a sort of revision log so you can adjust earlier chapters during your editing process.
The Ultimate Guide to World Building is a workbook I curated just for this! It’s got over 340 pages and it’s full of information and workbook sections to help you work through basically every element of your world.
Build Faster With a Proven Framework
If you’d like fill-as-you-go templates for geography, cultures, magic systems, and conflict, grab The Ultimate Guide to World Building. Inside you’ll find:
- 340+ pages of in-depth instruction, world building workflows, and real examples
- Step-by-step guidance for geography, cultures, languages, politics, history, religion, magic systems, technology, architecture, and more
- Massive worksheet packs that help you build as you go and cover everything from the galaxies to the family unit
- Professional-grade tools and templates you can reuse for every new project
- A focus on maintaining logic within your world with itself and the story
- Designed for both print and digital so you can use it on your device or print it out
- Includes niche topics as well like organized crime, black markets, and deep discussions on building universes
It’s the most complete world building guide ever made.
Join the other writers using The Ultimate Guides who turned scattered ideas into immersive worlds.
👉 Get The Ultimate Guide to World Building