We create worlds from our imagination. Each one is different and each one is our own, from a hidden world of magic to the secret life of aliens. There are endless thoughts that race through our minds every day, but only few are able to catch those that create the fantasies.

A world is created from just one thought, a thought that makes you think. A thought that asks you questions upon questions and this post is going to do the same. These questions will make you think about the details, so you can walk in your world.

Geography

First things first, how is your world set up—how does it look from a satellite? How are the continents placed on your world? Does it even have continents? Does it have oceans? Is there a north and south pole, like Earth?

Speaking of Earth, how does it compare to our planet? Does it have mountains and mountain ranges? Does it have forests? What types of forests? All of them? None of them?

Has the civilization ruined the world—similarly to Morag and Xandar from Guardians of the Galaxy? One planet was destroyed by a global warming catastrophe and the other demolished by the need for power. Or has the civilization thrived with the world and its resources? Like that of the country Wakanda, hidden in a forest in Africa.

You choose how your world looks, how the people on it live, and how each area of the world is different—if at all.

Climate

With different areas come different climates. Earth’s climate works both from the sun’s heat and the axis of our planet. How does the sun’s heat cover your world? Do you even have a sun? Does your world defy the science we have been shown? Are there only spots of cold, or is the whole world always freezing?

However, climate cannot be described just by hot and cold. What about humidity? Is it as sweating hot as our summers, or a dry hot like the Caribbean’s? Is it as bone chilling as our winter or just a quick chill like Manitoba? What makes your world’s climate similar and/or different to reality?

Also, remember that climate affects the vegetation of areas, which in turn affects the animals that live there. So you should think about both vegetation and animals in the area, and how they interact with each other. Because you could make it any way you wanted—you could have it the other way around, where the vegetation is affected by the animals.

Civilization

Now, the people that live in your world also depend on the area that they live in, whether it is from their resources, their societal norms, or from their religions. Each aspect of the people living in your world comes from where they are, who they are surrounded by, and what their personality is.

So you need to ask yourself… What do they look like? How do they act among themselves and/or others? What do they eat? How do they live? Where do they live?

There are so many pieces to creating a world, you just have to be willing to piece them together to make the full picture. Without you, it will never be achieved.

Marli Jago

Marli is an aspiring writer in the Professional Writing Program. On the off chance that she isn’t writing, she is playing card games, reading, or hanging out at the nearest Tim Horton’s with her friends.