Worldsmiths | Fantasy World-Building Resource Book

#1: Inspiration

Every world begins somewhere and it's important to know where your world came from. I'll tell you why in a bit.

What are the roots? Just like you think about where you came from, think about where your world came from. 

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Where does your inspiration come from for your fantasy world? 

What elements from that inspiration did you include in your world?  

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Understanding where your inspiration comes from can help you feel more connected to your world. Whether you got it from a dream, a movie, a book, or maybe someone's fantastic art piece (or maybe your own art piece), a song, a photograph...it came from somewhere. Or maybe it came from everywhere ;)

I've noticed some parts of my world I thought were just out-of-the-blue moments, were actually inspired by some Garth Nix books. I didn't remember until I really thought about it.

And then, I could see the connection and think about how I was inspired and how my evil shadows are different from Garth Nix's evil shadows. It began to help me think about other aspects of the world and all its lore.

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Remembering Inspiration is Not ONLY The First Step

This is what you will do here. You'll think about inspiration in the beginning and move on. The End.

But wait, let me drag you back in here. Remembering how something inspired you isn't only the first step into world building. It's something you should do throughout world building especially when you're stuck.

When I have no idea what I'm doing, I remember those that inspired me. Garth Nix, Philip Pullman, Ransom Riggs, Shannon Hale...their worlds, their books, sources of inspiration which I have somehow taken bits of to make my own world.

Remembering inspiration re-fuels me. Ah, I can dive into this aspect of my world or that aspect of my world just as this author or that author did as well.

It will help you, too :)

Okay, okay, now we can get into the detail-details XD