WORLDBUILDING: 12 Tips to Help You

[@OrdinariumWeb]

Something I think is worth mentioning, is that you could make a "wiki" type of a website or perhaps a separate book for your world. It could contain all the unnecessary details and make them available for the most devoted fans.

[@crimsonmask3819]

Like Shirow's databooks. Or if it's less about the milieu than the backstory that lore could be fashioned into a kind of side-story/gaiden that is short and dense with exposition rather than drama, like the animations HBO made illustrating aspects of Game of Thrones' history. Either way, presented separately, it no longer gets in the way of the story from within.

[@brendaevangelista7783]

So insightful, Sir. I've had a story in my head for about 7 years now and I haven't quite gathered the courage to put it too paper yet. But... listening to this series always reminds me that I could... and should... get cracking on it 😊

[@pervysage5465]

Good luck to you :)

[@brendaevangelista7783]

Pervy Sage 😊 Thank you!

[@DezzieYT]

Writing is a lot like drawing. Start with the sketch then fill in the details as you go. And never be afraid to erase. Good writing to you!

[@kazuyumi1412]

I feel the same way, and it's with multiple stories for me.

[@Chronorust]

Same!

[@thisisdk7859]

Exposition is for viewers like my mom. She'll talk over a chunk of a scene or important dialogue and ask what's going on in the same breath...

[@randomsandwichian]

Animes, movies, novels, games, etc, after observing dozens or so stories and their back story, as well as having studied creative writing and methods like the 3-act framework, here's a concoction of methods I've come to develop for myself. Background/world building: I see what is the nature of its environment, culture, recent and past history, society, norms, and conflicts, especially that which is particularly relative to the main timeline of the main characters. Think long term, what is the characters affected by in the past, present, and future? What changed, is changed or will be changed with, by or beyond the character? Character interrelationships: There's the 3-act, Hero's timeline (something in that narrative), then there's my own approach to character development. Relative to the main character (eg, heroine, antagonist, antihero, sidekick, etc), how is the characters eventually woven into the story? Why and in what manner? Taking the back story of their world as a foundation, how does the evil developed, in what way does the hero find significance of its defeat for his own, why would all other characters bother assisting? Not all characters just fall in line for the greater good, agendas are the flesh and soul of individualities. Lore: Great history is rich in lore. A world that portrays a single ideology is a blind man's fancy. How then does conflict happen? Why would a conflict of race, status or gender make sense from one understanding to another? Thinking up the base of the lore grounds the characters, as well as their set realities, as what all believes are about. It also provides material for some character soul searching when internal conflict arises (say, antiheroes). Character perception: Whether it is beauty, strength, solitude, company or virtue, good character is multifaceted, as are their believes. It can also show a contrast between character fakery and true nature when you want to build a truly conniving villain (think psychopaths, they never truly believe they are evil, just justly twisted). Possibly there are several other facets to world building, but I'll stop there.

[@valasafantastic1055]

Additional tips; when creating maps and have them have measurable scale, keep a world note binder with all the notes, have a timeline, editing is the hardest but most essential part. Also remember to speak all dialogue aloud to ensure it sounds real, ask any friends or family if they understand or like parts of your world or story. Take the information into consideration and decide what needs to be changed for clarity. The characters journey and therefore the plot is the focus the world is the background and setting. Study real history, modern real world and other made up worlds and use that as a ‘library’ to draw on for ideas but still attempt 1) be as original as you can get while 2) not obsessing over it being the most original and 3) write what you are passionate about and want to read, that way if all else fails you still have one invested fan, yourself.

[@WillTerrell]

That's wild, I had no idea you were the one that designed the map for Bone! Very cool. And a wonderful video from you as always, sir. Very informative.

[@markcrilley]

Thank you Will; yes, absolutely one of the greatest honors of my career.

[@noamyamin8014]

Upload videos will

[@noamyamin8014]

Please

[@TheToneBender]

1. I kinda do both at the same time. Really depends on what I feel like working on at the moment. 2. Tolkien did that too. Mordor is modeled after an industrial park near his house when he grew up. I do it too. Not only with real life places, but also places in video games or movies. 3. Exposition is (imo) one of the worst things ever. The best stories teach us through the story itself. Game of thrones does this amazingly (both the books and the show). It takes nearly the whole first season to kind of figure out about all the different houses and stuff. 4&5. Brandon Sanderson has lectures on writing (here on youtube) which deal with pretty much everything you need to know. Especially the one about magic is great. 7. I think you formulated that one wrong. Not all worlds need to be 100% *realistic*. But consistency makes them believable. 10. Cheers. I was a bit stuck with the middle of my story. I'll just move some of the history stuff from earlier in the story to the middle. 11. I go way overboard with this... I have an entire binder filled with maps. At some point I even started using maths to figure out stuff like the circumference of my planet and I started using ocean currents to figure out climates and stuff. To anyone who reads this; *Don't do that* I've tossed the binder in a cabinet somewhere and I won't look at it until I'm mostly done with my story. 12. *Cough cough* ↑ I've done waaay too much worldbuilding. Kept thinking "Oh I need to figure out this religion first." and then after doing that I'd be like "Well, I need to write, but I should really figure out what kind of monsters there will be"

[@LucasPreti]

Ok, I can’t not say this now, i wrote and directed a short film where nobody speaks. It was a ridiculous challenge, but I wanted to put myself through it. There’s a teaser out, by the way justaphasefilms.com/blog/2018/3/14/tabula-rasa There I said it. Sorry.

[@joakinfrati7867]

Exposition can be a double edge sword

[@PochotheEntity]

My favorite tip was the one about if you want to create a world that’s believable. I have a world that’s not based on how our world operates, but I want it to still be believable. Your tips are music to my face I also have been working on this world for quuuiiiiiite awhile now so thanks for that kick in the butt at the end mark ;D

[@ChaosShadoWolfe]

Here's a very simple thing to ALWAYS keep in mind when story telling in general, in this case world building; Show, don't tell. And with that, I mean let your reader EXPERIENCE the world that you've build. You know all the ins and outs, but your characters and by proxy your readers don't.

[@maggs131]

Just saw the movie "a quiet place" and there was zero exposition. It wasn't a complicated plot that left itself to the viewers imagination and it was awesome

[@aestheticezzy]

I agree! I had seen the movie just yesterday and I 100% agree with you. It is if not one of the most phenomenal examples of a show-dont-tell (literally) type of story and world overall. Such a well-executed film!

[@sundays2152]

It would be awesome if you published a book about comic/manga story creation. I would definitively buy it.

[@linzertube]

Great tips for anyone wanting to get the storytelling done right! Very generous of you, Mark, as always.

[@wizardofarts1276]

I have a few story ideas that I want to tell in comic book form, but I'm so scared to start drawing it. My plan is to practice by making small comics unrelated to my ideas, but I'm still scared of it looking bad. But I know that as artists we experiment and push on and learn, so I'll try. Hopefully this week.

[@gavinjustement1217]

Hi mark! I just wanna thank you for all you have done! You always find a way to make me smile for 20 minutes straight every week😃

[@aliceavetisyan2764]

Well, this is helpful! Now I don't feel bad for having a little world and giving more attention to the actual story. I really love these videos. Very informative and also help me concentrate on my drawings while listening to them

[@unpredictedelement]

Could you do a video in the series on how to convey a coherent action between panels? Not just layout, but like sequencing actions and choosing how much time to 'jump' between panels?

[@jvanvuren5399]

I appreciate how you write your tips on flash cards so it’s super easy to follow you also explain things pretty well in my opinion

[@MalaysianChopsticks]

I really like how Samurai Jack tells its story. Same as Mad Max Fury Road. Show don’t tell type.

[@DezzieYT]

I love writing short stories and on occasion when I've had a world whose history I really loved I wrote a breif compendium to the story going through the history. Maybe no one but myself cared but getting a chance to put that history to words still felt great.

[@HowlingMoonCinemas]

That map looked awesome.

[@berkleypearl2363]

Crilly thank you so much. Even though I’m not inventing a world this is such useful information. I have a dream of writing a comic book that will help the reader learn more about the Lakota culture and language. It’s about a little white girl who’s taken into the tribe and she has to learn how to be a member of the community. But for a majority of the story no one is going to be speaking English. It’s such a hard story to tell and I’m so grateful for all your advice

[@xenophanesiamnot]

You drew that map for Bone!? MIND BLOWN! Bone is one of the best things I've ever read, it's such a surprise to find out one of my favorite comics creators hired another one of my favorite comics creators. I never would have guessed.

[@jake7953]

Man!! I literally have this artwork on my homescreen!! It's so epic and always reminds me to follow along a mark crilley tutorial video

[@kjtoonsva8006]

I think you just gave me a story idea. Thanks!

[@seanpernell4232]

Mark crilley, you create awesome things every time!! You are an inspiration!!!

[@jinfrozenfire]

You there man, you just made me tears with joy to my eyes. You are a good teacher. May God bless you for sharing your gift to the world.

[@cristinab2477]

YOU HELPED WORK ON BONE?! I LOVED THAT SERIES!! I never got to finish reading it, mind you, but I still loved it. I'll get my hands on it one day. :) That is super cool that you were commissioned to work on that!

[@AporiaLester]

Wow! World Building is exactly what I am trying to improve at/get something done , suddenly its ur next video topic! Amazing! :D It's like you can smell what people need help at!

[@happi-entity]

more advice: reference earlier events in the story or universe. To follow this rule easier, try making the world small, like on a single island or in a single town. for instance, if a major crime is committed in your story, you could give that as a reason for characters being worried about each other; or you could have evidence of an event still lingers, like if a window breaks in one scene, the window could be boarded up in later in the story if your at the same local. You could even reference your earlier works even if it's not in the world, my favorite example for that is Ludosity games (Card City Nights and Slap City) they're lesser known but a great example (I can't think of a popular example...maybe loony tunes? not the best example but I guess it could work), there are so many in-jokes and crazy explanations for how things happen, and crazy absences of explanations for how things happen, it's a joy to play just to see what they'll make next; exactly the effect you want on the audience in a world-building focused story.

[@TheAlps36]

Fantastic suggestions as always Mark. I was wondering if you could do a video on drawing a cityscape like the one in this video. It has a perfect balance of detail and white space and I'd really like to emulate that style

[@AERIS_43R15]

Thanks for your tips, I really like the way you easily explains very useful things and motivates to continue drawing. 😀

[@mickandrews181]

Always love these kind of videos! Always greedy for more too.

[@QueenOfKronstad]

Wow. I totally agree with what you said about Blade Runner (the original movie), that's why it's my favorite, because it doesn't dwell on the facts of how it's different and from the future. thanks for the insightful advices.

[@hashirotheartist197]

Thank you for the tips, hopefully I can get better at my story writing.

[@artemisshaffer8654]

A little off topic but I'm having a blast with the new Chibi book! Thanks!

[@charlottechen6887]

I sure like your videos a lot. I'm writing a story with Kitsunes or foxes where my character has to go through nine versions of herself to earn her true name and form and my title is called Kitsune Path. I'm thinking about changing the last part because it was used already from one of my favorite books( I just watched your video about titles and like all the tips) what should I do?

[@Cyfrik]

#12 is my biggest problem. I can easily come up with plenty of ideas for worldbuilding, but struggle with story and characters, So whenever I make an attempt to write anything, my imagination just takes the path of least resistance, and I get stuck with an ever-growing list of unnecessarily detailed notes about the world, but underdeveloped character ideas and only vaguely defined general ideas of what potential stories might happen in the world. However, I'm currently trying to push myself to actually properly write a story, in order to break that pattern. Although my progress is slow, I am moving forward.

[@Yora21]

So much content, and still I am thinking the whole time: "That's the Skyrim menu font."

[@adawithers6997]

Ready player one was GREAT

[@DunnoThrasher]

Hey I'm gonna give you some tips as you gave me: Change world building / world to song (as in instrumental) And change story to lyrics. Just keep changing those words as you watch the video and at the end you'll be wiser at songwriting (hopefully) Boom, there you go!.

[@strickerarts]

I love bone. Wow I never new you illustrated the map.Ive read all nine books haha.But interesting idea build map then add story.

[@aartistanimation4186]

Ohhh yes! I've been wanting to do this for all my life!

[@alanbritton]

Brilliant, as always Mark. For your viewers, can I suggest the 'Discworld' Books by the late Terry Pratchett. Some of the best world building I have ever read. Also, Mervyn Peake with the 'Gormenghast' series.

[@j-filesxd8595]

Thanks for this! Just at the right time.

[@totallynotkatie4377]

YAY NEW VIDDDDEOOO! IM SUPER EXCITED!!! 💗💗💗

[@ghostofcanidstheinnovator4275]

Neat, I didn't know you drew that map from Bone!

[@dante8999]

i love bone, i read it all. diddnt know you made the map though that is amazing :D

[@chricechiu3673]

3:16 I've seen many people make this mistake. That's why I started my manga with a simple two frame exposition. One says 2051 and the other says Taipei.

[@washai6331]

Augh, you drew the map of Bone? I admire you as I read this in middle school.

[@gloriazhu2658]

great video! thank youu

[@oulGamer]

Hi mark you are my best drawing youtuber and im not kidding

[@Bluefoot65]

The world is there to support the story, it is the foundation just because you added all this detail to your world for your use as author does not mean that it is used in the story. When you build a world for a role playing game you need the details but the story is about the players choices. In the same way you are guiding the reader through the story the detail you put in your are not always need because the story went a different way than you expected. It is hard for an author's ego to put all this work in and not use it in their story. Editing is hard and cruel but for the sake of the reader it needs to be done. If you are successful you and always bring the reader back to your world

[@dayman8892]

Cowboy bebop did it well with minimal exposition

[@miklostoldy7448]

I'm not planning to build a world or story or anything (and seeing when the video is aired, kinda late with my comment), but I just wanted to ask this: What about an animated movie, that focuses around multiple (like 5 or 6) worlds, each are different, than the other, with one character and per world and the protagonist uses a dimension-hopping device to get the next world, and A. The protagonist "accidentally" brings a character with him/her or B. The character is willingly go on the journey with the protagonist? The six worlds are (in the "non-existent" story's order): 1. regular, realistic world (where the protagonist lives), 2. (when the journey begins from the real to the fictional worlds) a medieval fantasy world, 3. a superhero comic book world, 4. an Anime-styled cyberpunk world, 5. a Retro-world (where the characters look like they're from 80's, 90's cartoons) and 6. the main antagonist's world. And the main villian is a dimension-hopping, reality-bending entity, thats chasing the main protagonist (and the supporting cast of characters also cant beat him/her). Oh, and I almost forgot to metion: in each world (except the main antagonist's world) there is also a villian or an enemy to the supporting characters.

[@furiouschicken1]

Rewatching while drawing~

[@AgMak]

Finally, I've been waiting for this

[@AgMak]

Also first

[@ultrateam-I4I]

lazarus_86 Not first though

[@ultrateam-I4I]

lazarus_86 You're 4th

[@AgMak]

Why'd you have to crush my dreams

[@littlebigcomrade]

“Don’t let someone tell the story. Let the story tell itself.”

[@KaiCyreus]

How do you get that tea-stained look in your backgrounds? Is it just done digitally, then you print it out and do more by hand? Is the whole sepia filter done that way too, or manually?

[@aramilhernandez5515]

Hell yeah dude let’s rock this world at one’s with my master pencil ✏️...... thank for the video.

[@erwinguerra5870]

For a great example of world building, I'd recommend the first episode of the anime Made In Abyss.

[@megawill04]

I believe for the FF kingsglaive movie, Square Enix mixed reality with fantasy to create a unique but familiar world.

[@rocketmanart7964]

I used to read Bone it was really good

[@tichictichic3133]

Can you draw more building. Is so awesome!!!

[@christophersteelflex2097]

PLEASE do a video on how to draw Guts from Berserk. I'm really interested in how he would look drawn by you.

[@Zane-X-Draygorne13x2]

Yo that is a badass drawing👍

[@powercouch1845]

i love these sort of vids!

[@noamyamin8014]

Love your videos

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

You saw Ready Player One? AHHHHHHHH!! OH MY GOD!! SHOUTOUT FROM TEXAS!!

[@roflturkey6513]

Would there be any point perspectives in space? If so, how would I go about doing it

[@Phil9874]

I've been struggling on creating a lore for my world right now i have a basic timeline but I still have alot to do.

[@dsargent3]

Wow that's pretty awesome, great video!

[@medhakulkarni4842]

love all ur videos

[@androth1502]

one of the best examples of world building comes to us from the literary world. the world of jrr tolkein. he has an entire history from creation spanning through several ages, actual languages, cultures, races, monsters, gods and demons.

[@bluelily1803]

btw I love your videos Mark

[@nootella88]

+markcrilley can you please do a video on how to draw a cute/good dragon? i know you already have a video on dragons but it looks slightly evil i wanted to draw my oc based of the book series Inheritance i would love to know how to draw a 'good' dragon (like a non-evil one) thanks! keep making awesome vids!

[@kairalynn4901]

Hi I love your vids soooo much and your drawings are AWSOME!!! I was wondering about your book like is it appropriate for all ages?

[@Flying_Acehole]

You are my Hero!👌👌👌👌👌✌

[@Nick4X]

I've never left the country, and by that I mean I've never left the southern US rural areas. I'd be pretty limited by building a world around places I've been.

[@deathdeathington]

Show don't tell.

[@spartacus17.]

Not always!

[@oulGamer]

I start with story Idea too

[@Zulfburht]

odd ball question. what if you want a world where it is harsh and nature seems to almost be challenging humanity. would that be too much focus on the world itself? for example weather, or storms that seem to appear out of nowhere, or heavy fog and people getting lost in the fog crashing the ship.

[@medhakulkarni4842]

could you please do a video of drawing Merida step by step

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

Helps to have a map :3

[@booner2978]

Wow! Your timing is perfect! I have an art competitionat school about the world in 2038 :D

[@jonathanfermin269]

Thanks for the tip

[@charmeleon1013]

Jazza said hi

[@proeveenjoyer]

Can you please do another video on how to draw sakura chiyo???

[@claudiagayle7294]

Hey Mark, can you please do a tourtial on how to draw Rin Okumura. From blue exorcist please and thank you

[@dtowngloss]

Please make natsu or Lucy from Fairy Tail

[@cheshiregerena6855]

Wow, that last tip just called me out

[@counter-weightmedias2263]

Do a video on suits please!!!!!

[@strange-universe]

lately, many popular movies are creating the rules as they go forward, lol, you just mentioned SW as I typed that, nuff said.

[@SEAGOIL]

Holy cow I almost forgot about you! how are you?

[@RyanBowlesCarsGamesVLogs113]

Nice helpful tips. Keep it up.

[@ThatMendezGuy]

Great video! Always love the tip videos. I feel this is a reupload, is it? I swear I've seen it before.

[@ultrateam-I4I]

This is really cool :D

[@nooricomhair7103]

What material did u use to make that and on wich paper

[@carriekalumbula4238]

"I can play the background 'Cause I know sometimes I get in the way"🎤