World Building Worksheet

This is an extra resource to go along with the original article:

Time

If you could compare the era of your story to one on earth, when would it be? In the present? In
the past? In the future?

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Location

What is the settling of your world?

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Does it take place in a parallel universe?

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Is it on another earth-like planet?

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Does it occur in another dimension?

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Population

Who lives in your world? Are they humans, aliens, animals, insects, hybrids, monsters?

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What is the population?

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Are there multiple races?

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Is there tension between the races?

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What distinguishes the races?

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Where do they live? Do they live in small villages or large cities?

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What type of living arrangements do they have? Do they live in houses? Tents? Communes?

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Society

How does your collective population relate to each other?

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What is the basis for society?

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Is there a class system? Who is rich? Who is poor?

How do the different classes relate to each other?

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Can one go from poor to rich and vice versa?

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What is the family structure?

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Are couples married? Are they monogamous? Polygamous?

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Do they have children?

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How many children do they typically have?

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What are people’s values?

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What is sacred?

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What is universally accepted as right and wrong?

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How do they deal with old age?

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What are the gender roles?

History

What is the history of your fantasy world?

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What created the current circumstances of the story?

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What is the catalyst for change?

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Laws and Government

What are the relevant laws in your universe that the characters must obey?

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What is the political environment?

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Who are the controlling parties and why?

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Is there a struggle for independence? Is there growing dissent?

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How does magic affect these laws?

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Magic

What type of magic will you include in your story?

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Are there wizards? Genies? Is it mental magic? Science-based magic, like time-travel?
Supernatural, like superheroes?

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Who has the magic?

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Is magic only available to a select few? If so, how do they get it?

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Is magic banned?

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Is magic respected?

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What are the rules of magic in your world?

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Daily Life

What do people do to pass the time?

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What do they eat? Drink?

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Do they exercise?

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What type of clothing do they wear?

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Does clothing reflect their values or their social class?

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How are they educated?

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What do they learn in school and why?

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Sentiment

How do your characters feel about the world in which they live?

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What do people agree with?

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How do people differ?

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Religion

What is the name of the prevailing religion?

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Are the characters monotheistic? Polytheistic? Atheistic?

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What is their folklore?

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What do the characters believe?

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What do they value?

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Physical Attributes

What does the world look like in a physical sense?

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What are the natural resources?

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What type of plants grow there?

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What type of animals?

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What is the atmosphere?

How does the world smell?

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What does the night’s sky look like?

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Is there night?

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What is the climate?

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