Process of constructing an imaginary world
Not to be confused with
Terraforming , manipulating a planet to make it habitable to Earth lifeforms.
Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe .[ 1] Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history , geography, culture and ecology is a key task for many science fiction or fantasy writers.[ 2] Worldbuilding often involves the creation of geography , a backstory , flora, fauna, inhabitants, technology and often if writing speculative fiction , different peoples. This may include social customs as well as invented languages for the world.[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] : PT103
The world could encompass different planets spanning vast distances of space or be limited in scope to a single small village.[ 6] : 104 Worldbuilding exists in novels , tabletop role-playing games , and visual media such as films, video games and comics .[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10] [ 11] Prior to 1900, most worldbuilding was conducted by novelists, who could leave imagination of the fictional setting in part to the reader.[ 6] : 106 Some authors of fiction set multiple works in the same world. This is known as a fictional universe .[ 12] For example, science fiction writer Jack Vance set a number of his novels in the Gaean Reach , a fictional region of space.[ 8] A fictional universe with works by multiple authors is known as a shared world . One notable example of such is the Star Wars Expanded Universe .[ 13]
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^ Stableford, Brian M. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature . Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-4938-0 . OCLC 54416073 .
^ Hergenrader, Trent (2019). Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers . London, UK. ISBN 978-1-350-01666-8 . OCLC 1009182095 . {{cite book }}
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^ Wolf, Mark J. P. (2020). World-builders on World-building: An Exploration of Subcreation . New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-429-24286-1 . OCLC 1151513107 . {{cite book }}
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^ Lawrence, Kelly (2014). Building Your Story: A Guide to Structure and Plot . Ropley. ISBN 978-1-78279-607-7 . OCLC 883432427 . {{cite book }}
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^ a b c Wolf, Mark J. P. (2018). The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds . New York. ISBN 978-1-317-26828-4 . OCLC 1004848638 . {{cite book }}
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^ Gavins, Joanna; Lahey, Ernestine (2016). World Building: Discourse in the Mind . London. ISBN 978-1-4725-8655-1 . OCLC 950613576 . {{cite book }}
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^ a b Wolf, Mark J. P. (2012). Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation . Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-136-22081-4 . OCLC 851971993 .
^ Johnson, Derek (2013). Media Franchising: Creative License and Collaboration in the Culture Industries . New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-4349-2 . OCLC 830164533 .
^ Letizia, Angelo (2020). Graphic Novels as Pedagogy in Social Studies: How to Draw Citizenship . Cham, Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-030-44252-1 . OCLC 1153082894 . {{cite book }}
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^ Paterson, Eddie; Simpson-Williams, Timothy; Cordner, Will (2020). Once Upon a Pixel: Storytelling and Worldbuilding in Video Games . Boca Raton, FL. ISBN 978-1-351-01427-4 . OCLC 1127387835 . {{cite book }}
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^ Brooker, Joseph (2020). Jonathan Lethem and the Galaxy of Writing . London. ISBN 978-1-350-00376-7 . OCLC 1089274366 . {{cite book }}
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^ Prucher, Jeff (2007). Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-989140-5 . OCLC 608415902 .