We’ve seen a rise in the popularity of fantasy novels in the past few years, even more so in the Romantasy genre. If you’re not familiar, Romantasy is a mixture between a fantasy and romance novel. If you’ve ever thought about writing in this genre, welcome! We’re happy to have you! But you’ve probably thought to yourself, how do I make an immersive world for my readers? I have the characters, the plot, but the world is lacking. Well, keep on reading to find out how you can begin to craft a world your readers won’t soon forget!

The first step I always recommend to fantasy writers is to lay out everything you already know about your world. Then begin to categorize them. You can use index cards, post-it notes, or if you like digital copies a software like Milanote is a perfect companion to get organized! Once you’ve done that, take a look at the list I have below of the different categories you should be thinking about. 

You want to make sure to assess everything in the world. Not all of this will make its way into your story (and it really shouldn’t!). You don’t want to overwhelm your readers with every single piece of information you come up with here. As long as it’s relevant to your story, go ahead and add it in! Just be sure to err on the side of caution.

Explore the list below and see what you come up with and before you know it, you’ll have a fully flushed out world!

Also be sure to check this blog post where I discuss the mistakes I see most often when editing fantasy book!

Governing factions

How is your world run? Monarchy? Democracy? Oligarchy?

Climate

What’s the weather like? Does this affect your characters? Are they traveling in it at all? Does the world have seasons like we have in our modern world or is it perpetually winter all year long?

Social classes

Is there a middle class? Are there upper classes and lower classes? How are they different or similar to our modern day world?

Religion

Is there a major religion in your world? Do your main characters follow this? Do people believe in one single being such as God or do they believe in multiple Gods? Similar to the Greeks or Romans? Do the characters believe in any sort of afterlife?

Fashion

What do the characters in your novel typically wear? Is it based on the climate? Are there any fashion icons or is what your characters wear for convenience? For example, form fitting clothes for easier movement? 

Economy and trade

What is the money system in your world? Is it similar to ours or is it more of a bartering system?

Culture

Is there art in your world? Any music, dancing, painting, performing arts? Do people worship artists or do they look down upon them?

Language and communication

Can everyone in your novel talk? If not, how do they communicate? Does everyone speak the same language or does it differ from kingdom to kingdom or between villages?

Magic system

This may be the hardest to define but could be one of the most important factors to think about. You want the magic system in your world to be consistent and not contradict itself. Write out everything that is possible in your world and what may become an issue if it’s resolved or someone finds a loophole.

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This website also has a great list of worksheets to help any writer work through this list! 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of things to work through when building your world. However, it should definitely get you started and I hope it helped you begin crafting your world!