I’ve been browsing /r/WorldBuilding for years now. The last couple of months, I’ve been relatively active, and noticed something.
Most people get started wrong.
I may not see how many people started their world-building journey, but the questions often asked show the mistake clearly. There is no foundation in their worlds.
Foundation:
There are many reasons to build a world. You want to write a novel in sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or some other non-fiction setting that differs from the real world. Maybe you want to create a homebrew TTRPG. Maybe you are developing a video game. Or writing a screenplay. Or simply want to enjoy the feeling of building a world from scratch, and seeing what happens in it.
But no matter what, there is a foundation.
The connotation makes this sound fixed. But as your project evolves, it may change. Your foundation doesn’t need to be literal bedrock.
Take our world–
Physics, or more specifically, matter and gravity, are a major foundation of how this world works. You might even consider it the bedrock of this world (in a world-building sense).
But that is a really uninteresting foundation for a setting, and doesn’t leave much room for experimentation.
What, socially, is the foundation? That’s usually where I take it. You could say capitalism if you’re looking at the US. Or maybe even just class struggle to broaden it across countries. Or break it down further, to the core. Struggle for resources.
Use our world as a baseline. Always. It’s the only real example we have.
Star Wars–
The Force. Again, it’s a touchstone foundation that…while gives an interesting setting, is not what drives people to enjoy a story or not.
What are the material problems they face? What is the conflict?
Empire versus revolution. That’s the real foundation.
The question you should ask yourself is this:
“What do people want? What do they need? Is anyone in the way of that?”
Answer that question, and the rest will fall into place.