8 Easy Details You Can Include To Add Depth to Your World-Building
World-building is the topic of the day. "Easy" is the operative word. Let's get to it.
1. Touch on subcultures. So you've got your nature-loving elves. Your grumpy dwarves. Okay. But what about the elves that want to build machines and live in houses instead of trees? Or the dwarves that believe in laughter and making daisy chains? You don't have to write a lot about them, but mentioning that they exist can instantly add incredible depth to your world. After all, no society is homogenous. There are always those who live differently. Don't forget about them.
2. Mind the POV. Your human may think nothing of dragons because she grew up on a dragon farm. But if you're writing deep POV, why are you describing the dragons in-depth as if she's never seen a dragon before? You just sucked the believability out of your world. Likewise, if you're writing distant POV, why on earth are you spending a paragraph describing what a tree looks like when there is a dragon farm on the property? Your readers want to know about that, not the tree. When world-building, keep your description tied to your POV...and keep the description interesting and relevant to the story.
3. Mention the food. If your book is set in another world or another planet, your characters aren't going to be eating the same type of food. So what do they eat? What do they drink? Making up one or two new foods will lend some reality to your world. It doesn't have to be complicated. If you can't think of any, pick a random country (or a country that inspired the world/society you've created) and look up traditional food and drink. You're bound to come up with some cool ideas.
But maybe don’t spend pages describing the food? Looking at you, Tolkien.
4. Don't forget about holidays. Every culture has holidays. So why doesn't your story have any? Wellll? Why doesn't it?
5. Throw in some superstitions. Just like holidays and subcultures, superstitions are a staple of most societies. They are either very believed in, humored, or made fun of. Add some here or there if it fits the plot. And be sure to show how each of your characters react to it.
6. Remember the animals. Again, if this is a different planet or world, the animals will. not. look. the. same. Seriously. Do your horses have to come in neutral colors? Is there a reason you have not once mentioned how annoying bugs are during your entire adventure-romp-across-the-fantasy-land story? Why aren't there spider-like creatures flying through the sky?
Wait, no. Please don’t do that last one. I will have a never sleep again.
7. Include hierarchies and family structure. Who is seen as having the most value to society? The rich? The skilled? The learned? The children? The women? The men? Why? And what about the families? Are large or small families common? Are grandparents and uncles and aunts and other blood kin treated as an important part of the family? These are all important parts of every society, but often they don't make it into world-building. Which is a shame because it can really help shape your characters and add tension and reality to the story.
8. Don't underestimate the importance of body language. Ursula knows what's up. We rely a lot on body language, yet it differs from country to country (and culture to culture). Some hand gestures are positive in one region, but rude in another. Making eye contact with non-family members or people of a different social status means nothing in one place, but is a big deal in others. Body language means a lot and it's very easy to write into a story. Take advantage of that.
Now, there are a lot of things to think about in this post. I know you're excited. But here's the thing: Not all of these need to make it into your story. In fact, it may be a bit too confusing if you attempt this. So pick a few and weave them into your story....But only where they fit. These are meant to be seasonings, so use carefully and intentionally. Don't just dump all of them in at once and hope for the best.
Do you have any cool things you think should be included into world-building? Let's hear them!