worldbuilding as an art

Worldbuilding is the practice of creating an imaginary world, usually for the sake of another type of finished work like a book. I myself am a fantasy author (though unpublished just yet), and I have found a deep love for this part of the process. Coming up cultures, plants, animals, monsters, and all the little details.

"Hizen, Mount Unzen" by Hasui Kawase

Traditionally, an author worldbuilds to the extent that they need, and then they stop, because the story must be written, and you can get in the weeds with worldbuilding if you’re not careful. It occurred to me one day, what if we did get lost in the weeds? On purpose.

Think about when you were a kid, we all created imaginary worlds and situations automatically. We did this without even trying. I believe that this is a core piece of the human spirit, the use of our imagination.

That is how I define worldbuilding now, not as a task I need to complete to write my story. Worldbuilding is the practice of making use of one’s imagination.

I believe we should change our thinking: a practice that once just served other mediums could become it’s own art form and take on many new shapes.

In some ways, this is already happening. We see people reference the worldbuilding in movies, like Studio Ghibli, in music like Twenty One Pilots, and so many more places. I see creators on Youtube especially leaning into worldbuilding for the sake of, well fun. They worldbuild for worldbuildings’ sake, then decide later what the project will ultimately become.

One notable worldbuilder is Sam Carr, he created a project called the Eternal Ruins on Youtube. An endless labyrinth fill with strange spirits, terrible demons, and curious creatures, animals, and even robots. Talk about getting lost in the weeds. Sam started just by sharing his thoughts and drawings from the world, but now he has created a full fledged TTRPG game.

I have been deeply inspired by Sam, and I love his approach to worldbuilding. We can start out by just living in our imagination, and decide later what shape our worlds will take in reality.

So, how would you begin?

The way you can start worldbuilding is simply by asking questions. I have a series on my Instagram (@worldbuildingchris) called Worldbuilding Sidequests, where I ask my followers to imagine themselves in fantasy worlds as a person with a specific task. They are just simple writing prompts, but the results are powerful.

After all, creativity is just an answer to a question. We see a gap, and we find a new way to fill it. We tend to overcomplicate creativity, but that’s all it truly is.

I’ve found that in asking these simple writing prompts, people fill in these gaps themselves. For example, here was one that I asked:

“Imagine you are a soldier standing guard in a small town, and you witness some suspicious activity that you need to report to your superior officer. Write a detailed report of what happened, where it happened, and who was involved.”

By the time a person gets through the prompt, they have thought through morality and law, towns and government systems, as well as what crime looks like in an imaginary world.

My point is that worldbuilding is a creative art all it’s own, on par with any other school of art. In fact worldbuilding is the secret source of so many art forms, adding depth and enjoyment to movies, paintings, and music all while staying in the background.

I would love if Worldbuilding could get center stage. I want a world where when a person is asked, “What do you do?” They say “I create worlds.”

Worldbuilding has done so much good in my life, and given me a new way to express my creativity when I discovered it. So many people believe that they are not creative, and therefore they don’t ever try to be. Worldbuilding has such a low barrier of entry, and my goal is to make worldbuilding more understood and accessible to the average person.

If this sounds interesting to you, I would love to connect and get you started on your journey with worldbuilding!

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Written by: WorldbuildingChris
Chris’s Socials: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok