☀️ fantasy worldbuilding 101 - pt. 1: the absolute basics

[@Evybooks]

I love matching descriptions to my characters. for example, my protagonist is a seamstress's son. he describes the world a lot with fabrics. for example ''The clouds were stitched against the night sky.'' (hope this makes sense.)

[@lynndjung]

This makes perfect sense, and I love the example you used!

[@moon_kittyyy]

That's actually really interesting! I'm working on a book right now, I might try that!

[@BannersglareTheDreamWriter]

It absolutely makes sense. I have experimented with that type of metaphorical writing style before. As for your protagonist, it seems he understands the underpinnings of his spot within the interwoven fabric of his society.

[@jorjagirl5546]

That's actually such an amazing detail omg

[@BookishEmperor]

Such a good idea, I'll borrow it.

[@kjdee140]

1. It doesn't have to be realistic, just consistent. 2. Reveal new aspects of your world as your MC discovers them.

[@JaySmith.]

Yeah I drew my own world map after spending time doing research on the elements to consider and the different types of world maps. I initially felt bad about the amount of detail and depth I went into just doing world building but honestly I figured if I invested the time now organizing my world, magic system, map layout, etc, then I wouldn’t have to bother with it later when I started writing. I’ve spent enough time on and off for the last 6months developing the world, character profiles, story plot and subplots that I’ve now began writing and it definitely helps me because I can reference that material and not have to spend hours doing research while I’m trying to write. My problem now is trying to not be so perfect with my writing for draft 1 and just get it on paper. Spring break is coming up so I plan to spend that entire week finishing book 1.

[@lynndjung]

Your worldbuilding must be amazing, it's really admirable that you spent so much time working on the details in advance :) I totally get the perfectionism - the only thing that works for me is to figure out someway to turn part of my brain off so I can just go with the flow! I hope your spring break writing session goes well

[@JaySmith.]

@@lynndjung thank you for your response. I definitely need to turn part of my brain off 😂 I’m a phd student and I tend to have the same habit with research writing, but once I start writing, I can sit for up to 8 hours just writing.

[@mistermelon72]

I'm the same with world building. I have to create every single detail and then make my story perfect on the 1st draft.

[@augh4659]

@@JaySmith.if I may ask, what video/resources did you use to research about maps to better illustrate your world?

[@AnExtraDoseofFran]

My pirate adventure fantasy novel will thank you for this

[@lynndjung]

haha I hope it's helpful!!

[@melm3846]

I'm also writing a pirate adventure story!

[@anonfrog8228]

@@melm3846 lol, me too :)

[@signature_SOS]

@@melm3846Same lol

[@Factss-ir4ii]

@@melm3846same

[@KrisMF]

omg WHAT is that harry potter map pleaseee 💀 this video dropped at the perfect time bc I’ve been feeling so insecure about my fantasy world building in particular. ive never taken the time to think seriously about my secondary world geography, like i’ll sketch things out but i won’t get into the nitty gritty/cultural nuances that im realizing would enhance the world sooo much more!

[@lynndjung]

IKR omg it's embarrassing??? also I'm so glad!! I've also definitely felt insecure about the depth of my worldbuilding in the past, so you're not alone haha. I think the game changer for me was seeing how rich well done worldbuilding was in other fantasy books!

[@amirah3791]

this is so helpful ! i've had ideas for fantasy books since i was 13 but structuring a functional world was always where i hit a slump. if i ever manage to complete my first draft, i truly owe it entirely to this series

[@lynndjung]

I'm so glad to hear that!! thank you for your support

[@atheistapostate7019]

I have had my idea for a book in my head for 23 years now and never got it started until I discovered a map making app that is very cheap. I spent a week creating the world I saw in my head and tweaking it, and that helped me envision my story unfolding. Now that I’ve started to write I am filling in gaps to my world like city and town names, and name of natural features. I just keep adding as I see the story unfold

[@GooCrood]

What app 😮🎉

[@JudithStigmer]

Love that for you! What app is it? I would love that

[@CrunchyBananaBread]

Can you drop the name of the app 😭

[@KiaraSue]

23 years!?

[@Doodlydoodl]

I think it’s fine to take inspiration of of a culture that isn’t yours. As long as you don’t mess up. I mean look at avatar : entirely based of Asian culture and made by two non Asian guys . no cultural appropriation, no scandal , no disrespect . Because it was done well. I m not white but I can write about a world inspired by a European country , if I want to

[@lynndjung]

Yep, I agree that it can be done! Also agree that research and sensitivity are always a must when writing outside of your experience. I'm not too familiar with avatar tbh, but it seems like for the most part they did a lot of research, consulted experts, etc. which is very respectable especially since it's an older show aimed at children. Personally though I'm far more likely to pick up a book by a marginalized writer writing from their own cultural experience over someone who is writing outside their experience because I'm intimately aware with how skewed the publishing industry is 😅 But that's just my preference!

[@Doodlydoodl]

You’re completely right ! Culture is something very precious , so people really need to be careful when taking inspiration. Btw the video it’s really good I’m watching the others rn

[@abitsourrrrsorry4885]

Not that I'm blaming the writers though. I love avatar with all my heart, but the characters mannerism in the show are still very americanized which is understandable why

[@xRaiofSunshine]

Oh honey you haven’t heard of the discourse have you? 😮

[@lizsun261]

my story’s about raging spirits and how young mages learn/restore the peace for their world. i have spent the last few hours coming up with mythology of the 9 main deities… its fun lol

[@lynndjung]

This sounds super cool! Making up deities is one of my favorite worldbuilding things, haha

[@moon_kittyyy]

Give me the link i need to read that

[@lizsun261]

@@moon_kittyyy its still in the planning phases 😭 i’ll drop a link here when its ready!

[@moon_kittyyy]

@@lizsun261 alright! Now im excited 😯

[@adc7071]

@@lizsun261is it ready yet

[@citizen-7xl5]

I’m not very far into the video but the moment you said Korea and Japan have the same wizarding school I was reminded of my two Korean roommate during my year in Australia going on a rant about the Japanese sea.

[@patrycjamonforton7398]

Off topic- but how you relay the information is so amazing. You’re so eloquent and organized

[@lynndjung]

Thank you so much!! I'm an educator so this means a lot haha

[@child.of_Hadesssss]

Some of my fav worlds in books, animes, and tv shows. 1. Hunter x hunter (anime) 2. Percy Jackson and the olympians (book) 3.Amphibia(Tv show)

[@justinmacdonald6289]

my fav piece of fiction is either 20th century boys (manga) vinland saga (manga omori (game but a manga is coming this spring :D )

[@AnExtraDoseofFran]

I am here for the She Who Will Not Be Named slander and calling out the lack of thought from her. Worldbuilding, as you said, has LOADS of factors in need of consideration when building a story Heck, I wrote a contemporary Tarzan novel and had to think about the worldbuilding in terms of how to write a wolf-based society

[@lynndjung]

haha I try not to even THINK about Her, but it felt appropriate for my worldbuilding conversation! 100% true, also a wolf-based society sounds awesome! Is this Home to the Wild?

[@AnExtraDoseofFran]

@@lynndjung it is yes! Sorry I just saw your message aha

[@xiiir838]

Like which ones? What's is wrong with the wizarding world map?

[@nyx019]

I have been writing stories and developing worlds for the stories to be in since I was a child, but only now do I consider how they interact. With how much writing content is out here on KZbin, I am surprised that not many videos are able to comprehensively bring across the essence of worldbuilding - and I am delighted to have found the best on the topic. You've earned a sub, and I'll check out the rest of this series! Thank you!

[@lynndjung]

thank you for the incredibly kind comment! worldbuilding can be difficult to encapsulate in a short video, so I'm very glad I managed to get some helpful information across. :)

[@haileymaurer122]

I think that map is fan made only. I'm pretty sure there were only a few wizarding schools revealed in the HP universe, but there may be more unmentioned. Also, we can't assume "muggle" politics correspond to wizarding politics since they live separately, or how muggle politics might affect their schooling experiences. However, these issues would certainly need to be heavily addressed as a part of the worldbuilding process in a fanfic or spin off series. But I digress! There are a lot of great tips and things to consider. Thank you for the wonderful video.

[@Grace-td5dd]

She did mention she thought it might be fanmade (from things JK has said since writing the books I think) And muggle politics would probably correspond or at least have a big affect on the wizarding world because it’s not that separate with Muggle borns and half bloods existing

[@taijavmarie]

i am so excited for this! this is exactly what I need right now! ☺

[@lynndjung]

oh my gosh yay! I had a super fun time with this discussion, I hope you enjoy the video when it drops

[@pixelgitzby]

I owe you one. I've been thinking of story ideas ever since second grade, and thinking of how my world works is always a roadblock. I'm not really writing a story, but I am making an animated series based off of fantasy. Thanks!

[@lynndjung]

That is amazing, best of luck and I'm so glad you found the video helpful!

[@writerspodcast7323]

Thank you for this video I don’t like world building because it feels overwhelming like way too overwhelming

[@LilacDeiji]

In JK Rowlings defense, she didn’t think through the whole world because England *was* the whole world in the beginning. Canonically, she only mentioned three schools, and the entirety of Harry Potter takes place in England. But that’s no excuse for that map like srsly 😭

[@diewott1337]

In short, she did the bottom up worldbuilding and then gave up and just shat a half-assed map lol

[@justanothercommenter4334]

Thankyou so much for this! I often get overwhelmed with the amount of information there is to world building, but breaking it down like this is incredibly helpful!

[@lynndjung]

I'm so glad, thank you for watching!

[@SilverstreamPJ28]

The entirety of South America going to the same school when we speak Portuguese, Spanish, French AND not to mention the massive amount of dialects in the continent 🙄🙄🙄

[@xiiir838]

Do you know we can understand each other, right? Or are you a gringa completely ignoring our linguistic situation? And the language isn't even that difficult to learn for us

[@waterbird5629]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@xiiir838What is the point of commenting this? South Americans can’t all understand each other, that’s the beauty of the continent. French and Portuguese ARE different languages (though obviously both have roots in latin) and to ignore that is… funky.

[@aidanmahoney9865]

@waterbird5629 dude is literally south american, are you trying to whitesplain a continent to a guy from there 💀

[@callyral]

​​​@@aidanmahoney9865I am brazilian and xiiir838 is wrong, most people I know can barely understand someone from a different region (inside Brazil). Like of course we can understand a bit of Spanish but like only a little bit Also people who speak Spanish tend to understand less Portuguese than the amount of Spanish people who speak Portuguese can understand, and most of South America speaks various dialects of Spanish. Then there's English (Guyana), French (French Guyana) and Dutch (Suriname) which, if you only knew Portuguese or Spanish, are practically unintelligible.

[@ariaaaaaa]

@@aidanmahoney9865 womp womp

[@taijavmarie]

IT’S HERE! Will be looking at when I get home from work 🎉🎉

[@jordanpoole5482]

Whilst I disagree with the notion that you 'must' be biologically related to a culture to be able to write about it well (research would just need to be strong and effective, which admittedly may be off putting to people which is where things go wrong), I really enjoyed this video. Thank you

[@xiiir838]

Honestly her whole video is useless if one is going to take advice from someone so backwards and intellectually poor

[@mrswan667]

Yeah right ? Im african and i am WAY MORE influenced by japanese and european media, when i think of worldbuilding i dont have that africa vibe (i dont know if that makes sense lol). I really want to write about Explorer era, or Far West stuff or even the classical medieval europe stuff... Because it's the kind of suff i know and like.

[@xiiir838]

@@mrswan667 what if you mix both?

[@SusCalvin]

I write games about ducks and the Moon with no personal of being either.

[@mummytrolls]

i feel like rowling could’ve easily fixed that issue if she made a map of the largest magic schools and explained that most countries have a very small magic school the kids attend or most kids in that country homeschool or something like that. i’d believe that. it makes sense.

[@defective1331]

i write fantasy about the world around me. you will never run out of content from the world you live in. i can turn reality into fantasy and keep it reality but written fantastically.

[@KrahzduulTheObliterator]

My take is that just because something is fantasy doesn't mean it's medieaval. Settings don't need to use the real world as inspiration. If you're going to stress about creating cultures, you might as well make something unique. I'm not saying that settings based on the real world are always boring, but urban fantasy always felt a little pointless to me. Seems like a lot of urban fantasy worlds just slap elements onto the real world without considering any kind of anthropology. I tend to like to develop settings with cultures which feel like they belong to the world. My philosophy is that if a setting exists in a complete vacuum to earth, there shouldn't be cultures from the real world. At that point, the link between the setting and the audience isn't between a shared ethnicity, but between a shared humanity. _Geez that sounded more corporate than I'd hoped..._

[@xiiir838]

Pffff good luck spending two years researching and another two creating your world

[@HiThereImLily]

As a quick fyi, the wizarding school map is for the BIGGEST wizarding schools. There are most likely hundreds of smaller ones and some parents may just homeschool their children. That said, I absolutely hate that map and the name of the Japanese school (magic place, really? It's on a mountainous island! Be creative...)

[@abyill]

I love putting in a lot of effort into a world nobody else will ever see

[@ladyredl3210]

I use the iceberg approach, because I’m writing historical fantasy. I started with research for many years, and then chose my divergent points very deliberately. Oh my god that book killed me. Seth Dickinson is a genius. Just saying.

[@lynndjung]

I haven't fully utilized the iceberg approach yet but I've got a basic idea of how it works and I think that's a great way to approach worldbuilding! he really is :') I'm terrified/excited to finish the first book!

[@ladyredl3210]

@@lynndjung well I think not everyone has to do research like I did, it ended up being a hyper fixation. Oops neodivergent brain. I won’t spoil!

[@NiveaK.]

Omg I'm so glad you made this series. Really needed this right now lol this will be my homework for the next week

[@CynicalDuchess]

Just discovered your channel! super into world building so I really love this ground up approach you've been giving on how to create a world. you clearly have a lot of experience and have studied this, it shows, good job! An interesting note on cultural appropriation for stories -- I understand your point and I mostly agree. You definitely end up looking like a tool if you don't do your research on a culture whose elements you want to borrow in your book. But I also hesitate to bar people from going outside their culture and what they're used to when creating novels, because it feels restrictive and almost regressive in inclusivity and diversity in literature. While of course we want people of all cultures to write and represent themselves in the literary world, I find it unfair to restrict people to writing simply about their own culture and thats it. What if I wanted to include a hispanic love interest in my hypothetical story? Perhaps I wanted to flesh out their family, discuss their specific social class and neighborhood, because I didn't only want to write about Orthodox Jews, which is my culture? What if I worked with hispanic families, beta read with people, studied Spanish, took courses, and made sure that my information was accurate? would I still only be able to write about my one tiny culture, adding no diversity or color in my book through supporting characters? I'm willing to take a chance and make a mistake if that means I get to fill my books with people of all cultures and perspectives. But this is just my opinion :) I love this vid!

[@lynndjung]

Thank you for watching!! I do 100% agree, I don't write books featuring only Korean-American characters and situations-my side characters come from a variety of backgrounds and my main thing is that I try to be accurate and respectful when creating these characters and fleshing them out! I think the issue comes more so when writers (specifically those from a more privileged background) try to depict things outside of their experience and use them as a major focal point in their book. For example, American Dirt-a white American woman wrote about a Mexican immigrant fleeing drug violence and ended up utilizing a lot of negative stereotypes in the process. It's a nuanced topic for sure! I definitely didn't want to come across as promoting the idea that people can only write about their specific culture and nothing else. That would be so boring lol

[@puerry]

This was really informative! I've also heard of a hack to draw a map by spilling grains of rice onto paper and tracing it which sounds like a fun project to try (esp cuz I haven't made my map yet). I'm currently writing a story that I changed from having a pantheon of 12 gods and goddesses, to 12 heroes or "Guardians" becauase I wanted the dominant religion to be monotheistic. They were chosen ones by God a thousand years before the main story timeline, and I decided to go all-out and make most of the world revolve around the guardians. For example, each of them founded their own nation, and magical powers were given to humanity first to the 12 guardians, who then passed on their powers to the rest of humanity living in the 12 nations which is how magical powers came to be. Thus, magical abilities are called "gifts" that some manifest, and some don't, and they're also considered blessings from the guardians (who later became revered as saints and saintesses in the dominant religion).

[@MemphiStig]

I started worldbuilding in my early teens, once I got into sci fi and fantasy. I was always creative and imaginative, but new worlds opened up to me once I found Tolkien, Lewis, and the late 70's/early 80's writers. Then I discovered rpg's, starting with D&D, and that's led to a lifetime of part-time worldbuilding.

[@bttmofthebrrlstudios]

Great video! I've been meaning to mean Baru Cormorant for years, it's a heavy story! I've been trying to figure out what genre my WIP setting is for awhile. I guess it's something between social sci-fi and mundane sci-fi: Primary world, contemporary time frame, but the technology is a little different and a lot of the characters' struggles can be likened to disability, ableism, classism, capitalism. Which, on the topic of appropriate world building, I nearly scrapped the project a few times because I felt that having human-robot conflicts could only be a racism allegory, which is not something I feel comfortable making my main theme. When I realized I could harken back to earlier eras of sci-fi AND make the themes of conflict relatable to myself, those worries fell away! So, if you are a writer who is concerned with appropriation or writing outside your lane, take some time to train your critical eye. Some problems can be tackled with research and sensitivity readers, while others can be brought closer to home!

[@lynndjung]

I cannot recommend Baru Cormorant enough, but yes it is super heavy haha. I really appreciate and admire that you had that struggle re: your worldbuilding! I think it is important to ask ourselves those questions not just to limit the perpetration of harmful depictions and stereotypes, but to challenge ourselves to create new and meaningful analogies in speculative fic. A wordy way of saying I really love the route you took, it sounds amazing!

[@uvinduharshana1169]

I'm a complete beginner and only wanted to create a story based on a wandering young swordsman in a world with monsters. And I felt into the world building side, hehe. I can't seem to figure out how the countries/continents should layout. Wether a single continent with several countries enough to called a world or should I include multiple continents. I prolly need to take my time and research more 😅. Thanks for the video!!

[@lovesagame1329]

This was so helpful! I genuinely went into this thinking maybe I´ll learn one or two small new things but there was a plethora! You really helped me with this!

[@notharuhifujioka]

Literally all I know for my world is: 1. Gay Knight 2. Gay Cowboy 3. Homosexuality

[@sabayomatiku144]

thank you - this was a useful video... so useful that i actually took notes! nice, round structured suggestion-ning :)

[@lynndjung]

This is what I love to hear! Thank you so much for watching

[@sohrabroozbahani4700]

That was pretty well rounded basics of it. I would say perhaps, in today's extremely sensitive environment, if your world pictures our world, consider two things, 1. stay true to yourself, if you instill your own view of the world into your world building, then be honest about it, there will be confrontation against your point of view, so think it out, and own it, if that's what you think then that's what you think and comes with it the troubles of doing so. 2. Do your homework, research, reduce the chance of misstepping on someone's tail, reduce the need for appologies later down the line. Then on my favorite kind of world building, those you do from scratch, i rather approach it with story as priority, i would call it the ink splash method. Readers will see the world through your story, so make your world in service to your story, creat the world the way so your story would make sense in it, but do not betray your world, if somewhere down the line your story runs into problem with your world building, don't cheat your world, that is actually a godsend unforseen conflict to add to your story, let your characters deal with it, if the suddenly emerging conflict surprised you as the creator, imagine how it would catch your audience off guard, and if you play it right, they would be blown away, believing you had planned this entire thing from the beginning, challenge yourself, have fun, and don't be afraid to discard some of your work, every beautiful garden needs to have some of its misplaced and overgrown branches removed once in a while. God is a writer, have fun playing god, don't be afraid to fail an experiment, you will figure it out sooner or later.😊

[@Igreatlyadmirecats]

Before watching this video, I had no idea about the plot or anything, I started with a language, then I made a map then I started to think about characters.

[@lynndjung]

Thank you for watching!! It seems like you're starting off in the right place :)

[@khalishahalshafa]

this was so helpful, i'm writing my first fantasy novel and i did not know where to start with the world building

[@jamicassidy7955]

Very good advice. I only just started really trying to become a better writer so any experienced point of view is appreciated.

[@troyburnex]

I just created a world based on 14 gods that were created from the collision between warring Primordials. The Primordials wanted to destroy them but the gods retaliated and used their remains to craft the universe

[@RiaxaraCo]

That Harry Potter map is so…😬

[@xiiir838]

Cool right?

[@PumpkinMozie]

@@xiiir838not really cool…I think JKR bit off more than she could chew. I love HP but I can admit that the map sucks. It makes no sense for such huge areas of the world to all share just one school each. JKR was great with world-building just within Europe but got lazy with everything else, just using it as a way to get people to visit the Pottermore site so she could keep making money. She should have just stuck with the original book lore and left the rest up to her fans’ imaginations.

[@samantharose1001]

This is super interesting and helpful! Thanks for sharing your insight on building the basics!

[@samantharose1001]

subbed!

[@lynndjung]

@@samantharose1001 Thank you so much!!

[@itswalen_yt]

I’m kind of scared now, my story isn’t really based on a specific country but its religion is Greek Mythology which is a religion that isn’t used anymore, so I’m not really sure of how to pay respect to it or if I have to be really careful

[@trashcanwithbugsinside]

Trying to write a whole new pantheon for my story and don’t know where to start because I need to create a whole fantasy world 😭😭😭

[@ethansubminals]

UR SO REAL

[@Javi-zk6gg]

I highly recommend to look into hard worldbuilding and soft worldbuilding first

[@jay_dots3084]

I think another really important thing to remember along with the fact that the character lives somewhere or travels is that if you’re doing a 1st world setting that oftentimes the divisions between countries and states would likely be very different, and not to limit one particular region to one culture, as in almost all regions of the world there are minorities, and implementing that into your writing can make your world feel a lot more real, even if it’s not on earth.

[@TheSleepingDemons]

You gave me a couple more things to think and your voice is so relaxing thank you

[@snowplsdont]

I don't plan to publish a book or a fanfiction, i just create stories for the sake of fun but the world building was keeping me up all night since I'm such a perfectionist and my idea is not exactly too "fantasy-like", so this will help me a lot! Seriously, how do i create a fantasy story from the 2000's without sounding like a winx club? lol

[@Morkrond]

Costa Rica mentioned, feel acknowledged, video liked. good stuff

[@destinijarvis384]

I personally am not a book writer. I used to rp and now I am just worldbuilding for the simple sake of worldbuilding. So basically all of the stuff where you say every place on the map or the real specifics don't matter don't apply to me but I'm still watching this for tips because I'm sure it will be useful.

[@rachelwritesbooks]

yay this is amazing, thanks for this!!

[@arthurgarrison]

LYNN, I LOVE YOUR THOUGHTS ON FANTASY, AND IT HAS BEEN ENORMOUSLY HELPFUL IN CONSTRUCTING THE STAGE FOR MY CURRENT PROJECT. I ALSO FOUND YOUR COMMENTS ON BORROWING FROM HISTORICAL ERAS AND CULTURES, BUT MAKING THOSE BURROWED ATTRIBUTES UNIQUE TO YOUR WORLD SO RIGHT AND REFRESHING. AS A TRAINED HISTORIAN, AND AN AUTHOR, WHO LOVES AND HAS STUDIED ANCIENT EAST ASIA AND MEDIEVAL WESTERN EUROPE., I FIND THAT YOUR THOUGHTS WILL ALLOW ME TO ADD BITS OF THESE INTERESTING AND COLORFUL CULTURES TO MY STORY WITHOUT FEELING THAT I HAVE COMMITTED CULTURAL APPROPRIATION. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[@lynndjung]

thank you so much!! I love that you're able to incorporate your knowledge as a historian into your work, I feel like that will make your stories so special and particular :) have a wonderful day!

[@RachelPearlMusic]

You're so creative! Thank you for this video.

[@prableenn-]

After reading alots of comics and books randomly a storyline clicked to my brain and I reallyyyy wanna write it tho I never wrote before so I just need alots and alots of helpful idea like how can I make this my story actually readable to internet 😭

[@royalwolf9926]

While I found this boring in my Global Politics class there are three main elements to any organisation, country, terrorist organisation, corporation etc What is their Aim Example: China wishes to have state sovereignty and economic prosperity What is their role: Example: China’s role is what it is expected to do and what it needs to do to survive. Such as again protect its sovereignty (different to wanting it) and having a stable economy for its population What is its power?: Example: power is China’s ability to act for the achievable of its aims and fulfilment of its roles. Such as China can build a military base for increased state sovereignty or the economic power to construct a trading port in another country for increased economic dominance. (I chose China because we did a whole unit on it this year) Anyways I came to the realisation that if you applied this to all of your world building organisation that includes stuff like wizarding schools, the elves in Lord of the rings, the Akatsuki in Naruto, The Military police in Attack on Titan and even the Serpentine in Ninjago lol. You would create a world with more internal conflict and cause and effect to it

[@dearred2923]

I love fantasy, scifi, sexy audiobooks. I am attempting to write my own book and turn it into an audiobook. Thanks for your tips, tricks and insights. 👍

[@Direct-Handler]

interesting 🤔, thanks for the information, I'll write my fantasy novel now. once again, thank you very much.

[@Quantum_Comics]

I am worldbuilding for worldbuildings sake. I don’t wanna write a book rn I just wanna build a world.

[@atheistapostate7019]

I’m working between a soft and hard world building. I give what I need and nothing more YET will have a detailed history in my appendix

[@kelleyiswriting]

Omg that harry potter map.. LOL I loved this video!! Worldbuilding is my favorite part about writing a secondary world :) I think it's the best way to travel and go on adventure hehe by reading a good book with ALIVE SETTINGSSS !! thanks for sharing❤

[@lynndjung]

the map is SO funny to me i had to include it loll. thank you!! I think i'm just starting to appreciate how powerful worldbuilding can be 33

[@xiiir838]

What's so wrong about the map?

[@danielkim4119]

@@xiiir838did you watch the video

[@xiiir838]

@@danielkim4119 I watched the map, I read the pottermore entries when they got added. The map is fine. Why would I care about the opinion of an American trying to pass as Korean that clearly has a very big bias/hâte towards the author? It's like listening to a national socialist when speaking about race

[@danielkim4119]

@@xiiir838 how old are you

[@elpatoempatado2404]

12:09 well, ill be damned... multiple POVs + the entire world LMAO im going to be annihilated- 14:38 omg this gave me the idea of writing some chapters with unknown characters (just to build the world)

[@nothanniballecktor9633]

Woo hoo. Just found you. Just started the video. You’re not a transphobe. That alone is earning you a subscription. Can’t wait to see the full video.

[@familyfungaming6925]

I wanna get in to world building but I don't know how so I've been watching videos on how to do it and it sounds fun

[@s-wo8781]

But I also think the wizarding schools must be really small because Hogwarts only has one teacher per subject and that one teacher also teaches every grade level from Year 1-7. They also only have four dorms too. This wouldn't be sustainable if Hogwarts student population was the size of a university or even a high school.

[@themelonsoup]

I started screwing with an AI roleplay app and here I am getting ready to write a book. We'll see if it actually becomes anything

[@sp.kooistra.writinganddreaming]

I’m really late to this video, but this advice is great! My main WIP is a Primary World fantasy that draws from essentially every culture’s mythology (though not all of them are explicitly mentioned, it’s stated that all forms of magic are ‘canon’). I really want one of my characters to have connections to Japanese mythology and history, particularly relating to dragons and divination. How would I go about finding sources and dealing with this in a semi-accurate and culturally sensitive way?

[@godstenrules]

What if you're building a world not based the real world . I'm building an underwater mermaid world that resembled the human world, but they have different counties than we do in real life.

[@the_selchies]

Muchos gracias!

[@ShinigamiPariah]

I never realized the difficulty, headache and TIME it takes to actually world build. Even the idea of currency is a bother-if youre insane like me and decided that they want a unique form, stepping outside points, metal coins and such. Ill eventually get my story out there though...i just gotta stop being so overly critical of my own work and just get it down on paper, then edit from there. Haha. Great video though! And also, those dimples are heart melting! 😮

[@oliviagentles2756]

Amazing

[@lynndjung]

thanks so much!!

[@oliviagentles2756]

@@lynndjung your welcome

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Enjoyed listening to this. Thanks for sharing these world building tips!

[@lynndjung]

Thank you for watching!!

[@HexAddams]

I created a world called Novea that mimics earth but like ✨Magickal✨ Divine Humans, Normal humans (but they aren’t completely powerless, they just don’t know it) And giant monsters resembling Moths known as Eqliohts The story is called ICARUS

[@isaiasherrero7889]

my protagonist is a captain of a airship, and his world is threatened by different races that an evil dark elf sorcerer has been summoning from another dimension as he aims to have people bow before false Gods, demons, he is a servant to Python which in this world is known as the god responsible for teaching the different arts of the occult. My protagonist is aiming to reunite humans, dwarves, and elves, to fight all these forces sent by this evil sorcerer as their world has become threatened by demonic forces. I'm not sure how to shape the physical aspect of my world. I'm not sure whether to make it contemporary or dystopian now either? I've been stuck for months now and haven't been able to write my first chapter yet. But I kind of want my characters to be some kind of demon slayer.

[@MariaMilenovasArt]

George R. R. Martin is a spectacular builder of Worlds.

[@Livvy-n3p]

My clangen clan will LOVE this tysn

[@Livvy-n3p]

tysm**

[@kingkeem5001]

thank you so much for this its so helpful, any tips for writing a world with different lauguages when you only speak one and want your reeders to understand everyone, I don't know where to start. I'm watching your other videos next so sorry if you've already answered

[@lynndjung]

I think it shouldn't be any different from if you speak multiple languages! Just start with what you know and maybe do some research into linguistics so you can use the construction of languages as inspiration (eg phonemes and grammatical structure). You can also write out everything in the same language and just indicate through the text if someone is speaking differently - eg, "I am craving an egg," Louise said in French. Hope that helped!

[@americohagim1131]

My fictional world is basically what if there was a civilization just like us before us like what if history literally repeated itself

[@nataly26]

My favorite part in jk's map is that she just gave up on the middle east (im from the middle east), we just dont get to go to school

[@_Risa1992_]

I'm normally not that nitpicky with numbers and all in fantasy, but the math isn't mathing in India and other huge countries. 😂

[@elenacampedelli8878]

Yar telling me in Italy there are no wizards? wut?

[@Dinkii-vd7ff]

im sorry but if i am making a world for my ocs, whos story hasent been decided and proboly wont, how would i build a worl dlike that

[@amehayami934]

Hi artist/world builder here. Here is idea. It's your world make it how you want. What do I mean by that you may ask? Well I always hated tokenesk type world because it's already been done. By Tolken that's why it's called that. Who says your would has to take place on this planet? Who says your would has to take place even on a planet? Why stop there Who says your world has to be in the same dimension/ plane of existence with the same laws of physics. I mean it fantasy FFS! This is why I stopped reading fantasy and syfi Nothing new it seem the same Eruro centric cookie cutter go to for every artist and writer. They call it high fantasy but take away the Magic, the elves, dwarves and dragon. Their world looks like earth. No floating islands in the sky, no strange natural formation that make up the landscape. No Awa and wounder of being transported to something new. No strange new different races for us to imagine. Like I said I'm an artist, I love creativity I want someone to write a book and transport me to their world. Imagine it like this you the artist/writer. You get transported to your world it is your duty to try to describe it. And tell us why we should be amazed. What makes your would different? To give you an idea I'll tell you about my world just threw genres. It is High magic/High Fantasy/Dark Cyberpunk/Biopunk// Moon Punk/ Dreampunk/ Steelpunk/steampunk/ clockwork taken place in an Asian setting. I say Asian setting because the esthetic is Asian but not like anything know on earth. All taken place on an endless plane where many worlds and other Dimension intersect. With my own take on the land of the Fey. Well a lot of it takes place on the border of the Asian land of fey and the moral world. The mortal would is more Dark fantasy/horror. Sounds more interesting then Tokenesk right? And I Draw it in my Manga style some times I may draw it in my comic book style. My point is it's your world you make the rules. You are God's and goddess of the world you make you say how the world works just be consistent and make it make sense. I like helping artist and want to see them grow. You really need to stop looking at the world around you and create the world from your head. Ask yourself if someone gave you the power to create your world and everything in it including but not limited to culture and food. But you have to stay their for eternity. How would you make it? Sure you may get inspiration from the real world but don't let it be a crutch. Let your imagination go wild. Give me something I can immersed and lose myself in attest for the length of the book 😊

[@マヤ先輩]

Slightly out of topic; is Naruto a secondary world? Cause I'm world is inspired by the world of Naruto

[@theboogyman569]

does uh the afterlife count as a secondary world? the inspiration is both the grimm reaper and the ferryman. and i think the thing that bests describes what thing this world has that is like normal world stuff is *drumrollllllllll* CAPITALISM :D (also greek mythology because obvi thats what the ferryman is from)

[@talionblack9060]

I have my map, I'm just having a hard time of like explaining the world to my players in dnd 😂

[@sepeira]

Building a world from a futuristic utopian dream I had... wish me luck 😅

[@Jasongy827]

I don’t like jk Rowling world I feel like after Harry Potter her creativity have never been fleshed out

[@16ratsinatrenchcoat]

jokes on you i AM making a travel guide created through a crap ton of art peices and field note from my character

[@jeancairoli2301]

I support your points on the Harry Potter world map, but that isn't an official map from the author so it's more like fanfiction right.

[@lynndjung]

From what I understand it's official and used by pottermore, but I didn't dig that deeply. I guess there's no way to confirm whether jk Rowling herself came up with all of this but she definitely at least sanctioned it given the amount of creative control she maintains over the franchise!

[@koarixxen]

I'm writing a book, I have many people who are from irl countries (e.g. India) but i don't want to use the countries, I'm making my own. Any tips?? (sorry if i worded this weird, I'm listening to music and it's rlly late)

[@imaginebright]

7:58 I kinda have a combo of both in my story haha

[@Mo-cz2vo]

Anyone recommend any fantasy books i can read

[@aasiyahmalik]

do you figure out a detailed outline of your plot before you start worldbuilding?

[@lynndjung]

no, I usually come up with the story pieces (like worldbuilding and character) prior to outlining!

[@aasiyahmalik]

@@lynndjung oh ok, thank you!

[@herddragon9215]

oh birds!

[@SusCalvin]

A map of wizarding schools where large bits are blank just means you have spots where you can slap down your own magic school. It's the same with Tolkien, when Umbar or the east or War of the Rings-era Erabor are undescribed that just means you can slap down your own game there.

[@fangirlapocalypse]

i'm very tired so i read it as "fantas worldbuilding 101" and was very confused for a second

[@GoddessInTraining444]

Where did you get your glasses?

[@lynndjung]

target around 4 or 5 years ago I think-they're tory burch!