What drives your world? Where do you start?

Are you:

  • The Architect, who begins with the setting—crafting landscapes, lore, and systems until the story grows naturally from the world itself (J.R.R. Tolkien)?
  • The Storycrafter, who starts with a strong plot—shaping the world and characters to serve a compelling narrative arc (J.K. Rowling)?
  • The Psychologist, who builds from the inside out—creating vivid, complex characters whose choices shape the world and drive the story (George R.R. Martin)?
  • The Philosopher, who begins with a theme—exploring big ideas and moral questions through a world built to embody and test them (C.S. Lewis)?
  • The Engineer, who uses mechanical systems as a world scaffold - building characters, stories, and lore to support and explore those systems (Brandon Sanderson)?

Which one best describes your process? Or do you switch between them depending on the project?

EDIT: Added The Engineer thanks to CaptSatelliteJack

  • IndigoGollum@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    6 days ago

    I’m closest to the Architect, but i agree with Zonetrooper that worldbuilding can be just for its own sake. Writing a story is hard but writing about the world is fun. I have a tendency to think a lot about details and if something doesn’t make sense, i work on it or surrounding new stuff until it seems plausible.