World Building 101 (part 5)

My personal approach to world building may or may not work for you. World building doesn't necessarily pertain to a single world, and in my case with the Solar Echoes universe, world building encompassed quite a number of different worlds. My method involved starting large, rather than small. What was the planet like? How did life on that planet respond and adapt to those planetary conditions? What kind of civilization developed out of those circumstances? What sorts of values did the people of that civilization have, and how did their situation influence them on a personal level? What sort of technology was developed in order to adapt to and eventually thrive in their environment? What type of government emerged from those circumstances to govern that society, and how did it affect the people? There were many more questions that I asked myself, but I tried to keep things as relevant to my intended story and characters as possible. The world you design can become a backdrop used to stage your characters, or the world itself can almost become a character in a way—a harsh world could serve as the antagonist your characters struggle against, and a plentiful utopia could become a setting that better focuses attention upon the characters' individual problems. It's all up to you, but remember this: your world building is symbiotic with your characters and story, so I recommend developing it alongside them.