Yea so im just curious how long you original authors actually spend on worldbuilding for a novel. I am trying to work on mine but i have noticed a little something, it takes a f***ing long time. I am still working on the very, very beginning of worldbuilding after around investing a fair amount of hours into it. It sucks for me since i really want to work on the plotline, but i need a world for the story to happen in so i have to suck it up. Just a bit curious about others experience on this subject😊

    Dontlookdown if you're just writing for fun, then just build a little at a time as you write.

    Or use an established world and tweak it e.g. what warlock of magus world did

        I usually start with the races, their countries and their borders on the map
        Then continue from there as ideas come to my mind
        Which takes a very long time

        Though take what i say with a grain of salt since i'm a newbie myself

        Dontlookdown Is your story in another new world? If so, it may take some time to do world-building on a realistic/believable world.

        I can help you simplify the basic structures of a new world for you. Let's see:

        Imagine your world as an iceberg. You would want your readers to get the tip of the iceberg. Basically, introduce the relevant points of your world first (avoid info dump), and the submerged lower part can be anything hinted throughout your story (ex. Folklore, education, landmarks, even jobs if that is not important in the plot.)

        Now, what are the tip of the iceberg that you need your readers to know? Well, here are some:

        First, the laws or systems. Does the kingdom apply a medieval-like rule? Does the kingdom enforce strict laws or your generic isekai who-cares-about-laws type of thing? Is it a living hell? Are the people happy?

        Second, the politics or government. Now, if you want a simpler, watered-down version of a world, then skip this if you want.

        Third, Architecture. What do the buildings look like? This can greatly help your readers get immersed if you put much detail in this. I highly recommend it.

        Fourth, Human Rights/Gender Roles. Is man equal to a woman? Or in that world, does the man has lesser rights than a woman or vice versa. Think about it.

        Fifth, History. This is important. But don't info dump for this one. I'm against that. The most common method to introduce the history to the readers is by having the characters talk about it. (For example, a hundred years ago, there's a war maiden that helps save the world from an evil dragon. She seals the creature in a cave not known by anyone. Then, to prevent the tragedy from happening again, she splits her soul and handed it to different people for each generation to come, in order to help fight the dragon if it ever wakes up.)

        Sixth, the unique aspect of your world, This can be anything.

        I hope this helps. There's a lot more in regards to world-building really. But, if you want to save time, then this can help create a believable world for your characters and plot.

            Dontlookdown
            Some of us build it up at the start. Others do it as they go. Either way, make sure you introduce it in bits and pieces to the readers. You can get away with an occasional information dump, but readers generally don't like them.

            For my first novel I spent a lot of time on world building. Continents, countries, races, etc. Most of it was planned broadly within my first few chapters. The detailed nitty gritty stuff came as I went. I found that this worked well for me overall, but I focused a bit to much on the world and characters while neglecting the story. There was no real 'goal' or arcs to the story. This ultimately led me to putting it on hiatus. I have plans to reboot it in the future with all my lessons learned improving it.

            My second novel takes place on future Earth. This allowed me to focus much less attention on world building in the planning stages. This has worked out surprisingly well for me so far. I introduce as I go and just make sure I keep the info added to a good outline.

              Dontlookdown You can add more later on as the story progresses. There's no need to think up everything from the get-go. Your readers just need to get the gist of it. The powers in that world (if it has that), the kingdoms (you can even just put your story in just one kingdom if you don't want to think too much about it, and etc.

              You can read some kingdom-building novels to get more ideas or do some research.

                Dontlookdown
                Good question.
                As for me, I spend about 2 hours to write down the very basic outline of the world. Nothing too specific yet. (Of course that doesn't count moments when I brainstorm while doing other things)

                When I write, I reveal things slowly from the MC's perspective (his house, frequent places, acquaintances) instead of describing everything (cultures, factions, etc) from the top down. Later, I will introduce those things when they become relevant to the plot. That way I can start writing sooner.

                Anyway, it's a web novel. Later down the line if I found out I've made a plot hole or need something, I can go back to the previous chapter and fix it. If it's unfixable then... well, let's hope readers don't notice :D.

                  Dontlookdown Just to build on what others have written - most of the time, the writing style is "through the eyes of the MC" - which means you only have to reveal what is in the area that the MC can encounter - i.e. a bit at a time; one school, park, area, city at a time.

                  For mine, I'm bad at geography and lay of land - so I use an alternate map of earth; stretched ~2.5x larger and repopulated by mythical creatures.

                  For culture, I use a mix of the standard fantasy fare.

                  For power systems and combat, I mix it based on the cultural differences and indigenous paths.

                  Here's my novel for reference also.
                  https://www.webnovel.com/book/11594239806435805/No-System%3F-No-Magic%3F-No-problem!-But-it's-hard-to-get-a-date-when-you're-stronger-than-titans!-(Rebellion-Against-Fate)

                  Edit: spend your time to plan out your characters early though - it really helps fleshing them out.
                  Even if you're just using a mental image of an existing character from another work to build yours - then tweaking it slightly.

                      HavenlyJeep thanks, that really helped. I guess i am just overloading myself, trying to have every single detail perfect.

                          Ierrech yep, i couldnt draw a stickman right, let alone a whole map. I may just do the same thing as you do😊

                              Dontlookdown I don't recommend using earth like me unless you're ok with using all the same names though! It gave me headaches coming up with similar names that people don't reject when talking about places in Europe.

                              As it's based on earth, I can't veer too far from the original names. Like I can't make Berlin "The Throne of Astaroth" without giving sufficient cultural or religious backing to support the name change. But if I'm using a real world locations culture and religion and lay of land, I get bound by it as well.

                              Vs. Reborn evolving from nothing with cool names for places like Blizzaria...

                                  Ierrech
                                  I hate geography and I hate naming things. Earth is paradise for my writing lol. Especially with google maps/satellite helping me.

                                      SnoozySloth successful and front page top 100 author! Begone!

                                      Seriously though, what do you think of my updated chap 1? Better than before?

                                      I think I'm quite ok keeping my audience. But getting new readers is slow... been stuck at 750 collections for awhile (graph) or 950 for the upper number...

                                          Ierrech
                                          I've never seen your original chapter 1, so I wouldn't know. I added your book to my reading list. I'll try to check it out and give you some feedback. Can't do it right now because I've got a huge college project due tomorrow that I'm pulling an all nighter for (UGHH I want to sleeep!!!)

                                            Dontlookdown You are gonna have people complain about the world building probably no matter what you do. I personally show bits and pieces as I go along. I like the reader to experience it as my MC does. That way they can get excited like the MC when things happen or they learn something new.

                                              Remember. You take any story about a loser, open it and rewrite it for yourself, changing names, titles. Rearrange the sentences in places, something can be removed. That's the water. The course of events can not changed. And publish. That's it. :)
                                              I wrote 126,000 words (180th-200th in english), 42 chapters = 1.5 years. I know people, who write 30000-50000 words per month, (graphomane). One water, the plot stands. Light novels ~ 70% water, 30% story. If brains on - its not light novels.
                                              Getting started is the easiest, the fun starts in the middle.

                                                Dontlookdown Don't do it like this Rabbink! You know why. Gwahahaha.

                                                Do you want to make a webnovel or a real novel?

                                                If you want to make it a real novel (quality). Take time to make world building. For a note the first book of Harry Potter took 7 years. However, see the small detail. It was making the novel seems real. The butterbeer, card collectible, moving pictures, etc.

                                                The same as LoTR. There were world that outside the scope of the novels.

                                                If it is only a fun web novel, just write faster. It seems webnovel readers care less about the world, but more about events.

                                                One thing this Rabbink found after writing. It took times. Worldbuilding actually waste little time compared to the actual writing. What is the chapter length? Most author consider 1.000 words/hour = good. So for 800 chapters long novel = 800x1.500/1000 = 1.200 Hours. Editing = 1/2~1 hour for 1.500words/chapter long novel. = 800 hours. Total hour ~ 2.000 = 3 months of your life without doing anything, etc.

                                                A good idea was start with shorter novel (~150 chapters long) with less detailed world to tell.

                                                    Write a Reply...
                                                    Web Novel Novel Ask