Every story takes place somewhere, so some element of worldbuilding will need to go into your book! As with my other NaNoWriMo preparation posts, the focus of this is not to get you a fully developed world. My aim here is to help you pick out some worldbuilding elements that will give you something concrete to write about come November. Some prompts and questions that will give you scenes and storylines to play with, if you need some inspiration! And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my NaNoWriMo experience, it’s that there comes a point where you desperately need some inspiration. 

If you want more NaNo prep posts, you can check them out here:
– Test Drive Your Story Idea
– Character Development Prompts 

Worldbuilding is often treated as something primarily for sci-fi and fantasy writers, but I don’t think that’s fair. No matter what kind of a story you’re writing, it can benefit from a strong sense of place. So, I’ve tried to write prompts in this post that will work for whatever genre you’re writing in. Obviously, there’s more to make up if you’re creating a whole new world or society! But, even if you’re writing contemporary fiction, there are things to consider about the specific environment of your story. Now, without further ado, let’s dive into the worldbuilding prompts I’ve got for you! 

What is your character’s favourite place?

Is there a place they go when they’re sad or angry? Somewhere they can go to feel safe or comforted? Maybe there’s a place they used to love, but can’t access anymore for some reason. This might be the shed at the bottom of the garden in their childhood home, or a room at school where the teacher lets them hang out to avoid people. It might be where they first learned to use their powers, or their best friend’s house.

Having a place like this in mind can come up in a range of different ways during your story. Your character might want to go there, but be unable to. They might go there to think about an important development, allowing for a more introspective scene to play with pacing. You might have them led there by the plot, finding themselves unexpectedly in their favourite place. Or maybe they’ll just reminisce about it with another character in a bonding moment! In any case, having a sense of the environment beyond your character’s immediate surroundings is an important part of good worldbuilding.

What is the foremost religion or belief system in your worldbuilding?

And, equally importantly, do they agree with it? Religion and faith may not be a core component of your story. Even so, it’s worth considering whether your population of characters has any particular belief or faith system when you’re doing your worldbuilding. It can provide a source of comfort and belonging to protagonists who believe the same as the people around them, or a point of tension if they don’t.

How does your character respond to people who believe something different to them? Are they dismissive of people who believe in a higher power? Do they pity people who don’t have faith in something bigger than themselves? Points of difference like this can create really interesting moments in your story, even if they’re not a major element of the plot.

How does your character fit in with the hierarchies of their world?

What is the hierarchy of the world your story is set in? And this could be the ‘world’ as in the specific environment where your character exists, or it could be the literal whole world. Depending on how far you want to take this! Either way, working out the systems of power at play in your story is a pretty big part of worldbuilding. You might have a story with a very narrow focus on its characters and little attention on the broader hierarchies at play. Even so, those hierarchies will have shaped and affected the way your character thinks and acts, right?

Also, having a strong sense of the systems around your character, and the way your character feels about those, can give you some scene ideas to play around with! Where does your character fall in the various hierarchies around them? In their family, their school or workplace, their social groups? Scenes where they exercise power to get what they want, or have to put off something they want because of somebody above them in one of their hierarchies, can fit in almost any story. How can you play around with the hierarchies and power dynamics in your story for plot points?

Money, money, money… How does it work for your character?

Ah, finances. The joys of managing money. If you’re writing sci-fi, fantasy or historical fiction then you might have a financial system that works quite differently to the one you live in. If your story is set in your world, or one very like it, you might not need to think too much about it. Even so, I think an important part of worldbuilding for your specific story is thinking about how money works for your main characters. 

There are all manner of scenes you might want to include in your story that give an insight into your worldbuilding around finances. Your character saving up for something they want, or having to work out how they’re going to afford something important. Having them spend easily or carelessly, and having other characters respond to that. Writing about work for your protagonists or side characters, and the way that work is compensated in your world. Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound super exciting. But money, and what we can or can’t afford, is a major part of many people’s lives, and it can be a highly sensitive topic as well. Don’t overlook the potential to use that in your story!

What customs, rituals and holidays show up in your story?

Worldbuilding isn’t all about the physical space your characters occupy, it’s also about culture. What holidays are observed in your character’s world? What rituals and customs form part of their lives? Your story might be entirely built around a ritual or holiday, like in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, which is centred on the Solstasia festival. Or it might be incidental, like the parade Rin goes to watch at one point in The Poppy War. In both cases though, the situation is rich in opportunity for scenes that give readers a greater insight into characters, or move the plot forwards in interesting ways.

If your story only plays out over a couple of days, it may well not overlap with any particular holidays. But there’s almost certainly room for customs and rituals to make an appearance! Think about scenes you could write to show your character embracing (or rejecting, if you prefer) the customs of their particular environment. Is there a way to weave in interesting plot developments with some of this worldbuilding to really bring your story to life?

How do you feel about worldbuilding?

I love the process, personally, although sometimes I find I get so involved in worldbuilding that I kind of forget that the story also needs to be written! Do you enjoy worldbuilding, or do you just do the bare minimum to position yourself for writing? And if you’ve got any tips, share them in the comments!