I am building this fantasy world for my novel. I have never built a world from scratch before, and I am not sure how much I need to invent, and how much effort to put into it. The history is that the humans had to leave their non-magical homeland and they came to this new land with magic and fairies and stuff and rebuilt their lives there. The novel takes place in this new land. So the novel will only include 2 continents/countries (the old home and the new home) and the rest of the planet is irrelevant. Do I still need to create and name all the countries and cultures of the rest of the planet anyway, or should I just forget about them?
For this, it all depends on personal preference, as well as a few other key things.
When making a world, I first almost always start with the main character. What kind of society they live in, what god(s) they believe in and the like.
After I've figured that out, this will tell me somewhat how much certain aspects of a world will play into my story.
Say my main character is a priest of some sort, then I would need to flush out the religion of the world more than I would, say, the polotics.
Now, if my main character is studuong magic, then I would have to flush out the magical society of the world and how it works more.
So,what I'm saying is what your main character(s) are involved will help you determin what you need more detail on.
Not many criminals would be perfectly in touch with the politics of the world, and not many magic welders would be in touch with religion.
Now, if you want to get a little more advanced, say magic welders make the laws and politics of your world, then you would have to flush out both sides. Don't work on bringing to life things you're not going to use heavily on the story.
If the world's history is not the main focus, but is is mentioned, then work on that a bit, but don't waste all your creative energy on things you're not going to use in your story.
I hope this makes sense, and if you have any questions, or need me to explain anything ore in depth, I will be glad to.
Yes, this makes sense. Thanks so much for the help! :)
