Jemini
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- Jan 27, 2019
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Introduction
The subject of world building came up recently. I thought I would give my own contribution to the discussion by getting into the types of and approaches to world building in some detail.
There are 3 primary approaches toward world building. They are called top-down, bottom-up and middle-out. I also like to call this high-tier, middle-tier, and base-tier. (I avoid the term 'low tier' to avoid potential connotations I might be calling it low quality, because the bottom-tier of the world building is anything but. The people who are crazy enough to get into that crazy level of detail are the freaking GOAT.)
There is also an approach called sides-in world-building, although I do not really count it myself. Really, it is just doing the high-tier and base-tier world building before you even touch the middle, but you will always have to do one before the other. At any rate, this approach will simply be a foot-note in my explanation of bottom-up world-building since that's the approach I can see transitioning straight to high-tier and skipping the middle most easily.
Top-down worldbuilding
To briefly explain each of them, we will start with top-down worldbuilding.
Top-down world building is when you start your world building with your focus on figuring out things in regards to the gods and the magic system. If you are creating a world set in a multiverse, this is also where you'd get into details about the wider multiverse and how it works.
Basically, anything related to the celestial bodies and divine or cosmic events, or the broader rules governing the fundamental forces of the universe, are the "top" when it comes to world-building. And in top-down world building, you choose this as your starting point before you address the "bottom" or "middle."
This is often a good approach to use in more fantasy-oriented worlds in which things like magic systems and gods play a major role in your universe as these are going to be important things to have established before you begin working on the rest of your system.
Bottom-up worldbuilding
Bottom-up world building takes things from the opposite end. Bottom-up world building is more oriented toward a scientific approach to world-building. In bottom-up world building, you start by thinking about how your world came into existence, how life evolved on it, what kinds of flora and fauna exist in your world.
Do chemical reactions work differently in your world from how they do on Earth? If so, how? Are there any special elements and compounds that exist in your world that don't exist on Earth? If so, what? And what special properties do they have?
If you take bottom-up world-building to the absolute extreme, you will create your entire world in very minute detail, designing entire biomes before you ever populate the world with a single sentient lifeform.
While this approach is best geared toward a scientific approach in a non-magical world, it does not completely preclude the existence of magic. If you do want magic to exist in your world though, you might want to follow up your bottom-up approach with a top-down follow-up before you address the middle. This would be where a "sides-in" approach to world building would come up.
Middle-out worldbuilding
Now, finally, we will talk about middle-out world building. In middle-out world building, you start your world building with the sentient lifeforms of your world and the civilizations they build. You design peoples, towns, cities, political boundaries, all before you begin considering the geography or the divinities in your world.
Extreme world-building in the middle area is the area that can involve things like creating your own custom language or other extreme-grade world-building like that.
This is an extremely good form of world building if you are operating from the theory that gods come from the beliefs of humans. If that is your approach, then you will want to know what kind of people you have in your world before you begin creating gods that fit their culture.
In application
None of these three approaches toward world-building are wrong, and none of them can really be said to be superior to one another, although certain kinds of world-building may better serve certain settings or themes as was mentioned as I was explaining the subjects.
It is ultimately a matter of preference and style though. That said, it is still of value to know what the three approaches toward world-building are, because it does serve you best to treat the three "levels" of world building as their own things.
It is possible to jump around the levels, making some progress on one before working on one of the others a bit. Then, maybe something you did on the middle tier will tell you some revisions you might want to make on the high tier, so you will begin working on your high-tier world-building again.
Bottom-up world-building holds a little less ground for that kind of jumping around, especially if you are taking it to the absolute extreme of designing your entire world from the beginning before sentient life even exists on it. This approach allows for you to consider the high-level world building, once again creating a "sides-in" approach, but it would demand you hold off on the middle-tier until the base-tier is finished.
In conclusion, knowing the types of world-building is important and just being aware of the approaches can improve your world-building game, but which one you actually use is far less important and should be a matter of personal preference.
And with that, enjoy your writing!
The subject of world building came up recently. I thought I would give my own contribution to the discussion by getting into the types of and approaches to world building in some detail.
There are 3 primary approaches toward world building. They are called top-down, bottom-up and middle-out. I also like to call this high-tier, middle-tier, and base-tier. (I avoid the term 'low tier' to avoid potential connotations I might be calling it low quality, because the bottom-tier of the world building is anything but. The people who are crazy enough to get into that crazy level of detail are the freaking GOAT.)
There is also an approach called sides-in world-building, although I do not really count it myself. Really, it is just doing the high-tier and base-tier world building before you even touch the middle, but you will always have to do one before the other. At any rate, this approach will simply be a foot-note in my explanation of bottom-up world-building since that's the approach I can see transitioning straight to high-tier and skipping the middle most easily.
Top-down worldbuilding
To briefly explain each of them, we will start with top-down worldbuilding.
Top-down world building is when you start your world building with your focus on figuring out things in regards to the gods and the magic system. If you are creating a world set in a multiverse, this is also where you'd get into details about the wider multiverse and how it works.
Basically, anything related to the celestial bodies and divine or cosmic events, or the broader rules governing the fundamental forces of the universe, are the "top" when it comes to world-building. And in top-down world building, you choose this as your starting point before you address the "bottom" or "middle."
This is often a good approach to use in more fantasy-oriented worlds in which things like magic systems and gods play a major role in your universe as these are going to be important things to have established before you begin working on the rest of your system.
Bottom-up worldbuilding
Bottom-up world building takes things from the opposite end. Bottom-up world building is more oriented toward a scientific approach to world-building. In bottom-up world building, you start by thinking about how your world came into existence, how life evolved on it, what kinds of flora and fauna exist in your world.
Do chemical reactions work differently in your world from how they do on Earth? If so, how? Are there any special elements and compounds that exist in your world that don't exist on Earth? If so, what? And what special properties do they have?
If you take bottom-up world-building to the absolute extreme, you will create your entire world in very minute detail, designing entire biomes before you ever populate the world with a single sentient lifeform.
While this approach is best geared toward a scientific approach in a non-magical world, it does not completely preclude the existence of magic. If you do want magic to exist in your world though, you might want to follow up your bottom-up approach with a top-down follow-up before you address the middle. This would be where a "sides-in" approach to world building would come up.
Middle-out worldbuilding
Now, finally, we will talk about middle-out world building. In middle-out world building, you start your world building with the sentient lifeforms of your world and the civilizations they build. You design peoples, towns, cities, political boundaries, all before you begin considering the geography or the divinities in your world.
Extreme world-building in the middle area is the area that can involve things like creating your own custom language or other extreme-grade world-building like that.
This is an extremely good form of world building if you are operating from the theory that gods come from the beliefs of humans. If that is your approach, then you will want to know what kind of people you have in your world before you begin creating gods that fit their culture.
In application
None of these three approaches toward world-building are wrong, and none of them can really be said to be superior to one another, although certain kinds of world-building may better serve certain settings or themes as was mentioned as I was explaining the subjects.
It is ultimately a matter of preference and style though. That said, it is still of value to know what the three approaches toward world-building are, because it does serve you best to treat the three "levels" of world building as their own things.
It is possible to jump around the levels, making some progress on one before working on one of the others a bit. Then, maybe something you did on the middle tier will tell you some revisions you might want to make on the high tier, so you will begin working on your high-tier world-building again.
Bottom-up world-building holds a little less ground for that kind of jumping around, especially if you are taking it to the absolute extreme of designing your entire world from the beginning before sentient life even exists on it. This approach allows for you to consider the high-level world building, once again creating a "sides-in" approach, but it would demand you hold off on the middle-tier until the base-tier is finished.
In conclusion, knowing the types of world-building is important and just being aware of the approaches can improve your world-building game, but which one you actually use is far less important and should be a matter of personal preference.
And with that, enjoy your writing!
