🌎 fantasy worldbuilding 101 - pt. 2: geography, ecology, and history
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- If you find this video helpful, please consider supporting me on Patreon!
✨ / lynndjung
✨ watch the rest of the fantasy worldbuilding series:
PART ONE: the absolute basics - • ☀️ fantasy worldbuildi...
PART TWO: you are here!
PART THREE: culture, identity, and language - • 🌙 fantasy worldbuildin...
PART FOUR: politics, economics, and daily life - • 🏹 fantasy worldbuildin...
PART FIVE: magic systems, myths, and faith - • 🔮 fantasy worldbuildin...
welcome back to pt. 2 of my fantasy worldbuilding series! this one is a doozy, so strap in.
today, i wanted to dive into the basics of building a fantasy world's geography, ecology, and history. to me, these are the very first building blocks of any fantasy world-but of course, your starting point may look totally different!
my usual disclaimer applies. prescriptivist writing advice is for the birds, and my only aim here is to share a bit of my process and some of my thoughts in the hope that this advice resonates or helps you find your footing with your own fantasy and science fiction writing projects!
thank you for watching :)
✨ timestamps
0:00 - opening
0:06 - intro (+ some channel changes)
1:31 - today’s topics
1:48 - GEOGRAPHY
3:52 - geography step #1 (draw a map)
4:54 - tip: reference real maps
5:31 - tip: standardize place names
6:20 - geography step #2 (make landmarks)
7:16 - geography step #3 (build cities and borders)
7:23 - tip: consider how people live in the world, especially travel logistics
8:58 - geography step #4 (vary biomes)
10:05 - tip: consider physical limitations of geography
10:26 - ECOLOGY
12:36 - ecology step #1 (map it out)
13:34 - ecology step #2 (imagine the world before humans)
14:01 - ecology step #3 (natural obstacles)
14:09 - tip (climate)
15:13 - tip: can humans and nature have a positive relationship?
16:00 - tip: what resources are scarce?
16:29 - ecology step #4 (seasons)
17:38 - ecology step #5 (flora & fauna)
20:38 - ecology step #6 (magical creature ecology)
21:13 - HISTORY
22:53 - history step #1 (draw from real human history)
25:30 - history step #2 (make a timeline)
26:23 - history step #3 (flesh out details)
28:25 - history step #4 (questions to ask yourself about your world)
✨ music
Music by Lofi Breno - Wishful Thinker - thmatc.co/?l=53AEFE34
✨ further reading:
Ecology in Worldbuilding - dankoboldt.com/world-building-...
Creating a Historical Timeline - themudworldblog.com/writing-f...
Tips for Better Physical Worldbuilding - writersedit.com/fiction-writi...
Scientific Laws for Fantasy Maps - hobbylark.com/writing/Creatin...
✨ more of my writing craft videos:
• 💕 10 tips for writing ...
✨ links:
travel writings: wherethehellami.blog
blog: lynndjung.wordpress.com/
twitter: / sweater_giraffe
kofi: ko-fi.com/lynndjung
✨ contact me:
lynndjungbooks@gmail.com
✨ tags:
authortube, booktube, writing, writing tips, writing vlog, how to write fantasy, science fiction, writers, creative writing, short stories, speculative fiction, fantasy writer, fantasy books, writing advice, writing craft, let's write, write with me
Your magic stones example is actually pretty similar to the plot of the Green Bone saga by Fonda Lee. Jade is a magic stone that is naturally occurring in only one country, there's mafias/clans that control its mining and production, other countries want it because it gives their soldiers super powers, people of said country don't want to give it up because it's their cultural heritage, etc etc.
that was my exact thought when she read that. It wasn't a bad idea at all considering the greenbone saga is a pretty awesome series
That is so funny, I hadn't made that connection!! I only read a small part of the first book a few years ago, but clearly it must have seeped into my brain. I guess it wasn't as silly of an example as I thought lol
Those books are so good
I love making biomes, and for my world I based it off of a few Minecraft biomes. I'm so glad you thought of it! Lol
Your magic stone example is a really great illustration of how to put this advice into play! Incredible video as usual :)
Haha thank you so much, that was the goal so I'm glad it worked!
AND I AM HERE FOR YOUR PLANT PROPAGANDA 🌱🌱🌱
Thank God for people like you who share your expertise with us. otherwise, we wouldn't know what to do or how to achieve our goals! Thank you for making the world a better place, at least for me.
haha oh God, thank you for your kindness but it's hardly expertise!! I just like to share what I've garnered from experience in hopes that it will help others, but I still have a lot to learn myself :) Thank you again !!
This is the 2nd video I have watched and it's already helped me A LOT. I feel like I can actually start making the world I want. I started writing a few months ago and stopped for a bit to reflect and look at what I had. Came to the realisation that I have to scrap most things and start over. Still keeping some core stuff in, but I've been sitting and mind mapping the whole book again. Deep into what I actually need. Now I'm a noob writer. Like really noob. I have only written what? Like 1 short story and like 2 chapters of a book in my life. So I'm gonna start small once I actually sit down and write but I like to have things planned out before hand. So thank you SO much for this! Now I don't have to feel the pressure for making things up as I go. Now I can have a proccess. Awesome work keep it up!
I’m a seasoned worldbuilder and I think this series is really nice. I like your style and examples.
I was actually going to skip your first video because I read the full title and thought that it would be too repetitive for me. However, I was unable to do that right away and soon I had the chance my interest had already been piqued. That map example was absurd! I had somehow missed that internet drama. :D
Also, you made me realize that I really really like it when a writer has thought about ecology and surprises me as a reader.
I do it my own writing, too - think about ecology. I’m not a biologist but I’m a curious person and enjoy reading about a wide range of topics. Fun stuff. But I hadn’t thought before, how big a preference that actually is for me.
I also love plants and wished more fantasy worlds created their own / made it more part of the story :)
right!! I love an ecology-focused worldbuilding perspective, I want to write a lot more stories like that
@@lynndjunglet us know when you do!!
Touching on the George RR Martin 2 seasons thing. I believe he's trying to tie it into the Holly King and Oak King mythologies while also hinting at the seasons being out of whack due to the cause of the long night. (Moon meteor theory maybe lol) A very good look at how natural disasters, or supernatural in fantasy, can shape your world. Awesome and very well done video!
This is such interesting background, thank you for sharing! I didn't know much about the folkloric influences, but I did know about the White Walkers being a climate change analogy, so I wonder if all that ties together intentionally
@@lynndjung Absolutely! A big theme of the long night legends are that theyre caused by people. Some sort of mages.
I've been waiting for this video!! I love world-building, especially creating the environment & ecology. This video is very helpful for sci-fi writers too! It's crazy how important worldbuilding is to writing a book-- and the reader usually doesn't even know it!
I'm so glad this works for sci-fi too!! Also, I 100% agree, worldbuilding can influence a book's final quality so much!
Another one of my random comments on old videos whilst catching up...
With regard to Plants. Consider Woodland and how it is managed. For example in a medieval style world Coppicing is important. As is wood gathering. Lost in a forest and want to know if habitation is near? How much fallen timber suitable for winter fuel is near. How much has been grubbed up by foraging Pigs? Woodland, even nominally 'wild' areas, is a farmed resource when within reach of humans - who may have small, sometimes seasonal, outposts into the wilder woods simply to support the use of the forest for Pig forage, Hunting, Charcoal Burning, harvesting of Ship Timber...
Marshland? Are the reeds cut for fodder, thatching etc. Again, if lost in the marshes, do you see the hand of man at work?
Open heathland? Why is it open? Most UK heathland that survives is grazed, otherwise woods grow up. I have seen that happen in my lifetime on heathland opposite my childhood home - which is a shame as heathland is a rare, disappearing and prized land type.
Wandering into more general geography. I live in the UK. Most of our 'natural' landscapes show the hand of man at work. Look anywhere in the rugged mountains of North Wales and you will be looking at the spoil heaps of mining of various types, broken down dams and the old beds of mine tramways. That heathland I mentioned has thin sandy soil - it was great until it was overgrazed by cattle - in the Bronze Age.
Finally on to History. Remember that the history 'remembered' by a population is not necessary accurate. For example see Arthurian mythological history and the Venerable Bede's version of the History of the English People and how that differs from the actual history revealed by Archaeology and other sources (as we now understand things - Bede used to be read far more uncritically than he is today).
I really like these videos! One thing I think is fun that I used for geography was stealing parts of earths coastlines and such. I find it gives a good baseline that is grounded in realism
This is such a good tip - I've done it a few times as well!! A LOT of my fantasy coastlines look like california lol. Ty for watching!!
I found this video extremely helpful! New sub and aspiring writer.
I love your videos so much, thank you for this series! It is super helpful
Thank you for being sweet and for your support!!
Love your small comments about Costa Rica. I am so glad you enjoyed our country 🇨🇷!
This comment made me smile, I loved 🇨🇷 so much! Have a beautiful day!
Liked 3 seconds into the video because ik your content never fails and I always learn something super helpful
That's so sweet!! Ty 🥹
I had to look up caves and swamps. I did find that if a swamp has a karst landscape, that there can ve caves, although it's a little different than what we think of swamps. I didn't realize how rare it was. The Everglades is the only known swamp with caves I could find. That being said, if you wanted to craft this time of swamp, you could in fact have caves. But of course, the writer will need to explain why there are caves in the swamp.
Peace (as a greeting) Lynn..I love this place !!! completely recharges me. My literary universe thanks you too Queen ....
What’s your suggestion for an antagonist that is supernatural? How would you go about exploring that?
I have a degree in Zoology too, and absolutely love ecosystems and animals and plants. In real life, I think it's important that humans realise that we are just another part of the animal kingdom, and that we evolved in the same way everyone else did, rather than thinking that we are special in some way.
And yet I've always struggled to implement this concept into my worldbuilding, because I naturally incline towards the idea of 'the gods created the humans, blah blah.' Have you ever designed a religion/god system that incorporates the concept of humans evolving?
Haha no way, that's so cool! I agree 100%, and while I haven't personally written any secondary fantasy worlds where the society was at a point where they could conceptualize evolution, I do play with evolution as a theme/symbol in my current WIP (which is set in a modified version of the real world). It's a neat idea though, and I think it would be cool to explore!
not sure if/how if it would fit into this series but i'd love to hear your thoughts/advice on urban fantasy :D
this is such a great idea! I also want to cover genres/subgenres at some point, so I think I might dive into urban fantasy then
Awesome video with many good points! This does help me to start working on my worldsetting again! :)
I do have a problem with modern fantasy because of many of the points you mentioned: The society does not make any sense: It is an unholy hybrid of the high Middle Ages, Early Modern Time and 19th Century...
But building a fantasyworld based on the real late MiddleAges would need to include a lot of explanation because people expect the usual fantasy pabulum (is this the right word? XD)
You mentioned that you have some Korean background: Do you know Fantasy based on Korean history?
Hi Lynn, any advice or tips on making the species of people inhabiting the fantasy from other things? I want to create people that have genotypes and phenotypes that are similar to plants (trees, flowers, etc). I call them my plant people, and i’ve researched everything including the reproduction methods of plants and developed a “flowerverse” based on these details, but I was wondering if this would make sense to readers. Any thoughts? The color of the citizens skin would also be like that of the plant that their phenotype characteristics come from, like a female with a specific flower’s characteristic would always have some shade of green skin since most flowers have a green stem, whereas the males (based on specific trees) would always have some shade of brown skins since the bark on tree trunks tends to be brown. Does this make sense? I appreciate any insight you can give.
Hi Jasmine! Sorry it took me a little while to respond.
As someone who's working in botany right now, I just wanted to say I love the premise of your world! It seems like you're definitely on the right track (imo) in terms of considering the differing biology of this new species. One tiny thing is that I am wondering why there is sexual dimorphism since plant reproduction is pretty different from human reproduction, but ofc it's your world, so your rules!
I think what you've laid out so far makes sense, and that you should be able to provide a basic oversight of the differences between this species and our own at the beginning of the story if you're worried about reader confusion, then fill out the details as you go along. I highly recommend utilizing beta readers once you're ready and asking them specific questions about your worldbuiding (like a little quiz!) to see if they understood the world and the new species. :) Hope that helped!
@@lynndjung thank you so much for your response!!
I’ve since went back and updated how the reproduction system works to be a bit more consistent with plants after watching some more videos (i.e. flowers can have male, female or both sexes) so flower phenotypical characteristics wouldn’t only be limited to female citizens but can be male or female and some of them, depending on the flower type, will be able to asexually reproduce (something like self-pollination but in human form). Same for the tree types. I found a work around to make it make sense in my story 😆 I keep reminding myself that since its fantasy, I shouldn’t worry too much about trying to make everything like this world since I want it to be something different.
No, your plant propaganda definitely worked. I am going to think about all the plants that I can add into my story 🥳❤
this is what i love to hear!!
The CC isn't working on this video.
Thank you for letting me know! I've switched it back to the automatic captions for now.
Do you have a sag moon? 🤔
😂 I have an Aquarius moon, but a TON of Sag elsewhere in my chart!
Leaving a dislike for calling forests bland. Not really but I thought about it. Forests can all look the same if you don't spend enough time in them.
Sorry about that, I should have been more specific! I hope you believe me when I say I love forests and their many distinguishing characteristics, I was commenting on the same cardboard cutout monospecies forests you see in fantasy books again and again
@@lynndjung lol no worries I was mostly joking. I would completely agree that in the broader trend of fantasy, forests easily become backdrops with no heart of their own. A "world" can be a character, so why can't forests and oceans?
the hunger games roast😭
LOL for the record I love the hunger games haha
@lynndjung From my understanding (reading analysis of the books, despite never having read them myself), there is actually an in-world explanation for the death games - including propaganda, a large war, a dictator ensuring an uprising couldn't happen, etc.
what a pretty thumbnail
thank you!