How to Properly Structure an Imaginary World
Do you want to develop your own imaginary universe but don’t know where to start? You’re in the right place!
Whether you're building your world for a role‑playing game, a novel, a video game, or any other fictional creation, we’ve prepared a complete guide to help you structure your world and make it easy to understand.
Think About the Overall Content
The first question to ask yourself when creating a fictional universe is: what do I want to include in it?
It’s important to ask the right questions to make your imaginary world credible, especially if it will later be used to tell a story or run a campaign.
If you’re developing your first worldbuilding project, feel free to check out our dedicated article. You’ll find plenty of advice to help you get started.
Define Anchor Points
Every universe needs anchor points—elements you can rely on and that remain consistent throughout the development of your world or story.
For example, you might add geographic features or a clear timeline that helps situate your imaginary universe at any moment.
Imagine your world is vast, but a single city on an island serves as the anchor or starting point. If there is a Kingdom, it might be located there. This city can also be the starting point for your campaign with your players.
Time can also be an excellent anchor point, especially if your universe evolves and you want to place important events within a specific chronology.
Add History to Your World and Characters
To give meaning to your fictional universe, it’s important to add background lore to locations and characters:
- Why was this city completely rebuilt? Because there was an invasion.
- Why is this character important? Because they accomplished something extraordinary.
- Why is magic forbidden in the Kingdom? Because a specific event occurred.
In short, adding narrative background to the elements of your imaginary world brings them to life and makes them more believable.
If you use Lore, our worldbuilding software, you can create detailed templates that let you add history to each element of your universe.
Lore also helps you structure all the parameters of your imaginary world and easily find them whenever you need them.
Create Meaningful Connections
Good characters, detailed locations, and well‑developed plots are essential—but they must be connected to truly come alive. Root your characters in places, make them relevant to your intrigues, and bring them back throughout your story.
To make your universe believable, it’s important to create connections between the different elements that compose it. This gives your world meaning, especially if you use it later for a novel, a role‑playing game campaign, or any other work intended for an audience.
If you use the Amsel Suite, you can create direct links between Lore, your worldbuilding software, and Tome, your storytelling software.
Allow Yourself to Make Changes While Writing
If you’re attached to your universe, this might be difficult, but sometimes you’ll need to make changes along the way.
For consistency or development reasons, your fictional world may have to undergo major adjustments.
Even if it’s hard to accept, these changes are often necessary to help your universe grow in the best possible way.
If you don’t want to lose ideas for locations, characters, or plots, be sure to write them down somewhere. They might come in handy in another universe!
Illustrate Your Universe
To properly structure your universe, it can sometimes be helpful to illustrate it. This allows you to better visualize certain characters, locations, or elements described in your world.
If you’re writing a novel, this isn’t always necessary. However, it can be very useful when preparing a role‑playing game campaign or developing a video game.
Check out our full article on how to illustrate an imaginary universe without using AI.
By following this creation guide, you’ll be able to easily develop and structure your fictional universe.
