Fantasy Fiction Writer's Guide to Creating Worlds

The genre of fantasy fiction is essentially all about make believe worlds, make believe creatures, races, and people, and the things that happen to them. A lot of the enjoyment of fantasy fiction writing comes from creating the world that your characters will live in. You might think that the sky is the limit since it is fantasy fiction. However, you still have to abide by the rules of believability as to not alienate your readers.

So, how do you create a fictional fantasy world different enough to be interesting, but 'real' enough to be believed? These five steps will help you create your fantasy world.

The Map Outline

Drawing the outline of your map can be done in many different ways. There are some complicated mapping software programs out there that will create random map patterns based on fractal geometry that you could use. Or you could just draw a squiggly line depicting the rough coastline. There is even a fun method of using an orange peel, flattened, to come up with the outline of your landmasses.

Whatever method you use to create your world's map outline is fine. If you know your people are seafaring, make a lot of water and inlets. If you plan on writing about travels across a desert, you don't have to worry much about the coastal edges. Just have fun.

Land, Nature, and Geography

Once you have the outline of your fantasy fiction world, you have to fill in the basic geometry of your landmasses. First, create a key or map legend and assign symbols to each type of environment: little triangles for mountains, fluffy cloud shapes for forest, dots for sandy deserts. Then, just plunk them down on your map.

It is important to remember in this step, the natural order of the world. For example, the tops of mountains are usually colder than the surrounding lands, and rivers often cut canyons through the plains.

Political Boundaries