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(Crap I was supposed to get this up like last night oops) XD

KHV will be down tonight for a couple of hours, probably starting at around 12AM EST, though that's open to change as things happen.

BUT CHECK IN TOMORROW because we're doing something truly amazing and I'm so excited to share it with you all! Like seriously I'm unfortunately gonna be at work almost all day tomorrow but WHEN I GET BACK, I just can't wait to see how you all like our new thing. XD

(This is probably the least professional 'official' post I've made recently, lol, but whatever I'm just excited.) XD

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@Heart ❤

This was totally a thing.

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So there were three categories with tying votes on the last guide, so I just picked which one of the three I felt most like writing, lol. XD And that was, Politics!

Whereas some of the other categories are more important to shaping the world itself (environment, races, magic-systems) politics is one of the more important categories to the people inhabiting your world, and more importantly, to the plot of your story itself. While throwing bad weather or cool monsters at your MC might make for an interesting obstacle, the politics of the world are ultimately what makes for an interesting story, and as such, it must be approached with mindfulness and understanding.

Now, before we get started, I just want to clarify; by 'politics' I don't just mean governments, empires, and dictatorships, although they're a big part, but rather, the social establishments that affect how one person treats another, the beliefs (and conflicting beliefs) that turn your characters into individuals, the structure and the status quo that can cause conflict within the protagonist, the antagonist, the party, the kingdom, the world, the reader.

In addition to 'governmental' politics and these 'worldview' politics, we're also going to discuss 'interpersonal' politics; the plots, schemes, and plans of the chessmasters among your characters (most likely the villains, lol) and how you can use them to craft an interesting story beyond the realm of action.

The first thing you should ask yourself when plotting the politics of the world is what themes you are trying to explore with your story. Themes can vary, from the simple but treasured 'love conquers all' to the complex expression of social issues to the difficult questions regarding the self, or any other theme or combination of themes. Stories with several themes become multifaceted and deep, and the themes of the story are oftentimes more important even than the plot, so it's crucial to understand from the start what it is you're trying to say. And oftentimes, by establishing the correct social systems into your world, the politics become the single best way to showcase your themes.

Soul Eater is surprisingly full of politics, especially in the manga. In the world of Soul Eater, Lord Death and the DWMA serve as the lawmakers, the judges, and the enforcers, with the Witch Order being the rebellious minority living in hiding, the sworn enemy of the DWMA. Through infiltration, observation, and skilled manipulation, one witch incites a war, playing both sides against each other to serve her own purposes, and the entire story from start to end is a thrilling read full of twists, intrigue, suspicion, betrayal, and suspense. The themes explored cover a wide spectrum as well, dealing with complex issues like challenging the established concepts of good and evil, giving into a deprived state of madness, dealing with severe physical and emotional abuse, overcoming your personal demons (for some, quite literally, lol) even simple-but-deeply-personal problems like overcoming social anxiety, dealing with strained familial relationships, or trying to find true love. And interwoven with all of it, the overarcing theme of hope, of the belief that even in the darkest hour, even when all seems lost, fighting for a better tomorrow is worth risking your all today. And that only covers half the themes found in Soul Eater, an excellent example of using politics to drive the themes of the story.

So, how do you build a political setting that will adequately showcase your themes?

We'll start with the government, the most visible and easily defined form that politics can take. Putting greater focus on the governments in your world can be especially beneficial to dystopian genre writers, as the government is often the antagonist in such a setup. The government must first be classified: Is it a democracy? A monarchy? A dictatorship? How does this government determine its' leaders? Second, you must determine the personality of the leader themselves. Are they cold and calculated? Hot-headed and temperamental? Rash and impetuous? Now that you've chosen your leader, surround them with officials and counselors who either compliment their weakness to bring combined strength to the system, or like-minded followers who increase the problems found in the leader and create terror on the hapless civilians your MC is working to liberate. It all depends on the story.

Now expand out into the world and do the same for the other nations in the world, choosing their form of government, leader, and high-ranking officials. Remember that not every country in a world has to have the same type of government: although medieval stories favor monarchies, it does not have to be the case, and you can have a monarchy, democracy, dictatorship, and any other social structure all in the same world, struggling for power against each other.

Once you've got the systems in place, give some thought to the kinds of laws and establishments these countries would enforce. This is where the 'Worldview' politics come into play, so think once again on your themes. If you are trying to present your ideals as the better option, try contrasting it by giving the government the opposing ideals and thus, giving your MC something substantial to fight in the name of their beliefs. Alternatively, you could give the government your ideals and provide contrast by placing them in a war either with a neighboring country with separate ideals or with an uprising or rebellion from among your people. Remember that a rebellion does not always have to be on the side of the right and a government does not always have to be on the side of the wrong. Play around with the themes of your story and decide which tropes work better for the plot. The rebel underdog resonates strongly with some themes, but in others, such as in The Lord of the Rings, it can be okay to have a hero be a king.

Whatever the establishment, be sure to give both sides clear strengths and weaknesses. Make the plucky rebellion have to work hard for their cause by creating a strong and heavily-favored dictatorship above them - but give them a flaw that can be exploited and feasibly used against them, rather than giving your heroes an impossible task and then having to Deus Ex Machina your way out at the end. Some ways you can establish strengths and weakness are A. building a harsh environment or hitting a capital with a natural disaster, disadvantaging them in comparison to other world powers at play, B. Determining the size, strength, and organization of a military, C. creating a strategically placed spy or 'Wormtongue' to poison the mind of a leader, and many more.

Touching more briefly on military involvement, there are many ways you can handle this. Some nations in your world could have highly-trained and efficient militia and police force, especially good for urban or dystopian works, while others could have more localized or sporadic forms of militia, such as in medieval works when the militant presence was individualized and groups of knights and soldiers were more loyal to a specific lord than they were to the nation as a whole. In other nations, you might establish a more mob-like source of militia, where instead of calling on an army or police force, the people gather their pitchforks and torches and deliver their 'justice' swiftly and without deliberation, or you could go for a 'Peacekeeping' approach, where the military are organized, but have a smaller role, more for a guard rather than an enforcer.

Delving into the Worldview politics, you'll want to focus on things such as Religion and Mythology, Diversity, Races, Economy and Export, and History, so until you build those, this step is going to be only half-formed. This deals with the way people interact with each other, so you'll want to focus on things like prejudice, wealth, separation of class, inequality, etc. You'll be building the way a king treats his subjects, or the way your minority-character treats and is treated by a majority-character, or the way an elf treats a dwarf, so again, you must think on your themes and create a worldview or establishment that best exemplifies the theme you're trying to show in each plotline. This is the form of politics you'll be focusing on most if you're writing a genre outside the realm of action, such as in Pride and Prejudice, where the political focus is on the decline of the aristocracy and the divergent idea that marriage could be for love and not for money, that a woman didn't have to settle for one or the other, that a woman could refuse an offer of marriage, and that bloodlines, family, and connections could be forsaken and circles of privilege breached.

And finally, we have what I'm calling Interpersonal Politics, which can be the most fun thing to write and plan if, like me, you love a good intrigue. XD This is where your characters will directly exploit and manipulate both the governmental politics (laws, leaders, world powers) and the worldview politics (beliefs, social structures, prejudices) to bring about a situation or outcome integral to their goals and desires. Although clearly tailor-made for any villain of worth, these kinds of politics don't have to be reserved for your favorite baddies. Heroes can take advantage of interpersonal politics to get out of tight situations or get into even tighter ones in search of a goal. For example, consider Elizabeth Swann invoking Parley to the pirates, or King Peter challenging King Miraz to a duel at Aslan's How, or Harry, Ron and Hermione posing as a Death Eater and sympathizer to break into the bank of Gringotts.

Interpersonal politics can be a clever way to keep the reader in suspense and further the plot of your story without relying on action to keep everything moving. If every step on your hero's journey is a battle or chase scene, the audience is far more likely to get bored and become dissatisfied. This is one of my biggest complaints (I say one of because there are several) with the third installment of the Hobbit movies. It truly felt like I was watching a two hour action sequence, and that's boring. Yeah, there are some genres where this is mostly alright (like a gore film, for example) where the point is to cram as much violence and bloodshed as you can into as short an amount of time as possible, but even in the most actiony of action movies, there are quiet moments, there are plans and schemes, there are interpersonal politics.

The greatest example I can think of for this is the Bourne Trilogy. Yes, you get lots of stabbings and shootings and car chases, but you also have trickery and misdirection and manipulation of circumstances to get Jason Bourne where he needs to go. Some of the most iconic moments in the series revolve around the surprising twist that Bourne was holding not a gun, but a recording device, or that he was looking directly at an opposing force and that he didn't pull the trigger. You'll be focusing more heavily on this form of politics if you're writing a mystery novel or crime drama, when the plot of the story will be about the finding of something rather than what it necessarily means.

This last step... doesn't really belong in worldbuilding as much as it belongs in plot building and character building, lol, so just... consider it a bonus topic. XD

And there you have it! My take on politics in worldbuilding and beyond. XD If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below and I'll respond when I can, and if you'd like to follow me on Twitter for more writerly thoughts or tips as I have them, look me up, the name's PlushChrome. XD The poll for the next topic in Worldbuilding is up, so if you're interested in one of the aspects mentioned here, cast your vote and I might cover it next! And if you'd like to see more about Worldbuilding and haven't already, be sure to check out my topic on Architecture, Music, and Art!

Happy writing!

Alright everyone, for the first installment in Worldbuilding, you voted for Architecture, Music, and Art. There are many aspects to these categories, and many questions to ask yourself when creating your own fantasy (or sci-fi) world from scratch. So, let’s dive right in, starting with architecture!

Architecture has been a fascinating and honestly enriching experience for me, and I’ve learned so much while doing research for it, let me tell you. XD There are so many things to be aware of and take into account, and even though you won't necessarily be rattling off random facts about architecture in the middle of your book, it’s amazing how much flavor and detail goes into your world just from a basic understanding of the architecture within it.

Now, the first and most important thing to take into account when building architecture is the environment. Environment is critical when it comes to architecture; after all, the basic point in having a building is to protect against the elements. The buildings in your world have to make sense for the environment in which they're built. I already briefly touched on this in the Worldbuilding general guide, but I’ll go into it a bit more, using, as example, the work I’ve been doing on the architecture in my own world.

The environment in my series is diverse, and so must the architecture be. In the majority of the world, they face harsh winters, some areas more so than others. So the buildings common in these areas must be able to withstand heavy snows, strong winds, severe cold, and water damage. In addition, the area is mountainous, and riddled with seismic activity, so the buildings have to be designed with things such as earthquakes and landslides in mind. Now, I’m not saying the buildings have to be able to withstand a 7.0 quake or anything, but strong foundations, good framework, adequate support, these are all things that a society faced with frequent earthquakes would work to overcome.

The environment of the area also contributes to building materials, so pay attention to this. If you’ve got a village in the woods, odds are the majority of buildings will be made of wood. This is especially important if your world is set in an age where building materials were harder to transport over long distances, or if the owners of the buildings are in a lower class, unable to afford having materials delivered from other areas. Which brings me to my next point: Class separation.

This step in the process is highly dependant on the work you’ve put into the class separation in your world, so it’s a good idea to have a clear vision of how you want your world to be divided. (We’ll talk more about class separation in the ‘Diversity’ course.) If the divide between upper and lower classes is a focal point in your work, architecture is an excellent way to show this divide. Make the buildings of the wealthy grand and impressive, with expensive materials, and aesthetically pleasing fads and designs, while the struggling lower class are living in cramped, simple houses made of cheap, readily-available materials gathered from nearby.

If you’re having trouble visualizing some of these things, it might help to sketch it out so you can get a better idea of how the buildings might look. As an example, I’ve included a sketch of my own architecture, designed for the middle-class of a race of people living in a snowy, forested mountain area.

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Now, obviously, not every house in this category will look like this, but I think it’s helpful to know what the basic elements are for the norm.

When it comes to designing military strongholds, fortifications, or castles, it’s important to ask yourself these questions: 1. What is the size and strength of the military in this nation? 2. What sort of enemies are they trying to fortify themselves against? 3. What is the current level of technology and the understanding of construction in your world?

1. The size and strength of the military is going to be a determining factor when it comes to building the castles and fortifications in your world. Large militaries will need barracks, outposts, strongholds, bases, and more. If you’ve got a strong military presence in your world, try showing this by including watchtowers or heavily fortified structures in the populated areas your characters find themselves in. (We’ll talk more about military in the ‘Politics’ course.)

2. The kinds of enemies your nations are facing will determine the design of your castles and strongholds: after all, defending against enemies is kiiiiind of the whole point of a castle. XD In medieval history, castles were adorned with many fortifications we recognize today - though we might not have ever thought about why they were there. Crenels and merlons, hoardings, machicolations, murder holes, these are all common parts of a castle, and they’re all made for a very specific purpose: defending against attacking forces… from the ground. But when you’re making new worlds, especially in fantasy, you have to ask yourself “How would these people defend themselves against magic/dragons/other mystical forces?” In my own work, the kingdom has been at war with dragons for nearly a century. And so I’ve had to sit down and work out a new way of building battlements - because machicolations are worthless against a dragon, and ‘higher ground’ is not an advantage when your enemies can fly.

3. Construction advances with the understanding of science and technology. There were no steel skyscrapers in medieval times and nowadays, castles are built for fun and not for military. This is obvious. So when you set out to design your cities, it’s important to ask yourself what the current level of understanding is, and build (heh heh, geddit?) from there. Have your people discovered multi-level housing yet? Are they still in round, thatch-roofed huts? Or is this a futuristic society where your cities are suspended miles in the air or in a dome on the ocean floor? Choose your level of technology before you begin setting up your architecture, because consistency is key - even in a world of magic. (Coincidentally, this topic will be covered in one of two MORE topics I had forgotten to add to my original guide, so be on the lookout for ‘Science, Technology, and Medicine’ if you’re interested in this one.) XD

If you’re writing about a medieval world and you need to research some of the things I’ve been talking about here, I highly recommend the Youtuber ‘Shadiversity,’ who provides fascinating, entertaining, and well-researched videos about castles - and armor and swords and anything else medieval really. XD Watching his videos have taught me so much about castles and medieval construction in general, and have really helped me a lot in my own worldbuilding and architecture design.

Now, moving onto the next category in today’s topic: Music!

The music in a world is going to be especially hard to translate into the written word… but I’m certainly trying my very best to get it right. I kind of have to… music and magic go hand-in-hand in my magic system. (I’ll talk more about this in the ‘Magic System’ course.) Since music plays such a strong role in my work, I’ve been giving some focus to the kinds of music commonly played in the cultures found in the world. I find that the easiest way to do this is to choose pre-existing, real world music styles to match each nation, and then listening to those styles while planning or writing sections set in said nations. One of my countries, for example, is influenced musically by Irish and Scottish folk music, while another is decidedly Balkan and Romanian, one is Norse, and yet another is influenced by Asian style music. By deciding from the start what kind of music is most common in each area and then listening to that music while writing, I’m creating a mood for the setting, and hopefully, when I start getting into the actual writing part of things, I’ll be able to translate it easily to the written word.

In addition to choosing a sound for your worlds, consider making up some instruments. Now, it’s very important to try and maintain some realism if you’re going this route: your “not-Earth” fantasy world might never have made a piano, but you need to have a basic understanding of how real life instruments work if you want to make believable fictional instruments for your fake one. Fantasy works require enough suspension of disbelief as it is, you don’t want to push your luck and ask your readers to believe in Dr. Seuss Floofloovers and Tartookas. Sci-fi stories can sort of get away with this one, if you’ve got enough pseudo-science jargon on your side, but for the rest of us, at least try to stick to brass/string/wind based instruments that actually… make sense. XD Make something that someone could make in real life if they wanted to. XD

Now for art! Again, this is something you’re not likely to talk much about in your novel, but it still helps to know about it as the author, in case you want to feature it along the line. When setting out the art style of your worlds, you should consider the following things: Religious influence, cultural influence, art as an expression of rebellion or counterculture, and famous painters of the age.

Religious influence in art is mostly obvious: in the real world, many famous paintings feature symbols or figures from religion, angels, cherubs, etc. But it also has more subtle influences. For example, why so many infants are painted as creepy looking old man babies in medieval art. Seriously, look it up. XD In addition to religion, culture plays a major part of the art in the age, especially if your world is set in a time when art couldn’t be easily mass-produced. Possessing art can be a symbol of wealth or status, and people who wish to show off their wealth and status often buy art with the intention to impress, and so will set and follow certain trends and standards.

Art as an expression of rebellion or counterculture can be an effective tool if writing dystopia or if your story is an allegory of troubled, restless times. Whether the art in question is anti-authority, has shock value, is illegal vandalism, or whatever else, you can use it to show the readers that trouble is brewing under the surface, right about to break.

Now that I’ve officially tackled Architecture, Music, and Art, let’s throw in a bonus category: Sports and Fashion!

Do your knights joust? Are there gladiator-style death matches in your futuristic dystopia? Are there actual gladiators fighting lions for the entertainment of the masses? How do the people in your world entertain themselves? Sports can be an amazing way to entrance your readers and really convince them that this magical world you’ve created is a magical world, and not simply ‘earth + magic,’ and can be a surprising and really fun way to frame your plot-points and introduce new mechanics into your magic systems.

Consider the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The World Cup introduced us to Portkeys, Extension Charms, and the idea of magical institutions in other countries. It also set up the dark tone for the upcoming war, showed the Death Eaters as villains and terrorists rather than just telling us they were, and really introduced us to Barty Crouch Sr. and Winky. In addition to all this, the World Cup set up several subplots with minor characters, introduced a couple new magical races and creatures, and - my personal favorite - played around with the Statute of Secrecy. Seriously, I might just be like, weird or something, but I loved the parts of the book where Ministry workers were running around this muggle campsite trying to organize the biggest Wizarding event of the year, obliviating the poor muggle camp managers, begging the wizards to at least dress in actual pants instead of wizard-robes… I loved it. XD

And speaking of wizard robes, fashion is a fun topic for any subject. How do the people in your world dress? Are there some styles that certain social groups would adopt that others might look down upon? What kind of accessories do people wear? The clothes people wear can say a lot about them, and can add flavor and realism to your world. You also have to be mindful of the same things you thought about regarding architecture: environment, class structure, and technology. The clothes people wear not only have to look good, but they also have to protect against the environment the characters habit. And some clothes will be more expensive or extravagant than others, so the wealthy or important will have better clothes than the lower classes, while obviously if you’re writing a fantasy world, denim and hair dye aren’t a thing. XD

In conclusion, these categories are a really fun and truly fascinating part of world-building, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of working on mine! Just a note, though: Unless you’re writing a comic or graphic novel, most of what you come up with here won’t actually make it into your written work. It’s fine to set a scene when you enter a new area or introduce a character, but readers don’t appreciate large walls of descriptive text, and if you focus too much on the details, your work can turn out really… dry. I’ve read so many stories (both published and drafts) where the descriptions really do take over, and I swear, if I didn’t have to read the story as an editor or reviewer, I never ever finished.

Architecture, Music, and Art can be a beautiful and creative way to take your readers on an adventure. But if you’re not careful, it can be your undoing.

So… There! Part One of my Worldbuilding series completed! The poll is up for the next guide, and I also have a quick announcement. I’m going to be running a NaNoWriMo group for KHV this year, so in order to try and get the series finished by November, I’m going to (try to) write two guides a month until I’m done. XD So, feel free to vote for the next guide, and in two weeks, I’ll write about the topic you chose!

If you have any questions about this course, or you want to talk about your own architecture, music, and art, go ahead and post, and I’ll see how I can help! ^.^

(Also I’ve recently rediscovered twitter and mostly I’m tweeting about writerly things lol, so if you’re interested in following me as I get serious about being a writer and try to pen my first novel, look me up! The name’s PlushChrome. XD If I get two more followers by the end of the day, I’ll have got a hundred followers within twenty days of sending my first tweet. And like, that’s not a BIG milestone, I think… I’m not entirely sure lol. But it makes me feel good, so yeah. XD I’m on twitter now.)

As some of you may or may not know, I'm currently in the process of writing my first book. Well, I say 'Writing,' but I don't have a single word on paper yet. Because right now, I'm having a blast building my world. You see, my story is a fantasy novel, and it takes place in a strange world of magic, under two moons, and let me tell you, this process of building the world is both exhausting and strangely exhilarating, and I'm loving every (frustrating) minute of it. XD

There are so many things to think about when building a world, and they're all of them critical to the story, even if you wouldn't at first think of it. From the simple things, like tides, to the big things, like magic, it all plays into the narrative, and is, in fact, the cornerstone of any fantasy novel. Imagine Lord of the Rings without the Norse-like country of Rohan, or Harry Potter without the House Elves and Goblins. Even works outside of fantasy need good worldbuilding, like in sci-fi or dystopian genres. Star Trek without the honor of Klingons or the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition would just... be dull. XD Any work of fiction that either takes place outside of the modern or historical world - or that takes place in the real world but with an added element of magic or mysticism - needs some good worldbuilding in order to turn it into something special, rather than a carbon copy of the real world with elves and dwarves thrown in.

Worldbuilding is so diverse and intensive that I barely know where to begin, and there are so many aspects to each category that I could fill several guides with it easily... In fact, I think I will. In this thread, I'll briefly touch on each category I'm working on in my own worldbuilding process, and then I'll put a poll in for which ones you want to hear about first, and I'll start working on those topics for my next several guides. And if you have any specific questions you want addressed in said guides, feel free to post them here, and I'll talk about them, 'kay? Sound fun? I think it sounds fun. XD So, onto the worldbuilding!

1. Environment

The environment is something people don't tend to put much thought into - it's basically the equivalent of discussing the weather, after all - but it's an incredibly important aspect to the world, and will probably help to shape the cultures in ways you didn't think about. For instance, the world in my story has two moons. Which means that the climate is naturally much colder than on earth, and the tides are brutal. In addition, a moon-cycle calendar system would be vastly different than our calendar, so the concept of a year will be drastically different for my world than the concept of a year on earth. The arrival of the second moon is also relatively recent, which means the world went through some massive seismic activity within the past several thousand years, creating volcanoes and fault lines and other, real world stuff. All of this environmental knowledge will let me play around with inventing new animals, plants, and world cultures based on the cold/volcanic/seaside countries peopling my world, and gives variety to an otherwise one-toned world.

2. A Magic System (Can be synonymous to mystical forces or sci-fi pseudoscience)

Hand in hand with the environment is the magic - after all, what is magic but an extension of the world itself? In Harry Potter, magic is something certain people are born with the ability to use, making it a sort of biological thing...? I guess? While in works such as Star Wars, magic (in this case, the Force) is a form of energy that flows through all things, and is able to be directed by those attuned to it. In the best worlds, magic directly affects the world in which it works, rather than just being "earth plus some people can levitate stuff." Consider Avatar, frequently held up as an example of excellent magic in worldbuilding. The ability to bend is a clear part of the culture, with certain jobs (like doing the freaking laundry, of all things) made different by the magic system of the world. If your work has a magic system in place, the magic should be a part of the world, instead of an afterthought.

3. Races

Races go hand-in-hand with a fantasy novel, and let's face it, they've all been done before. Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Giants, Fauns, Centaurs, talking mice, it's all been done. And unless you plan to invent a completely new humanoid life form called a Speezleblork with two heads, three eyes, and a language comprised of blowing and popping bubblegum, you're not going to escape from the precedence set by those like Tolkien or C.S. Lewis. That doesn't mean you can't make a race all your own, though. It's all about playing with preconceived concepts about the race, and changing things to match your world. This is especially easy if you already have an environment and magic system set in place. For example, one of the several races in my series is a race of Star-Elves. Now, to properly set this up: There is an all-encompassing magical force in my world referred to by the people as the Spirit of Magic, a semi-sentient, somewhat "Deus Ex Machina" energy force that likes to save people when disaster strikes. So, several thousand years ago, an asteroid crashes into the Western half of the elven lands, and nearly destroys thousands of people. The Spirit of Magic intervenes, and not only saves the Western elves from certain death, but changes their physiology, an unintended side-effect of the wild, untamed magic the Spirit of Magic possesses. Now, the Star-Elves are fundamentally different from their Eastern relatives, both in appearance and in their ability to survive in the new environment created by the fallen asteroid. They've adapted and evolved into a new race.

4. Religion and Mythology

Part of building a new world is setting up new mythology and religions for your races to know and believe. Every culture in the world has these things, and our world is literally built on them. Our planets, our days of the week, our months, even our spiders are all named after gods and figures from mythologies such as Greek, Norse, and Roman. Our holidays hail from a variety of religions and customs; pagan, christian, social tradition, or often a mash-up of any combination. Our parables and idioms themselves often hail from religion and mythology: Everyone knows the warning story of Icarus, and the "writing on the wall" is a direct reference to a Bible story. Your world should mirror this; there should be stories that everyone knows, phrases that everyone uses, and things or places named for the gods the indigenous people serve or had served in the past. There should also be many religions in your world, with majorities and minorities and balances of power and a direct impact on the people of the lands. And this brings me to the next point...

5. Politics

Politics are genuinely fascinating, even if they are scary in the real world. XD We're not talking about the real world, though, we're talking about YOUR world. But politics should exist there, too. And I'm not just talking about the governments you set up, although those are a branch of it. But when I say 'politics,' I mean the general way people interact with each other and the neighboring kingdoms. Do you have a religious majority? How does this majority affect the laws of the kingdom(s) in which it's based? How does it affect the way the people of said kingdom do business? Is religion a cause for war among some of your nations? Is a religion the cause for a civil war or secession? Or, moving away from religion, how do the races in your world view each other? Is there a "superiority" race that looks down on the others? Is there a race facing discrimination from many others? What kinds of 'slurs' will your races have to face? Which of your characters are likely to butt heads over bad blood between their ancestors? These are things to think about when building a world, as it will, again, make your world seem more real and less... invented. XD

6. Language and Names

Now, if you're like me, you've gone all-out and are like "I'm gonna actually write brand new languages like Tolkien did, and all the names will be from that language!" But if you're really like me, you'll spend ten years telling yourself this and come out of it with only vague concepts of what they might sound like, because you don't even have the time or motivation to stick with your Duolingo Portuguese course, let alone create six new languages from scratch. XD But even if you don't go the Tolkien route and build brand new languages, it's still important to have a basic sound-profile for your races. Something to give their cultures distinction from each other. For example, I've got characters from one nation who have names like Khash, Sahndra, Sahr, and Mahlik. Harsh sounding words with lots of ah's, k's, and s's. I also have characters from another nation with names like Arta, Malera, and Ilia (have to put that in a new font because of I and l, lol) and I have characters from another nation with names like Doranian and Teralyn, and so on and so on. Giving the different races and cultures their own distinct sounding names will make your world diverse.

7. Diversity

Speaking of diverse, another thing to keep in mind when building your world is diversity. Now, we've already got some of this settled, if you've built your races, religions, and politics correctly, but it never hurts to address it specifically. There's more than one kind of person in the world. There just is. And there should be more than one kind of person in your world as well. Your world should be built of many different kinds of cultures, beliefs, skin colors, political views, and sexual orientations. Otherwise, it isn't just bland, it's also playing into the problems our own world is facing regarding misrepresentation or no representation at all. And, to throw in some personal incentive, you'll reach a wider audience with your work if you actually, you know, aim to please more than one audience. XD You gotta be careful, though, when writing for real-world races or minorities you're not a part of, because if you try to include another person's problems and you do it wrong, you could cause more harm than good. Fortunately for us privileged folk, there is such a thing as a Sensitivity Editor, a person who you hire to read your work and tell you if something you say is offensive or problematic. But yeah, even in fantasy worlds where you make up your own races, you still need to include diversity. Don't make all the Speezleblorks pink, okay? Green Speezleblorks are people too. XD

8. Architecture, Music, and Art

These things are much harder to incorporate into written works, when you'll have to describe everything with words and people don't usually appreciate heavily descriptive paragraphs informing you that the building the MC is entering is super cool. But they are still a part of the culture of the world, and you should have ideas for what these buildings will look like when you sit down to write that MC as he goes into said super cool building. Some things to keep in mind when approaching architecture, music, and art, are the other aspects you've already built: Religion, Environment, and Language. Remember that Architecture in the real world is built for two purposes: Looking nice, and surviving the weather. Your buildings should have a unique style distinct to the race that built them, but they should also be able to stand in the kinds of weather your world will throw at it. So, in a harsh winter setting, no flat roofs. Seriously, I hail from a part of the world with moderately heavy winters. Lots of snow + flat roofs = both the roof and the snow might end up in the living room. XD Music and Art, meanwhile, are likely to reflect the religion and mythology of the setting, though not always. Music and Art could be excellent ways to show your people as free-thinking individuals, creating random or abstract art that isn't directly referencing the Destruction of Sauron, or writing songs about the everyday lives they lead, like Treebeard's song of his love for the wilds. It is possible to create Architecture, Music, and Art in a written work, it'll just take a little more creativity to fit it in than some of these other things.

And so, there you have it! A brief breakdown of what it takes to build a real, breathing world for your novels! Like I said in the beginning of this guide, I'll post a poll for you guys to choose my next topic from among Worldbuilding, and if you have anything specific you want me to address, go ahead and post it here and I'll keep it in mind when I go to write my next guide!

Thanks for reading! <3

So, people overall seem to like the April Fool's Day DARKNESS skin. I'm glad! I liked it too. In fact, I liked it so much that we already decided to let you all keep it (because when we made it, we all decided we wanted to use it ourselves, lol) so I'm happy to inform you all that DARKNESS is going to stay as a new Skin option for everyone! I do have a few adjustments to make and a couple glitches to work out with the header as seen on mobile, lol, but yeah! It should be all worked out sometime by the end of this month, depending on when I have time to fix it all, but in the meantime, enjoy DARKNESS!

In addition to this new skin, I'd like to announce that we're planning on releasing a total of FOUR new skins later this year! Some of them will only be available to certain usergroups, but they're all gonna be fun, and I can't wait to give them to you! Here's the current release schedule, subject to change:

1st new Skin: Contributors Only, this skin will have a light and dark version and I hope to launch it in June this year!

2nd new Skin: Premiums Only, this skin will have a light and dark version and I hope to launch it in August this year!

3rd new Skin: Contributors and Premiums Only, this skin is going to be Final Fantasy themed, but only a dark version, and I hope to launch it in October this year!

4th new Skin: This is going to be a special skin, created to celebrate the 13th Anniversary of KH-Vids.net, and will have a light and dark version. The skin is going to be released early to Contributors and Premiums on December 19th (the day KHV was originally created) and then will be released to regular members on December 28th (the day the site became open to public.)

So keep your eyes open during those months, I'm going to have a lot of fun making these skins and I hope you'll all enjoy them when they're finished! <3