I’m here today to share some worldbuilding resources I’ve been using! I’ve been using it on my book but, I personally think it can be applied to a lot of different types of projects.
BOOKS
I found this book series to be one of my favorite resources. It is a world building book series and the first one is called 30 Days of Worldbuilding: An Author’s Step-by-Step Guide to Building Fictional Worlds (Step by Step Worldbuilding) by A Trevena. While you can get them on Kindle for cheap, the paperback is a bit more expensive. I personally like the Kindle version for this, because I can carry them all around with me to use at any time (without killing my back) as I’m the type of person that brings a couple of projects with them whenever they go!
Step by Step Worldbuilding (11 book series) Paperback Edition https://share.google/mvKvdC4MAYWmDvgAj
Through Youtube videos, I found a free resource that helps you make fantasy maps. (They do have a more expanded worldbuilding tool as well, but, you have to pay for it.) The free one is the main tool I am currently using and have been finding it tremendously useful.
FREE PDF
A Magical Society: Guide to Mapping by jgbrowning https://share.google/aF0WyaVu3nOgZBOrS
PAY TO USE PDF (on Ecology and Culture that I purchased but, haven’t used yet)
A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture by jgbrowning https://share.google/QAoa8E5iCV7bbGvFN
VIDEOS
I came across this set of videos by channel called “The Fantasy Forge”
https://youtu.be/HawxK2FWm3M?si=iczLZp–OTo5Fvqo
https://youtu.be/Nr5nc3KH0Dk?si=CQX1TjuMuzx4hQcE
While going through the worldbuilding books I listed above, I developed many ideas but continuously hit walls when I realized I had no polished concept of the environment. So, I decided to work backwards and start with the map to get a foundation and adjust it as I fill out the workbooks. Doing this digitally works as well as paper, but I found that for me personally, paper just makes the gears in my brain churn more. So I have been drawing on tracing paper first, so I can trace and slowly adjust the map as I go through the free map development pdf I listed above. I like using the tracing paper because I can layer it to see how it evolves over time and see the different stages I have done. After using tracing paper, I have started to move to digital now that the creative gears have started to turn. But what’s most important is to do what inspires you the most. Is it paper, digital or both? I also recommend sending or talking with someone you feel comfortable with, to talk ideas with and get feedback. For example, I send any map developments to a friend of mine to see if it makes sense geographically, looks interesting etc. That has been helping a lot as well as I slowly work on it.
