Before you begin getting into the nitty-gritty details of a world, you are going to need a premise. For some people this comes very easily - through a dream, an idea that just pops into your head, or an extrapolation of an idea that you have seen elsewhere. However, many others get completely stuck at this stage and it can be very difficult and frustrating to even attempt to come up with an idea. Fortunately, there's a few different tricks that you can use to help you along the right path. Always remember that once you have the ball rolling, things can change a little, a lot, or completely, so don't get too caught up in the fine details at this stage or you'll never move on to the next one.

 

There are two different parts that you will need to look at in order to create a premise: the storyline, and where the storyline is set. For the storyline I have included a footnote of basic plotlines for those interested, but as this is a world-building class I won't be concentrating on that aspect. Suffice it to say, you should have a rough plot in mind for later on down the track. 

 

In order to create our world, we are going to start with a 'what-if?' game. This game is pretty straight forward: we take an existing concept, and ask 'what-if?' For example, starting with the world we live in we could ask a very precise, but complex, question such as 'What if we had two suns?' Think about how this would work - would the suns be side-by-side, would they rise at different times, would they be equally far apart, resulting in perpetual daylight? Then think about what effects this would have on the world - the climate would be different, so what plants and animals rely on night to survive? Which ones would thrive in the extra sunlight? What changes would be made to people's lives, to the way we keep time, even to our language? Almost every story set in a world other than our own can be brought back to one simple 'what-if?' question and then extrapolated out from there. What if some of the population had magical powers but everyone else didn't? What if someone moved the location of our planet to make it closer to the sun? What if dragons existed? 

 

Another method for creating a premise is to ask what the world is there for. This is where having a plot in mind comes in handy. Do you want your protagonist to have to traverse wild lands and raging rivers in order to get to his or her destination? Or would you rather write a story with odd puzzles posed by alien creatures who have a penchant for problem solving? Maybe you just want your protagonist to have grown up in a desert or deep forest or another planet. Think about what you need your world to accomplish and that in itself can be your premise.

 

The final method we are going to look at is coming up with your very own Big Bang theory. How did your world come to exist? In this particular case the actual Big Bang theory is likely to yield the least information (at least for me; you could be entirely different), so get creative. Did a lizard eat a bar of soap and then hiccup out a soap-bubble-germ-mixture that floated away and spawned a mini soapy village floating through the air? Did two powerful gods get into a fight, stomp a massive ditch into a world and then fill it with tears as they made up in the aftermath? Or did a mad scientist decide to see if he could ignite the world's atmosphere and accidentally give superpowers to everyone touching something blue at the time?

 

The majority of world building is knowing the right questions to ask. Once you have come up with a premise, don't despair if it seems too simple or if you want more detail. That's what the rest of the term's lessons are for: next up is a lesson in your world's history!

 

 

 

Footnote, for those interested:

 

Romance: Two people fall in love but circumstances stop them from being together until the end.

Tragedy: The protagonist tries to overcome a series of obstacles that end up to be insurmountable. This can also be from the view of the villian, making the ending bittersweet.

Rebirth of a Villian: The protagonist is a villian who faces a set of challenging circumstances, resulting in a change of heart.

Hero's Journey: The protagonist sets off on a journey in order to find somewhere or something that will save his hometown.

Overcoming Evil: There is an antagonist threatening the lives of a town/country/world and the protagonist sets out to defeat them, usually due to a more direct threat imposed upon loved ones.

Rags to Riches: The protagonist is usually both poor and humble and tries to improve the circumstances of their family, usually stumbling upon riches or marrying a prince/princess due to their unusally kind nature.

Experienced Voyage: The protagonist sets out on a journey to a strange land, learning valuable life lessons along the way that allows them to return home with a better outlook on their old life.