So I had this idea for a novel, (A fantasy Celtic inspired) but am getting stuck on the world building part. What are your tips for world building? I tend to just sit and stare off into space, but that hasn’t gotten me very far. Also, thoughts on backstories? I LOVE backstories. How do you tend to come up with them? Thanks for the thoughts!
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It’s usually the same with me for worldbuilding, so I probably won’t be much help 
But I’ll try!
Other than staring into space, I make the rough parts around my characters and just asking a ton of questions, mostly ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions (Why does my character want to do this? How did their power come to existant? Etc, etc)
Same with backstories, I base the rough part around their personality and ask myself a lot of questions about them, for example: A paralyzed character, how did they become paralyzed? And accident or birth defect or what? How do they feel about it? They are a super determined character, so I imagine they wouldn’t let their disability try to stop them, etc etc
Sorry if this isn’t much help!
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[name_f]My[/name_f] world building is a constant, ever-growing process, and I think this is the best way to work with it. In a way, you’re being introduced to this world through your characters and through their eyes so it makes sense that what you’ll see and experience first are the things they experience and know. As my character explores more of her world (since it’s in first person), then I learn more about the world as well, through her eyes and perspective.
This is super great advice! If your character is waking up in a grumpy mood, ask yourself why. Were there fireworks last night that kept them up late? Why were there fireworks? Was there a celebration the night before? What celebration? Is your character groggy because they drank alcohol? How prevalent is alcohol and what is the legal age (if there is one)? Etc.
Breaking out of the “white empty room” issue will really help this as well. [name_f]Every[/name_f] time your characters go to a new place, even a new room, picture it. What are on the walls (what does the artwork, decor, furniture, etc look like in this world? What are its influences?)? What type of food do they have in the pantry? Those kids in the street, what game are they playing? [name_f]Do[/name_f] they have to go into town? What sort of transportation do they have and how is it used?
It’s also important to consider perspective. Too often, I see character in fantasy worlds conveniently know a lot about a small, specific detail in the world. The equivalent of your average [name_m]Joe[/name_m] knowing the exact impact that the invention of a pencil eraser had on society. It’s helpful but convenient. Unless your character has a background in history or a niche subject, they shouldn’t be spouting facts left and right about the legal boundaries laid out in Treaty X from 600 years ago.
Now backstories are dangerous because they are literally my second favorite thing about writing (after dialogue. I freaking love dialogue). However, I never sit down and “come up” with a backstory for my character. I want my characters to read like real people so I treat them as such and get to know them. I put them in situations, often with other characters, and press play in my head so I can see how they interact. This helps shape their personality and gives insight into what sort of backstory they have. When I rush into it too quickly, I often find that the backstory seems forced and it’s usually extreme. And it makes sense; if someone you just met started asking you deep, personal questions about your darkest memories, you’d probably feed them some nonsense to get them to shut up too! So my best advice is to play with your characters, get to know them, and their backstory will reveal itself in time.
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For world building it largely depends on what I want the story to portray. A lot of times I come up with my characters and parts of their “backstory” and what I want the plot to be, and choose a background/world I think makes the most sense for the story I want to share. If yours is a Celtic [name_f]Fantasy[/name_f], the best option would be to start with if you want it in a historical or alternate version of our own world or if you want it to become something completely unique but still carry elements from ours. Also, is it modern, futuristic, or set in the past? If yiu want Celtic inspired, I would start researching their beliefs and way of life and maybe build something of your own from there. For me personally, I base a lot of my world building on things I’ve read, history, and add some of my own ideas to give it some flare. But if you start with your characters (backstory not necessary for this), decide what you want the plot to be, pick some themes, choose how/where these people live, how they dress, their modes of transportation, work out religion (or lack thereof) and politics (whos in charge of who, is it a monarchy, a matriarchy, magical based, ect), and voilà, you have the frameworks for your world and you can build and add more details as your story progresses. In all reality, world building is good to have, but not really necessary if you have well fleshed-out, complex characters and a decent plot.
As for backstories, that really depends on your individual characters. Of they have a scar, a fear, are on a quest, or have a character strength or flaw, know the why could be helpful to create a believable character. What are their hopes and dreams and aspirations? How and where where they raised and how does that factor in? If you have a female character that is a knight when female knights are uncommon, you need to know why she became a knight (even if your audience never does). Maybe her father was a knight and she had all-brothers and loved the tales of [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] and his Round Table. Maybe she was called to be the champion of a war goddess, or maybe she is the daughter of said goddess and its in her blood to rid the land of a gathering evil (or maybe she is the gathering evil). So really, you take what you already have decided or know about your character and you work backwards. And a fully fleshed-out backstory is good to help build a well-rounded and believable character, but again, if you don’t actually use those details in the story they’re larely unnecessary starting out. You can always go back and add details to their backstory later as the story progresses and you learn more about them.
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