How to World Build on the Page

Crafting a fictional story, even if it’s based in the ‘real world,’ requires a certain amount of world building. Your story’s world is the space/setting in which your story takes place. It can be as small as a room (as in Room) or as massive as an entire universe (as with Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere). It can be based in this world or one entirely secondary.

The creation of these story worlds can be one of the most fun parts of writing! You get to do research, seek inspiration, and let your imagination run wild. But once you’ve set the boundaries around where the story will take place, and crafted the cultures your character exists within, you need to turn to the pages of the story itself and reveal that world to the reader.

Writing world building in a way that feels natural, isn’t confusing, and avoids the dreaded ‘infodump’ can give writers a lot of heartburn because it’s tricky. There’s a fine line between under and over sharing when it comes to world building, especially with secondary fantasy and science fiction worlds. Writers often err on the side of giving more information rather than less, because we’re afraid the reader won’t be able to follow what’s going on without it. Unfortunately, this can lead to giving too much information in a way that leads to losing the reader anyway!

In this blog we’re going to break down the secret to expert world building on the page with published examples so you can see how it works. If you’re ready to level up your world building writing skills, let’s dive in!

Infodumps—and how to avoid them!

Before we look at how to world build on the page, let’s look at what you DON’T want to do: Infodump. An infodump in fiction is when a writer gives a reader way more information about something (world, backstory, setting, etc.) then they need in a specific moment on the page. Infodumps are problematic because they jar the reader out of the story and risk confusion. Readers will wonder why the information being dumped on them is important and struggle to figure out which pieces of information to retain (which usually leads to forgetting most of it!).

Why do we infodump? → Because we love our worlds and fear confusion!

There are two main reasons why writers infodump. Part of it is love for the story (with a little bit of ego mixed in!). We do so much work building out our worlds, and we want to share it all with the reader. But just because we developed something cool doesn’t mean the reader wants to know it! The reader cares about the details that are important to the character, anything else just won’t be as cool to them as it is to you. The second reason is totally selfless. We’re afraid that the reader might not understand what’s going on without all the context, so we go overboard describing unnecessary details.

How do we fix infodumps? → By making all information scene-present.

When readers are consuming a story, they slip into the brain and skin of the main character. Our brains actually fire as if we’re them. Your job as a writer is to keep your readers in your character’s skin for as long as possible. Only show details that are important to the character, things they would naturally pay conscious attention to. Avoid anything that risks jarring the reader out of the character’s immediate, scene-present experience. The moment you give information that the character already knows, or wouldn’t naturally think about in the moment, then you break the synchronicity between character and reader and cross the line to an infodump.

Let’s look at an example:

See the difference? In the first example, we’re given a lot of details about the world that are ‘cool’ but we’re not really sure why they’re important in the moment. Why do we care if Mira gets punished? Why do we care what the ranks are? Or other harsher punishments? In the second version, however, we’re given just the information we need as Mira is thinking about it, and we’re shown what the details mean to her so we know why the information is important.

Okay, so now we know what we don’t want to do. So let’s dive into the two key steps of writing world building on the page in a scene-present way: determining which details to include and how to weave them in.

Step 1: Choosing which details are important

The first step in world building on the page is to figure out what you need to world build in any given moment in the story. You want to reveal as little as possible, so the reader can retain details in a small trickle that they can digest, rather than an overwhelming deluge. But figuring out what is and isn’t important can be so frustrating!

A general rule of thumb is: If it’s not clear why a detail is important to the point-of-view character, the reader won’t remember it.

You should include just enough information so that the reader will understand what is happening in the scene itself and why those events matter to the main character. If a detail isn’t critical to the character’s present moment, then it’s not critical to include.

FOR EXAMPLE: In the Mira example above, all we need to know is that she can’t find her badge and that will mean missing a rare visit with her brother. We’re invested in finding the badge because we feel her present panic. The other details about how the Academy works can trickle through to us later, when they’re important to Mira.

Step 2: Revealing details in a ‘scene-present’ way

Once you know what details to share, you need to reveal them on the page in a scene-present way. This is great, basic guidance for all ‘showing’ in writing, but it’s especially key for world building in speculative genres.

The key is to ensure that every world building detail revealed is triggered by something in the scene present that prompts the character to think about the detail naturally.

Need to show that they have a weird time-keeping system? Have a character look at a clock because they need to be on time for something (maybe have the clock broken, so you can show how it works!). Need to show that your characters can fly? Just show them flying somewhere important! Need to show that your government is oppressive? Show a poster of propaganda and have your character think about what it means!

FOR EXAMPLE: In the second Mira example above, her missing badge prompts her to think about the punishment facing her if she doesn’t find it, and thinking about that punishment prompts her to immediately think about how the specific punishment she’ll face (Isolation) will lead to missing her family visit. Her fear of not seeing her brother for a year shows us that this family visit only happens once a year. Her desire to see her brother is what makes all of these details important to her and therefore important to the reader.

Other tips for writing your world!

1. What’s normal to the character should feel normal to the reader.

In any contemporary story, you wouldn’t explain how to get into a car or how a refrigerator works. The same should be true for the things that are ‘normal’ in your character’s world. Just skim over these things as if they’re normal OR show them by making your character interact with them in abnormal, scene-present ways. For example, using our real world parallels: maybe the car door isn’t opening properly or the refrigerator is unexpectedly warm.

2. Show the world as the character sees it.

As we all go about our days, we focus on and notice different things. A musician might pay particular attention to the way the world sounds around them while an artist might notice colors and textures. A soldier might subconsciously note escape routes while a mother might pay specific attention to potential physical threats to her child. Show the reader what your character sees in the world around them, not what they would overlook, or what you as the author want them to see.

3. Show the reader how to feel about the world.

We all have vastly different feelings about the worlds around us—both the physical settings, as well as the political and social systems we’re a part of (or not part of). Your character should be the same. An outcast might despise the systems around them, while someone in power might justify the systems they oversee. Show the reader what your character sees in the world around them, and how they feel about it—not how you the author feels about them.

4. Make world building details important to the character.

Sure, you can have a character look at a clock, and therefore show us how clocks work in your world, but if the clock or time isn’t important to the character, the detail will feel odd. Readers will wonder why the character bothered to notice it. Make them need to know the time. Make the broken clock an obstacle to their goals. Make the time matter and readers will remember the details.

5. Reveal in pieces. Zoom out slowly.

It can be really difficult to parse apart what details to include up front in your story and which to leave out. Use the scene-present rule to really whittle it down. How little information can you give the reader and still have them understand what’s happening in the immediate scene? How can you trickle in more details via scene-present triggers? How can you make the details important to the character?

6. Use a character who doesn’t understand the world as a tool!

This works well in portal worlds and other types of ‘hidden’ world stories. In Harry Potter, for example, Harry is new to the magical world so we’re able to learn as he does. You can also have your main character showing their world to an outsider to achieve this in the opposite way.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

This excerpt contains the opening paragraphs of Linus’s spectacular tale. Pay close attention to how ‘normal’ is woven without explanation.

“Oh dear,” Linus Baker said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “This is most unusual.”

That was an understatement. He watched in rapt wonder as an eleven-year-old girl named Daisy levitated blocks of wood high above her head. The blocks spun in slow, concentric circles. Daisy frowned in concentration, the tip of her tongue stuck out between her teeth. It went on for a good minute before the blocks slowly lowered to the floor. Her level of control was astounding.

WHY IT WORKS: This story is about how the very ‘normal’ Linus Baker learns to step outside of the systems he’s entrenched in and fight for what he believes is right. Of course, in the opening pages, Linus’s ‘normal’ world is very, very different from the readers’ normal world. Therefore, the author has to establish what normal IS immediately—and he does so by painting a picture of what isn’t normal. This magical kid’s ‘level of control’ isn’t normal, but the fact that she has magic isn’t questioned.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

This excerpt is from the opening pages and shows Laia confronting her brother Darin late at night about where he’s been and what he’s hiding.

“Are you working for the Empire, Darin? Are you working for the Martials?”

He is silent. I think I see the answer in his eyes, and I feel ill. My brother is a traitor to his own people? My brother is siding with the Empire?

If he hoarded grain, or sold books, or taught children to read, I’d understand. I’d be proud of him for doing the things I’m not brave enough to do. The Empire raids, jails, and kills for such “crimes,” but teaching a six-year old her letters isn’t evil—not in the minds of my people, the Scholar people.

But what Darin has done is sick. It’s a betrayal.

“The Empire killed our parents,” I whisper. “Our sister.”

WHY IT WORKS: The world building is brilliantly woven into Laia’s suspicion. She’s not just telling the reader that the Empire is bad because it ‘raids, jails, and kills’ for reading, teaching, or hoarding food. Instead, she shows us what she would and wouldn’t approve of her brother doing—and through that we learn how we should feel about the world she lives in.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

This excerpt is from the opening pages of the book. Mehr has been summoned to her younger sister Arwa’s room to scare off a daiva that was haunting her.

“Why would it want my blood?” Arwa asked, frightened. Her eyes were wide. “Mehr?”

Mehr felt a pang. There was so much Arwa didn’t know about her heritage, so much that Mehr was forbidden from teaching her.

To Arwa, daiva were simply monsters, and Irinah’s desert was just endless sand stretching off into the horizon, as distant and commonplace as sky or soil. She had never stared out at it, yearning, as Mehr had. She had never known that there was anything to yearn for. She knew nothing of sigils or rites, or the rich inheritance that lived within their shared blood. She only knew what it meant to be an Ambhan nobleman’s daughter. She knew what her stepmother wanted her to know, and no more.

WHY IT WORKS: Here we have the opposite of the ‘strange person in a new world’ trick. Mehr and Arwa are part of the same world, but Mehr knows more about their heritage than Arwa does. By having Arwa ask a question Mehr isn’t allowed to answer, Mehr is prompted into thinking about all the other things she can’t tell Arwa, illustrating a lot about how the Ambhan’s fear the daiva. Mehr could go way into detail here, but she doesn’t. The key takeaway is that Mehr and Arwa are outsiders to the Ambhan world view in some way, and we trust we’ll get the details later. The reader will remember these details because they’re tied directly to how Mehr feels about her heritage.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow

This excerpt is from the opening pages of Juniper’s story. We’ve learned that she’s on the run but has no clue where to go, and that scene-present conflict allows for a lot of world building via scene-present show.

The officer looks her up and down: hacked-off hair scraping against her jaw, dirt-seamed knuckles, muddy boots. He grunts a mean laugh. “Saints save us, even the hicks want a vote.”

Juniper’s never thought much about voting or suffrage or women’s rights, but his tone makes her chin jerk up. “That a crime?”

It’s only after the words come whipping out of her mouth that Juniper reflects on how unwise it is to antagonize an officer of the law. Particularly when there’s a poster with your face on it directly behind the office’s head.

That temper will get you burnt at the stake, Mama Mags used to tell her. A wise woman keeps her burning on the inside. But Bella was the wise one and she left home a long time ago.

Sweat stings Juniper’s neck, nettle-sharp. She watches the veins purpling in the officer’s throat, sees the silver buttons straining on his chest, and slides her hands into her skirt pockets. Her fingers find a pair of candle-stubs and a pitch pine wand; a horseshoe nail and a silver tangle of cobweb; a pair of snake’s teeth she swears she won’t use again.

Heat gathers in her palms; words wait in her throat.

Maybe the officer won’t recognize her, with her hair cut short and her cloak hood pulled high. Maybe he’ll just yell and stomp like a ruffled rooster and let her go. Or maybe he’ll haul her into the station and she’ll end up swinging from a New Salem scaffold with the withchmark drawn on her chest in clotted ash. Juniper declines to wait and find out.

WHY IT WORKS: We learn so much in this little snippet about Juniper’s world. The officer’s dialogue shows us that this world has ‘hicks,’ and his words trigger Juniper to think about the fact that women in this world can’t vote, but she wishes they could. When she gets afraid, she reaches into her pocket, and as she touches the things in her possession, and summons heat and words, we know she can do magic without the author ever stating it. When she thinks about the possible consequences of using her magic, we learn that in this world, witches are likely burned. The reader latches on to all of these details because they’re super important to Juniper’s safety and freedom right now.