212 Writers Sent Me Their Worldbuilding Ideas (Best Wins $2000!)

[@Jed_Herne]

This was a crazy project to make in the best way possible. I feel so inspired by all the ideas you sent in, and I hope you find that same inspiration as you watch the video. If you want to be notified of future contests, I generally announce these through my newsletter, which you can join here: jedherne.com/5-day-course Also, a massive thanks to our sponsor, GetCovers, for funding this contest! If you're wanting an affordable cover designed for your next novel, check out GetCovers here: jedherne.com/getcovers/ (and use the code JED20 for a 20% discount). Keep writing, and keep striving!

[@staceyandrews1926]

I wish I had known about this earlier! I had an idea about dragons and humans bonding, but not as dragon and rider!

[@PepperJackHawk55]

I saw my name on the list of group 8 but why wasn’t I shown, Benjamin Davidson

[@alexandertjorna3719]

Glad you liked my idea! //Alexander

[@Mary_Studios]

@@staceyandrews1926 I know I had an idea that I would love to have submit for this.

[@Beth-zs2jr]

Where do you normally announce these competitions? I somehow missed the announcement for this one, which is a great shame as I would have loved to send you an idea I'm currently working on

[@ethanpardun9898]

I am so unbelievably hyped that I was one of the runner ups for the final round, it’s so incredible to find out that my ideas can bring intrigue to people other than myself

[@ethanpardun9898]

I’ve been avoiding writing for months and months now but knowing that I’m not crazy is such a good feeling

[@joshangelo2585]

Ethan you’re my winner, I will be the first to buy your book love your concept!

[@ethanpardun9898]

@@joshangelo2585well I wasn’t actually planning on writing anything (though I’ve written the first chapter for a few settings before) but seeing how far my idea was able to get I just might now

[@PhoenixCrown]

Great idea man!

[@andy_et_cetera]

So fun to hear everyones crazy good ideas. My favourite was the Mad Hatter one. With the truth of what the world was like in the past having been forgotten in the fog deep down and the survivors having to keep building higher and higher structures, is a really interesting and conflict inducing concept. Also the squad portrayed as these adrenalin junkies jumping head on into the fog to explore is just really cool. Nice job!

[@harjeet-music]

In retrospect, I should have said much more in the 60-second video (38:08); it was a shame I didn't mention the gemstone magic, how the Alchemists begin to lose their humanity when spending time in the Wastelands, and how the Wastelands are a magical trap that's siphoning energy to another world. Still, I'm honoured to have made it to round 3; it was a great feeling to receive feedback, and I was also deeply impressed by some of the other entries. My personal favourite is the idea of Davina Sheckell (45:46) - perhaps it's not the most original one, but it has a vivid, compelling feel to it that I really resonate with. And to everyone feeling disappointed with how they did, keep writing! The truth is, ideas only matter to a certain degree; your writing, your voice, and what you have to share with the world is what's truly important. A great writer will turn an average idea into a marvellous story; so just keep writing, and best of luck getting your stories out there into the world!

[@bethanynystrand2375]

I love your attitude and your encouragement for other writers!

[@LorrenClark]

@@harjeet-music Your entry was very cool! It's a strong hook for a novel. Granted I'm a bit biased since it has some Annihilation vibes, which is one of my favorite books. But regardless, I'm hyped to hopefully read the completed work one day.

[@harjeet-music]

@LorrenClark Thanks! It means a lot ☺️. Might take me some time since I’m juggling writing with teaching yoga and making music, but definitely one day I’ll put it to paper!

[@alexsheckell2162]

Davina Sheckell here. Thanks!! I'm so glad you liked my idea. Working on the book, but I'm not super far into it yet. I have a medieval fantasy book out, but it's the only one so far. 🤷‍♀️ ...which isn't super original, either, technically 😅

[@harjeet-music]

@ Good luck with the book! I’m looking forward to perhaps reading it one day. And regarding your other book, I would consider it a success - personally, I haven’t completed a single draft yet 😉

[@serpentious]

11:37 It's me! Lets go! Thanks for doing the Jed! I look forward to your next video, while I finish this one.

[@ethanpardun9898]

So hype to see yourself in this man good job

[@some_random_wallaby]

Fantastic. I'd love to see this done again with a panel of two or three authors. Hand-world: I wasn't fully sold on it at first, but the withering-hand scene changed my mind. Underground Time Dilution: this was the best presented and most cohesive; the one I would be most confidant is a good story. Shoutout to ideas that didn't make it past the early stages: Following Coloured Lights: simple, pure concept. I love the theme of trying to convince people that a colour is real. It feels like this is the story for our time, in the midst of so much misinformation. Vivi's steam-magic world: I appreciate the grit and nuance. The mix of corruption and threat of war with an old ally has great depth and, better yet, a good-verses-evil theme which at once feels big and small. I got vibes of a real and uncompromising fight without heroic trappings.

[@five-0philosophy]

A world where endless rain has blocked out the sun for all of living memory? Welcome to Oregon…

[@PhoenixCrown]

ROFL I'm up in Washington. Hear you brother!

[@controlledchaos4764]

Lauren here! Just want to say I’m so thankful for this opportunity. Thank you Jed for your encouragement and uplifting messages thrown in with all the knowledge you share through your videos. Your passion really convinced me to begin and I can’t thank you enough for that. And amazing work to all participants! Keep at it all of you, keep writing and keep dreaming. I hope you reach greater heights than ever this year with your works! God bless ❤

[@ethanpardun9898]

This was so awesome to be a part of

[@LorrenClark]

@@controlledchaos4764 Your entry was a good one! It seems like a world that'll be fun to read a completed work in. My fiancee was watching the video with me, and yours was one of the ones she paid the most attention to, in a great way. Best of luck with writing the full story! You've got this. I'm just glad that we didn't end up in a head to head, since Jed Herne would have had to battle the homonymic nature of our names when talking. 😂

[@Icenflamesrush]

Hot take. It often feels like the need to have a unique idea spirals into extreme. I’m personally turned off by the more outlandish and wacky ideas. Nothing wrong with having a bit more grounded concept and fleshing that one out.

[@Avarn388]

@Iceflamesrush Yup. I think you can have a more familiar setting but with a twist. For example the Shannara series, we learn the fantasy world is the byproduct of a post apocalypse and humans, elves and dwarves were mutated humans if I am not mistaken. And I think that’s cool.

[@PhoenixCrown]

I see 2 sides to this: 1) This was a worldbuilding competition, so I think the more outlandish is likely to win. Plus, I love how Brandon Sanderson talks about setting and thinks fantasy has only scratched the surface of what is possible/fun/interesting. There were some AWESOME ideas. 2) I broadly agree with you and think a lot of these contestants have not done much to write a story in their world--and might find how many plot (and other) holes they struggle to work through/around. I was a contestant, and my worldbuilding is rather simple but incredibly tied together with theme, character, and plot (and I'm in final revision of my novel). But I didn't even show up (and totally understand why).

[@apon2390]

I think this contest was meant to be more about captivating ideas than actual quality. Agrounded work can end up having the best world building at the end of a book, but it's not really fit for such a competition, which is more about premisses and general ideas than the completely fleshed out world at the end.

[@JakeofRage]

I didn't think I would make it as far as I did. Thanks Jed for all the feedback! Enjoyed seeing all the other interesting worlds from the other entries.

[@VoidDude...]

Hello, Cade here! I just wanted to say how much of an honour it was to be shown at all here, much less make it to the second round (and possible even further had I not come up against a submission as fascinating as Beckett's). Additionally, this was a super fun exercise to go through as somebody who primarily writes for Video Games as opposed to novels. My full submission was actually from a backlogged game concept called "Arc of the World" which explores a much wider world of floating cities and different peoples who interact with the endless rainfall in different ways. I would consider the concept more on the grounded side, which is likely why it didn't make it to the final rounds in a contest such as this, but it seems that's the result of coming from a medium who's interactive nature requires more tangible concepts with harder rulesets, and I found that rather interesting. Ultimately, this was just a fascinating experiment to go through, and I cannot wait to try again the next time a contest comes around. And you know what, if anyone who reads this wants a little further look into the concept which never got fully explored here, this was my 60 second explanation of just one city within the world and how it functions. Hope it gives you some fun ideas. The Holy City of Lacrimir is a floating city of steel which was constructed at the equator to avoid the crushing northern snowfall. Its settlers came from miles around to mash together steel homes next to and on top of one another until the horizon was consumed by slanted roofs, grated walkways and man-made waterfalls. Then came the church. Their faceless leader known as Apostle Lacria said that God had become corrupted by our sins which now poured down upon us in the form of his tears. They said they could save us by praying and staying pure from the rain outside. So they belt out lines from ancient books, wear fancy headpieces that block out the constant pattering noises, and bathe in water untouched by the tears of God. They then put us to work to support their holy mission. Making us compete among each other for food and energy despite having bountiful harvests and an endless supply of energy from the rain powered hydroelectric wheel. Any enemies of the church are met by the Storm Guardians, hulking figures in wide brimmed hats who wield staffs of lighting that can pierce through the very rain itself.

[@skudopludo]

LORREN - Lorren I hope the capitals caught your attention, and I hope you see this comment but I really really liked your pitch. From the get go your idea I liked but was skeptical of at first, but as the rounds progressed the more I saw the vision. Man I really need to this is as a graphic novel or even a movie. If you have more work or Lore you’d wanna share reply to this comment because I’m sure myself and many others would love to read/dive into. Without throwing Jed’s professional judgment out the window, I feel like you were completely robbed in the final round, you’re the winner in my eyes. And Beckett if you are somehow reading this too you were my second favourite. Awesome project Jed!

[@MasterIceyy]

Whilst Jed is a professional, we also need to understand he is a human, he has his own personal likes, and what kind of fantasy he particularly enjoys, you could give all 212 to a variety of fantasy authors, and they'd probably all pick different winners and different stories would have gone through different rounds.

[@LorrenClark]

Thanks for the kind words! This is actually a side project next to my main project, which is nearing completion of draft 1. I've gotten some excellent feedback on this idea as a whole though, so after completing that draft, I may shelve it for a while to focus on this one since it could make for a tightly paced 80-100k word novel. I'm looking forward to one day this year replying with a new comment that I'm done! And of course, while I appreciate you preferring mine, I think all the top 8 (and all of the others!) were excellent works that deserved featuring. Congrats to the winner! Well-deserved.

[@evetrix1362]

You should make a new powe system contest! It was incredibly inspiring

[@SoMussMathe]

! SPOILER WARNING ! Hi, Noah here! I have not been expecting to win the contest, as you might have guessed from my… reaction… It was very uplifting to see Jed’s appreciation for my ideas, which I have not shared before with anybody else. This gave me much confidence to consider starting to write the actual story, with which I have made great progress lately (considering its layout at least). It feels like this approval has cured me of my worldbuilders-disease all of a sudden. I hope this contest had a very similar effect on you too. Even if your worlds have not won the contest: The ideas presented in this video are just awesome! It can be difficult to work up the courage to share one’s personal made-up world, but you and me just did exactly that. This is a tremendous step! Since many have made it this far into the tournament, your worlds have proven their potential and are worth to be explored by you all as writers. Happy new year everybody! Noah aka. SoMussMathe

[@sophiame283]

Congratulations! Your idea sounds very promising to me :) I just read the starless sea from Erin Morgenstern, wich has a similar world building and was very interesting and captivating ;)

[@DraconisAmoris]

Congrats mate, looks like you just beat me! (Mitchell with Fossilborn) Congrats brother, will keep an eye out for your name and hopefully a book in future. Would love to connect off KZbin and discuss story building together.

[@This_handle_is_not_available]

Congrats Was your story inspired by “Made in Abyss” I noticed a lot of similarities

[@SoMussMathe]

@@This_handle_is_not_available thanks! No, I don’t know it. One can say that I enjoyed Hollow Knight and Interstellar, so I combined them, but I cannot remember what sparked the idea

[@SoMussMathe]

@@DraconisAmoris hey Mitchell! I like your world a lot for the mystery it provides, which to me is the core ingredient for good fantasy. At the moment I’m stressed out by exams and have not been in the mood lately. I would love to discuss our ideas with you and other writers who participated, so maybe we could gather and organize a whole group. On my end though, I do not see myself world building until the end of February, for Uni and family maters are clouding my mind.

[@Ty_Drason]

33:54 WOW! Didn't expect to go past round 1, let alone be in the video. Because my story focuses on 2 country's that are vastly different of each other, I had a bit of a time struggle. Hope everyone had a fun time competing and congrats to the winner!

[@PhoenixCrown]

Keep on striving =)

[@vp7877]

I had a really funny worldbuilding idea; A group of teens save the world with the "Power Of Friendship". The world is safe from the powers of evil, but several governments and corporations have started to try to replicate and mass produce this "Power Of Friendship"

[@predatitor4183]

Sounds like a funny parody, or the continuation of one, like the secodn season after technically defeating the power of evil for 2910 years to come.

[@MalachiSouth]

Just gotta say, this was an awesome video. These ideas are breathtaking and fascinating, and I'd love to see some of them fleshed out more and used in stories. Beckett, you're my personal favorite. The aesthetic of your world is so fascinating. A question i had is if their might be a sort transition area between the fog and clear and what sort of people might live there. And the Mad Hatters is a phenomenal name. If you have the opportunity to do another one of these challenges, ill definitely send in my worldbuilding ideas!

[@DraconisAmoris]

Hey, I did the Fossilborn one (Mitchell) and got into round 3. Happy to share more on my world if you have any interest.

[@HungryEyes-sl3mu]

This is such a fun and interesting contest, I love hearing all of the author's worldbuilding ideas. There was an interesting throughline of decaying worlds and humanity on the verge of extinction. On a sidenote, the GetCovers sponsorship feels... so out of place. You literally have this wealth of authors coming up with their original ideas but partner with a stock image program at best or, more likely, some AI regurgitative cover "art" generator. It's just as important to support human made art as it is to support human made literature.

[@drdragon5037]

Oh hey, there I am at 23:13! I actually didn’t even expect to have my clip shown because I submitted so late :) I loved seeing all the unique ideas!

[@CuriousMind2505]

Incredibly grateful to make top 8! Mine was the world of sword fighting tournaments and it was brilliant to share it with everyone. Thank you Jed for giving me the inspiration to finish my story and congratulations to the winner and everyone who took part. There were some amazing ideas! If anyone would like to connect and discuss worldbuilding/novel writing off platform let me know.

[@DraconisAmoris]

I liked yours, I'm Mitchell with the Fossilborn one who was in the last round with you also, always keen to discuss more!

[@CuriousMind2505]

@DraconisAmoris yo fossilborn was wicked! I loved that one. Any preference on the best way to connect, discord or the like?

[@Total0belisk]

Lots of fun to watch and see so many varied and imaginative ideas I was really rooting for the fog based world (and not just because we were in the same round 1 group), really love it as an aesthetic and I'm a sucker for steampunk stuff

[@BeatrixBeatrixEverywhere]

Love your content, Jed 📖 💕 But you know an idea that could be implemented for your next contest video? *A credits with all the participant names and their book/story title*

[@ethanpardun9898]

See the problem with this is I wasn’t even planning on writing at all but now I might

[@DraconisAmoris]

@@ethanpardun9898 Nice brother, which one was yours? I'm Mitchell in the video.

[@ethanpardun9898]

@@DraconisAmoris im Ethan pardun, im around the middle point of each round except for the last

[@Chudi2000]

This is a good idea that’s mutually beneficial, but if people have that incentive to participate, then he’ll get loads more contestants. 200 is already a lot 😅

[@Chudi2000]

Congrats @DraconisArmoris and @ethanpardun9898, you both did amazing work 🥳🥳🥳 Ethan, your world was dope, I like how you added an interesting contradiction to the characters’ relationship with the setting. And Mitchell, you legit sounded like a professional voice actor during your narration bro that shit was crazy 🔥

[@JushawnLucas-j7v]

I've been waiting this for weeks now I love your content

[@PhoenixCrown]

Congrats Noah! I LOVE to see all the creativity from so many people! I submitted my world but didn't even show up in the initial set, so I may have some work to do, both on my creativity around the world and my ability to pitch it. I hope everyone who's interested pushes forward and writes there book! That's one place I'm good and am in final revision of my first fantasy novel. Remember, ideas are cheap; hard work and execution is, well, hard =) So happy to be part of this channel; I've learned so much!

[@DraconisAmoris]

It's a shame so many got cut, I would have done a bigger longer video. I was Mitchell with Fossilborn, got to the final round. Would love to hear what your pitch was

[@PhoenixCrown]

@@DraconisAmoris Way to go Mitchell! And Jed was right: Get on some voice acting! Loved the deep voice you did. My 15-second pitch: "In The Magi’s Secret, the Four Nations are the only oases from a blight that covers the world. Scattered across Teer, they’re divided not by nation but by mage and hyu." The first book focuses on a mage and hyu who are thrust into the blight and are forced to challenge their worldviews (as a romance develops) not only with regards to the class divide between them, but how they view the hun (a race in the blight that raids their borders) and the entire premise of the Dragon War that created the Divide between hyu and magi. -- From the name of the book, you can probably figure things are not as they seem =) I think it's quite cohesive with the 2 main characters on opposite sides of the divide, a world devastated by desert that should have healed by now, and a plot that focuses on getting to the truth of who can and can't use magic. Would love to hear more about your story!

[@Vexx263]

Where do you hear about these competitions? I would love to participate in the next one!

[@domiz1813]

Kinda sad i did not even make the video, the feedback alone would have been worth it. Still it was a fun experience, so thanks anyway Jed

[@Takeawayjustin]

Pro tip if you want to get in the video your nickname should probably start with an a but idk

[@Deepwokenhero_ezgromit3]

you probably deserved to be in it over that bloody aaron lad, IDK why I js dont like the fella

[@tomjoyce7037]

Me too, but I suppose it tells us something. Maybe our world building idea is not immediately interesting or unique. Maybe we need to pitch things differently. Either way, not being chosen doesn't mean your story idea isn't good. Keep on and believe in what you're doing

[@Jack_Winters_Wintercold55]

Feel the same lol 😂

[@Takeawayjustin]

@Deepwokenhero_ezgromit3 now imagine being aaron

[@admiralcasperr]

Welp. I got cut out. Congrats to anyone who actually made it in though. The only thing that remains is to make the idea into a successful book and prove its better then Jed gave it credit for.

[@Tekyng_of_Baregan]

Make him rue the day when he didn't pick you!

[@admiralcasperr]

​@@Tekyng_of_Bareganno mercy. Muhahahha!

[@qdLuke]

Real man, same thing happened to me lol. But it's no big deal, it's had to explain all the interesting things from your world in a 15 second pitch.

[@DraconisAmoris]

Yeah I got to the final round (Mitchell) but I still wanted to see EVERYONES ideas. what was your concept?

[@admiralcasperr]

​@@DraconisAmorisA world that's a living sphere of metal which then spawns metal-crystal monsters. Humans found it and they discovered they can share a mind with them. I thought it had all the things: both crazy landscapes, as well as a personal drama. I guess I was wrong.

[@j.kylenorsworthy6926]

This was amazing to be apart of, Jed. Thanks for putting this together!

[@lionheartpublishing5653]

Considered entering: mine was more scifi than fantasy, but I crafted a whole universe where gravity was steeper (think how close magnets need to be), thus planets with 1g were still the size of earth's moon. Space travel was easier and the stars were closer (again the physics shift). What if hackers targeted star trek-style replicators and crashed a post scarcity economy? If interested, check out Psyber War trilogy by lionheart. Cheers

[@aire-plane]

been working on my worldbuilding since i sometimes struggle with that. thank you for this video! its given me lots of inspiration.

[@aris8095]

17:30 thank you so much for that and congrats to Kyle for getting through the first round

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I am amazed that people are able to come up with so many concepts for settings and worldbuilding.

[@IrvineE]

While the timestamps are great and I'll always be thankful for that, I think (in my fallible or flawed opinion) the video should've been split and uploaded into several parts so that more writers can be featured, pretty sure everyone would love to hear your feedback - I'm dying to hear what's your thoughts on my entry :D Thanks a lot for the contest, looking forward for the next one, Jed

[@DraconisAmoris]

Hey I'm Mitchell who did the Fossilborn one, I'd love to hear about yours

[@LorrenClark]

Thanks for hosting this contest! It was a joy to enter it, and I couldn't be more proud to have made top 3. Great point on the cohesiveness in round 3 as well. I would have loved to have dived into how people without their hands function while their hand is on loan, what tools they use, and what societal dynamics occur, but I decided to talk about the world background, magic, and character focus to fit inside the time limit. I'm looking forward to one day showing this all off in my book! Congrats are also in order to the winner and to all the other entries! There were some fun and fantastic ideas presented here, and it was a blast watching the full video.

[@DraconisAmoris]

Hey Lorren it's Mitchell here who also got to round 3. Would be keen to talk off KZbin if you have discord or anything?

[@LorrenClark]

​@@DraconisAmoris ​Sure thing! You had a fun entry that absolutely deserved getting into the final round. I'll send my discord details through email to avoid bot scrapes; I'm assuming that your email is your channel @ Gmail?

[@DraconisAmoris]

@LorrenClark yup, right on the money.

[@qdLuke]

Is there any chance we can get an uncut version of this to see if our worlds had any feedback that didn't make it into the video?

[@romko4496]

Maybe he cut it out because they were so bad he had to curse 🤬😂😂😂

[@PhoenixCrown]

@@romko4496 It's possible. Mine didn't show up... haha.

[@lukemortensen801]

agree

[@alexsheckell2162]

Davina Sheckell here. Arabian desert inspired world. I was kinda surprised to make it into round 3 😁 glad he liked my ideas. Thanks, Jed! Appreciate your thoughts and interaction with your subscribers/fans 😊

[@DraconisAmoris]

I was Mitchell from round 3 also Liked yours, I'm a total sucker for desert/Arabian vibes. Ever play the game Atlas Fallen? You'd enjoy it.

[@alexsheckell2162]

@DraconisAmoris i haven't. Thanks. 😊

[@Cazzual01]

Wasn't one guy's idea similar to the plot of Bloodborne? That's a compliment btw, he put his own spin on it, but I could see the influence.

[@Sarc-g3s4f]

you do realise that with a popular genre like fantasy no idea is going to be 100% original?

[@Total0belisk]

If you're talking about the entry at 7:17 which was my entry, yes it is 100% influenced by Bloodborne, it's very deliberate as I wanted to create a loving homage to it but I am of course hoping I've put enough of my own ideas in it to be interesting enough on its own. If you're talking about a completely different entry, I guess I didn't pick up on that one XD

[@Chudi2000]

My favorite worldbuilding ideas from this were Beckett Johnson’s and Dwayne Rose’s, but everyone in the video contributed something unique. It’s inspiring to witness so many other writers out there going through the same stuff I am, it makes the writing journey feel less lonely.

[@katharinavalentina3484]

@Jed_Herne I am so happy for making it into the video at 16:45 , thank you for the effort of creating this competition and inspiring us to write! It was great to hear all these unique ideas, fun to watch 🙏 Have a great day everyone!

[@katharinavalentina3484]

I don’t know how to edit my comment :D but i am more of an traditional worldbuilder who likes to mix new things into the story - so it was cool to see how creative some of you got with your worldbuilding.

[@shughes5778]

Definitely think you should consider a two or three parter the next time you do one of these.

[@39Lords]

Congrats to all who participated and all who made it into the video. I am sad mine didn't make the cut, but am taking notes on the ideas presented and hope to see more in the future.

[@DraconisAmoris]

Man so many got cut, I got to round 3 (Mitchell) would love to talk to you about your ideas!

[@39Lords]

@DraconisAmoris That sounds awesome! You on Discord?

[@DraconisAmoris]

@@39Lords I am, Draconis-Amoris

[@39Lords]

@@DraconisAmoris Friend Request sent!

[@stanivincke7889]

It was a lot of fun (and stress) watching the video. I am really glad to have made it to the final 26 in round 2. I still have to watch the video in full and I look forward to hear all the wonderful ideas. I'd love to continue working on my world and story, but it will take a while until I have more time. I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about it in the video ----> 1:10:22

[@tropicobalt2821]

CJ here. Thanks for the feedback, Jed! I had a really rough time fitting the concept in 1 minute, I'll have to work on that, lol. I was surprised to even get that far and to be jumpscared by my ugly mug twice😂

[@ethanpardun9898]

Honestly the 15 second one was the toughest purely just for trying to cram everything into that tiny window

[@tropicobalt2821]

@ethanpardun9898 Yeah, a really tough one overall. I wasn't going to beat the competition anyway lol

[@ethanpardun9898]

@tropicobalt2821I didn’t think I was going to win either, but feedback and seeing someone actually interested In my worlds is invaluable

[@liamramakers4727]

Always a shame to not make it in, especially after seeing myself in the opening shot 😅 Would have loved the feedback, but this megaproject was still great to watch! Better luck next time for me, I hope

[@Reaper81604]

Alas, I was a bit shot in the foot with my name starting with a W so I didn't get to see his thoughts on my pitch, but it's understandable with so many people having submitted. Congrats to all who made it far and to the winner and for those that didn't make it, just remember to stay confident in your idea and to believe in it! Just because you didn't win or even make it to the second round doesn't mean your idea doesn't have merit or a crowd who will enjoy it! Keep on keeping on friends and thank you Jed for giving everyone at least a chance!

[@isaacriggs4656]

Floating cities, man? It's a bigger cliché than flying pirate ships.

[@wetpenguin]

legendary video, thank you and thanks to all participants

[@Jrdn357]

Do more of these! I'd kill to see more Worldbuilding contests, this was so amazing!

[@SoMussMathe]

Finally! I’ve been looking forward to this.

[@heatherkline6766]

I was so looking forward to entering this competition, only to find it absolutely REQUIRED a video. All I have is a cellphone with limited memory, an old camera that no longer wants to work, a tablet that cannot hold its charge very well, and a webcam that I have only ever used to join a video call. I feel that it might have been for the best that I did not enter in this one, so many of the submissions would overshadow my own ideas significantly. Hey, Jed! MAKE TWO CONTESTS NEXT TIME. ONE FOR EPIC SCALE WORLD BUILDING AND ONE FOR MORE MODERATE IDEAS

[@zoristructure577]

why is the motto of the train world 'all will join the beast' and not something like 'all will follow in our tracks....'

[@beanmemer3944]

I made a world where humans locked themselves away from the many other races using a spell for hundreds of years, and one day the outsiders find a way in, breaking the spell, and because of this they literally spawn an empire of humans into the middle of a fantastical world

[@SoMussMathe]

@@beanmemer3944 that sounds very interesting if you ask me! I see much comedic potential there if that’s what you’re going for

[@bluegecko13]

A lot of really cool concepts. Bummed I didn’t see the announcement so hopefully there’s another. I’m curious to know if the entry form said contestants needed to have a story included with the world.

[@PhoenixCrown]

No this was just centered around the worldbuilding idea. However, as you saw, the final pitch video needed to center around a scene from a story, so that much needed to be considered.

[@DraconisAmoris]

It was purely worldbuilding a concept, you could touch on story a little bit like many did here (I did a snippet with the Fossilborn one)

[@hellgast0]

Sadly I'm way too shy to ever do something like this, but it's cool to see so many ideas in one place.

[@DraconisAmoris]

Just pretend the camera is a friend, you'll be fine. Would love to hear your ideas, mine was the Fossilborn one which got to round 3. Never done anything like this prior

[@ghostdreamer7272]

My favorite from round 1 ended up winning! But in the future, could each round be its own video, to allow everyone to be heard? Or maybe share a spreadsheet with a 1-sentence summary of the idea, and links to the videos??

[@DraconisAmoris]

I agree and I got to round 3. Still love seeing everyone concepts in full.

[@DragonsChosen]

Alright, these are giving me amazing ideas so far! Edit: My original world now seems very bare...

[@jamesleonard8593]

I'm also having similar feelings about my own world.

[@morinonohara5652]

Real, now I see my world like nothing

[@DraconisAmoris]

Hey, it all starts small, I'm Mitchell in the video with the Fossilborn story. Would love to hear your ideas!

[@DraconisAmoris]

​@@morinonohara5652every world starts small, I was Mitchell with the Fossilborn world, would love to hear you ideas, I'm sure I could help you flesh it out more.

[@chadgrimwell8380]

Rising fog is really intriguing and eerie.

[@ashurean]

Kacper's is my favorite by far. Sort of a modern action/fantasy setting with tanks held together with harvested parts from monsters slowly converting the tanks themselves into a kind of monster. Gives real 40k vibes. I'm always a fan of fictional systems that have a lot of room for depth, exploring how these monsters are harvested and how their remains are converted into tank parts, and how that affects the tank's performance could be a fun undercurrent.

[@dennisthegreat1]

Damn he's a beast he watched all that and could keep them in like a month

[@WanderingMendicant-qd7mv]

The shiverbeast concept is very similar to the idea of titans in Xenoblade 2. A jrpg. I know a ttrpg where a culture lives on giant turtles too. Still a cool idea.

[@Staz_Pizzazz]

I also thought of xenoblade lol

[@Sarc-g3s4f]

You do realise that the concept of large animals being the homes of a culture of people is very popular right? No one's gonna copy that from an rpg game.

[@Staz_Pizzazz]

@@Sarc-g3s4f they just said it reminded them of it lol chill

[@k_Olimov]

bro, read Lord of Mysteries. Peak worldbuilding and magic system

[@ChessBelle]

frfr

[@DauraTHEEXPLORA]

W reference

[@Unknown_Err0r_33]

P-p-p-p-PLEASE do this again I'm so sad i missed the post; i caught it like 2 days too late

[@rubycurbuncle2949]

Congratulations to everyone who participated! Didn't make it into the video, but it's understandable regarding the competition. Thank you, Jed, for giving all of us an opportunity to share our worlds ♡ I know i'm asking for a lot, but could you still send everyone who participated one or two sentences about their worldbuilding and why it's interesting/not interesting?

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

Love these writing competitions! Next time, I'll submit something.

[@skullsquad900]

Andy, Mitchel & Noah are my favorites 👍 👌

[@DraconisAmoris]

Thanks! I'm Mitchell, if you wanted to learn more let me know!

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

Would anyone else like to see these split up? I feel like Round 1 should be one video, then Round 2 could be a week later... Then the final round could be like, a video call with Jed. Just an idea.

[@ŤĦĖØŅĒÅŃÐÖŇŁŸ]

I CANT BELIVE I MISSED THIS IM MAKING A WORLD RIGHT NOW

[@connordahlberg6647]

Man kinda bummed I didn’t make it passed round one. Anyone else feel like the 15 seconds was brutal and couldn’t do their world justice? Thanks Jed for calling me confident! For any one who’s interested I’m gonna throw my other two videos up on my channel. Quadrant Godhead.

[@DraconisAmoris]

Man I did the Fossilborn one (Mitchell) It was really hard to cut down stuff.

[@connordahlberg6647]

@@DraconisAmorisyeah I even had to speed up the video a little bit to get it all under 15 seconds.

[@DraconisAmoris]

@@connordahlberg6647 haha yeah noticed a few people doing this! Smart move

[@ethanpardun9898]

Dang I should’ve thought of that, cutting things down to 15 was hard, even with the second minute long one I couldn’t fit it in a way that I thought would do justice to what’s in my head

[@SoMussMathe]

@@DraconisAmorisI must admit that I did that too. I thought that my language barrier would be too big for me to pull it all of in one take, let alone speak quickly

[@avasniffen1809]

Happy New Year.

[@JMR-o7n]

2nd minute: The one where there are multiple worlds threatening to melt back together, is similar to the world building in Ninjago Dragons Rising.

[@sjnok2905]

I liked Soondos' and Noah's the best. Stars and Spelunking!

[@libertymasterchief]

Sad my entry wasn’t included but lots of great ideas and a great video. Been thinking and developing my world for almost 10 years now and to pick one aspect of the world and summarize it in 15 seconds was a difficult challenge. Guess it is something to work on 👍

[@DraconisAmoris]

I'm Mitchell in the video, man it was EXTREMELY hard to cut down ideas to that length while still being captivating I did like 50 takes to fit it into time limits.

[@Staz_Pizzazz]

May I ask what yours was?

[@iamquack222]

‘Galaxy without a sun’ *What..?*

[@Missk77]

Damn I found out about this way too late. I would have loved to join since I’ve been working on the vastness of my fantasy world recently for the book series I’m about to put out. But congrats to everyone in this video 🎉 I loved the concepts of everyone’s worlds 🔥

[@lennysmileyface]

I like that one of the ideas that sounds very close to my idea got a 5 for originality. The one about using souls for magic/energy.

[@JustClaude13]

Andy has an interesting idea, with towns built on giant animals. It makes me want to write a story about a legendary city traveling on the back of a giant tortoise. In honor of Pratchett, I'd have to call it "The Turtle Moves".

[@OnlineHistorian14]

The thing to learn about this contest is that if your name starts with an A then you will have screen time.

[@ethanpardun9898]

I ended up being the runner up going into the final round, really wishing my name was Aaron lol

[@vismaykedilaya1318]

an idea i had: long ago, giant space dragons were revered as gods by the various races of the world. until one day, they retreated to the stars. 2 thousand years later, the world has long since moved on, at the price of becoming a cyberpunk dystopia ruled by mages who give up their senses in exchange for psychic powers. Fight clubs are all the rage, and many use the volatile shards to improve the performance of themselves and their items, at the cost of their long-term usefulness.

[@MorganTerzian]

Great video, I always like to watch these and help me build my own worlds for my brothers DnD group

[@DraconisAmoris]

I'm Mitchell who did Fossilborn. If you want to know more, just let me know, I'm a tabletop gamer myself.

[@valliyarnl]

lethal thumbnail facecard bro 👊🏻 very slay

[@ludwigvannormayenn8657]

Glückwunsch Noah! Gute Arbeit :D

[@satanlover134]

22:29 so does surface tention matter more then mass, if you fring objects together do they become lighter?

[@toxichater69]

I may have missed out on submitting anything myself but this video alone is already probably going to inspire a year's worth of ideas in my head lmao

[@DraconisAmoris]

Hey man I'm Mitchell who did Fossilborn got to round 3, if you want to learn more about mine at all, just let me know.

[@Optimal_Anarchist_Parking]

1:29 Honestly why I'm watching

[@DraconisAmoris]

If you want to learn more about Fossilborn (I was Mitchell who got to round 3) let me know!

[@Chudi2000]

It’s understandable to feel disappointed about not ending up in the video, but everyone who participated gets something out of this, not just the winner. Elevator pitches are a useful way of selling your ideas, and now you can do that with your story in as little as fifteen seconds. I’m already using one of my pitches to apply to the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop. If you feel differently than Jed about your idea, then use that passion to finish that story. If you lowkey agree with his evaluation, then learn how to spice things up from videos like this on worldbuilding. Great writers don’t usually get a dub on the first try, they achieve greatness because they never stopped trying. Keep writing, keep striving.

[@Jed_Herne]

Well said!

[@IkeMastree]

Anything dreamt up becomes real in other realities, but the brainchild realities are only as powerful as the minds that create them. Every string of reality contains a degree of intelligence and everything that thinks is dominated by one.

[@CoolScratcher]

Jed, I beg of you do this again. I somehow missed that this was even happening, where was this sent out to? Your community tab?

[@qdLuke]

yeah he put it in the youtube community thing

[@Jed_Herne]

I announced it in my community tab and in my email newsletter - if you want to be notified of future contests, definitely join the newsletter: jedherne.com/5-day-course

[@CoolScratcher]

@@Jed_Herne Thank you!

[@JeremiahMarlow]

Have a wonderful day

[@sono_chi_no_sodium_chlorid7635]

Gotta be honest, seeing what kind of world ideas ended up in the final round I'm kinda disappointed. I'm sorry but detachable hands sound like a gimmick

[@prathameshrana2099]

Bro andys world and my world is similar this just so how we human thinks alike. In my world there were cities on back of giant bird who is cursed to keep flying for eternity. So sky islands as well

[@katsandall3673]

I wish I did enter this in the end. I've since fixed some major issues I had with my world building and I think it works better now 😅

[@MichChats]

Where was this announced and when just so I know for the future?

[@davidnduka3618]

I think he made a youtube post and he also send an email to his email newsletter subscribers

[@CrackedUpKraken]

im gona steal these idea for DND campaigns

[@DraconisAmoris]

I'm Mitchell who did Fossilborn, if you want some more info on mine. I'm also an avid tabletop gamer.

[@sleezis]

Horrified I didn't even get feedback in round 1 given how far I am into the first draft of my book. God help me.

[@DraconisAmoris]

Hey man, I was Mitchell in the video with Fossilborn, it was tough right? Would love to talk with you on your ideas!

[@ethanpardun9898]

Drop a google doc with the transcription or something?

[@PepperJackHawk55]

@@DraconisAmorisnice job Mitchell would love to hear more about your stuff . I guess I got cut even though I saw my name on the list in group eight in round one but no mention of me and the rest of the group was mentioned and or watched. Kinda sad but here’s my idea which may be more fleshed out now . I would like to pitch one too, I saw my name but there was no mention. Anyways Imagine a world with a monster called the soul eater who eats the souls of gods, and all living life. Not only does he eat the souls but he seeks dominion over all. He has a council of bones, which is his elite warriors who wear the bones of their defeated foes. All other members of his army are cloud in red and Thor appearance unknown until they do something noteworthy and become members of the council of bones. One their was six gods only five remain. The six a dragon was captured and what happened to her is unknown. She gave her life So other gods could escape the soul eater. Now the remaining gods much find and teach a group of children from all races of the world . The will raise them to infiltrate the soul eaters ranks and free the world of his domination. They will also each train a heir that they will then have replace them and ascend to their own godhood. Also picture this in a Viking and medieval setting.

[@DraconisAmoris]

@ben55jags sounds pretty cool man. I think an interesting way you could do this is instead of having then infiltrate them have something like the Dragon split it soul and force bound it to the remaining Gods and every 100 years a new Dragon Soul is born in each other God clan. They usually find and murder them but have it so the main character is one and escapes and quests to find the others born in the same way to unite and fight.

[@PepperJackHawk55]

@ interesting I would love to discuss this with you further

[@leeeunyoung5030]

I want to join the next one lol. It got me hype.

[@Gamer_Koraq]

Is there any chance of you running a similar competition again in the near future? I only managed to finish recording everything Friday morning, but I realized too late that I had made a fatal error by forgetting about timezones. It kills me that I wasn't able to get my videos in front of you because of it, and I'd really love another opportunity.

[@alexogilvie9668]

Thanks Jed! 2:54 Was really hoping to hear your thoughts if I made it to the second or third round, but we can't all win 🤷

[@kshmuhib9929]

Hello, where do you announce this kind of event 😢? I would like to participate in one next time 😅. Thank you, this was another really inspiring video

[@jamesleonard8593]

Looking forward to getting inspired, thanks Jed. Also, how do we go about getting notified about these in future if we want to participate?

[@prathameshrana2099]

I do feel sad that he didn't put my video in main rounds but I was there in intro. Great ideas though loved them so far I think my pitch was not that good, or maybe the idea was already used somewhere. Well learned a lot for them

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I wish some contestants came up and science fiction worldbuilding

[@ethanpardun9898]

@@unicorntomboy9736mine ended up being a mix but not like far future sci-fi, I definitely almost went full sci-fi thiugh