The Significance of Worldbuilding
A lot of us have been worldbuilding long before knowing of the word and what it means. Imaginary worlds, universes, roleplaying, fantasy games in backyards when we were kids, are all acts of worldbuilding. Almost everyone has done it at some point.
However,the merit of worldbuilding doesn’t just lie in fun imaginary games as a kid, it has significant value in adulthood and real life as well. Worldbuilding serves as commentary, catharsis, escapism, acceptance, freedom.
In some cases, even unconsciously, worldbuilding gives us a chance to imagine a new society and universe where we are not so constrained by the truths of our own reality, especially in more dismal times when reality may not seem so bright. It allows us to thoughtfully and creatively piece together a system, a society, that serves as a counterbalance to the one we live in, paving hope and inspiration for the world we live in now. This is how things could be. This is a world where there isn’t the weight of the current state of our own. This is a world that can even serve as intellectual inspiration for how to move forward to solve the issues in our current societies.
Even in building worlds that are dystopian, hellish, and generally grim and dark, they act as channels of escapism, or as mediums of commentary and warning and caution (this is how things shouldn’t be, this is what we should avoid). Even in the most terrifying and dystopian universes, oftentimes within them is embedded the hope that if our characters there can survive in the worst possible scenarios and universes, perhaps there is still hope for all of us.
A huge part of the personal meaning that worldbuilding has played in my life from a young age is providing a space of acceptance and escapism. I’ve been doing it since I was seven or eight, creating elaborate universes and systems vastly different from reality, and roleplaying in them, writing and drawing them out. I have always found freedom in that. I’m far from the only one.
A lot of people find acceptance and escapism in fantasy that is much harder to come by in real life. There are not many areas and genres that allow such diversity and commentary as fantasy and science fiction (which has always served, even partially, as a medium for commentary). For marginalised communities who struggle to find representation and a place to exist and be accepted in society as of now, fantasy is where that possibility is found. In lands of dragons or spaceships or angels and demons or knights and aliens, there is no end to diversity and possibility, and that is where many more marginalised people find a niche to exist and find themselves in. Fantasy doesn’t care, in the best way possible.
Our created worlds may not be utopias, and they rarely are, and there may still be struggle and systematic problems, as of any world, but in our worlds we find an agency and a voice that we may not be able to find in real life. And I believe a lot of the underlying merit of worldbuilding lies in that exactly: agency, and voice, especially for minorities.
Worldbuilding gives the creator power and voice, and in societies which constantly strive to stifle the voices of (particularly) the marginalised, that voice is important and underestimated. Within our worlds, we find ourselves, our identities, and our voice, in a place where nobody, not even societal oppressors, can quiet or silence us. Within our worlds there is no danger of having our agency or our lives taken from us. They’re ours.
It is a fresh blank page of possibility, and there is no denying that that freedom and acceptance is exciting, and other times, incredibly healing.
Of course escapism is a big part of it as well. Maybe it’s a little cliche, but when life is tough having a world to escape into and build with your own metaphorical hands, is oftentimes an act of catharsis. It has certainly helped me through some incredibly tough times, and has definitely done so for countless others as well. And I’ll always be grateful for that.
Worldbuilding also gives us a way to communicate and connect with others. It exists in roleplaying games, card games, it exists in friend groups and clubs and online forums, and it is a big part of what ties people together. And those connections can sometimes be some of the most important things in life.
Furthermore, worldbuilding gives us the chance to learn about our own world. Building a world takes not only imagination and ideas but also research and reading to learn how to make worlds and societies possible. Knowledge from a plethora of fields of study — history, politics, sociology, physics, biology — can all be applied into worldbuilding.
And of course, apart from all that, worldbuilding is fun. Honestly, it doesn’t need more justification than that. If nothing else, have fun with it. And that’s enough.
Whether you’re doing it as a side hobby, whether it’s going to become a published project or just a private one, whether you’re working alone or with others, whether you’re a DM or a writer or a student doodling maps and characters bored in class, keep doing it. Worldbuilding has always been significant and important, and it will continue to be. Keep building, and keep creating.
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A/N: if you’re interested in worldbuilding, check out r/worldbuilding on Reddit for resources, discussions, prompts, and many other likeminded people.
