Fanciful and fictional creative pursuits across multiple media platforms require staging, setting, and worldbuilding to give readers, viewers, and players an immersive experience
Is all worldbuilding created equal?
Different forms of media utilize worldbuilding to create immersive, fleshed out worlds for readers, viewers, and players to lose themselves in adventure, action, and great storylines, but how does worldbuilding differ across media forms and intended audience?
As an author, my view of worldbuilding is focused through the lens of a writer, but I have enough experience with other media to look at how worldbuilding is the same, or how it differs, in different formats.
When I first delved into worldbuilding for my novels, I used D&D campaign building sheets for my notes and to help me figure out what categories I wanted to include in my worldbuilding. There was a lot of overlap when it came to creating fantasy creatures, storylines, characters, magic systems, and magical objects.
However, the D&D campaign builders fell short for the immersive worldbuilding I wanted for my novels. While they are incredibly comprehensive, TTRPG worldbuilding is centered on the player experience and character interactions. Yes, the worlds are immersive and there is a lot of action, but it is the players’ choices and the characters’ profiles which drive the game play, and in essence, the worldbuilding.
Worldbuilding in TTRPGs is designed for the players and their characters.
In visual media, like movies, shows, and stage performances, worldbuilding is for the audience.
It is a much more visual experience. While there is depth to the worlds in non-visual aspects that are revealed through character interaction and story arcs, the majority of the worldbuilding in these mediums are meant to appeal to viewers through a visual experience.
Video games offer a pleasant balance between visual media and TTRPGs, though it does depend on the type of game. RPGs combine stunning visuals with immersive worldbuilding elements to take the players on character driven adventures where they feel like they are part of the story. Action games might have less depth to the worldbuilding and/or storylines, but they still rely on visuals and bringing the player in to the experience.
Video game worldbuilding is targeted at the player and designed to make them feel like part of the action, story, and world. There’s a significant portion of video game worldbuilding and lore that is optional and unnecessary for the game’s progression or enjoyment.
When it comes to worldbuilding in writing, it takes on many layered nuances. Readers don’t read to become part of the story but to connect with characters on a journey. Readers don’t pick up a book for a highly visual experience, but to let their imaginations paint the picture.
Worldbuilding in fiction books is used as a tool to immerse readers through all their senses—sight, taste, touch, sound, smell.
But that’s just one layer.
Writers utilize worldbuilding as a means to direct character interactions, storylines, and plot arcs. The ways in which characters speak, gesture, and carry themselves are worldbuilding elements. The storylines have to fit into the rules, history, and environments of the world setting.
Worldbuilding in writing is as much for the authors as they craft their stories and write their characters as it is for the reader experience. It could be said that worldbuilding in writing is also designed for the story’s characters, so they have backstories, culture, and nuances that fit into the world elements.
The level, depth, intensity, and focus of worldbuilding is influenced by the type of media, who the target audience is, what kind of experience is meant to be provoked, and who the worldbuilding in that media is designed for.
I love to experience different worlds through reading, but some of my greatest worldbuilding inspiration has come from video games and anime shows.
Where do you find inspiration for worldbuilding?
Worldbuilding Spotlight
Worldbuilding elements I love to create but that rarely make it into my manuscripts:
- Games/sports
- Waste management systems
- Constellations
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