As creatives, we are tasked with understanding the hearts of our stories. Much as in real life, we find ourselves looking to the real world for inspiration, our characters must look to their own worlds for inspiration. Lacking a world for your characters to live in is something that I call the “blank canvas problem.” If all that exists in your story’s world is what immediately affects the main character, it can make the story feel shallow.

Here are six tips for creating deeper, richer worlds.

Tip #1: Look Around

Look around your world. Close your eyes, yes, you, the creative, close them. Okay, now imagine you are in your character’s or subject’s shoes, open your eyes, what do you see? Do you see a fantastical forest with trees reaching for the stars? Do you see epic cityscapes on a faraway planet? Write what you see. Even if this does not show up in your draft, or painting, or whatever you’re working on, having the written knowledge of what your character is seeing will help you create emotions on the canvas or depth on the page.

Tip #2: Look Within

Turn your imaginary telescope on your character now. Look within. See what is hiding in your character’s heart and soul. Who do they love, what do they fear, why are they persisting, and what do they want? All of these could lead to small details that will help your world, and not just your character, feel better developed. For example, if my character wants power, what does that look like? What does it mean, in this world, to have power? Is it merely strength, or is it political? If it’s political, that can lead me down a worldbuilding rabbit trail where I develop an entire political system for my Speculative World.

Tip #3: Use All of Your Senses

As you come out of your character’s soul-searching journey, stop at their surface. Feel everything they feel, smell what they smell, see what they see, hear what they hear, and taste what they taste. Each of these, again, can fill you with inspiration that leads to a more meaningful world. Do they feel hungry? Are they poor? What does economics look like in this world? Are they full and able to smell the pie their family member just baked? What are pies in this world of yours? Do they fill them with regular fruits or some new and imaginative pomological creation?

Tip #4: Create a Map

Getting out of the character now, we can look at the world itself again. Sometimes, especially if you are writing Sci-Fi or Fantasy, creating a real map of your world or solar system using a tool like Inkarnate, or even MS Paint. This will ask many questions of you and has the potential to be either the most shallow or the most enriching addition to your world. I learned much about my fantasy world’s setting when I made the map below for it. I learned where things were, mysteries that could develop, and who lives where.

Tip #5: Write Short Stories

The best way to get to know a place you are creating is to write about it. This goes for all creatives! I don’t care if you’re an artist or a sculptor; writing will help you understand what you are creating. Does that mean these short stories ever have to see the light of day? No. It does mean that you will have a better, more detailed description of what you are working on, though. I am working on developing a Science Fiction setting about a war between humanity and space-faring dragons, and part of how I have developed it is by writing a series of short stories on the subject. While the short stories do a lot of character work, they also helped me develop what these space dragons are, who the humans are that are fighting them, and what kinds of spaceships the humans use to fight the void-breathing dragons. Interested in reading more about spaceships fighting dragons? Read this short story to dive in!

Tip #6: CREATE!

The original header I had for this section was “WRITE!” because that is what applies the most to me as an author, but “CREATE!” implies the same idea. You need to work out your creative muscles for them to grow. If I stopped writing after my first “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” fan-fiction, I would not have six published short stories and be working on publishing my first novel! Davinci gave up when he made a finger painting for his mother to hang on her fridge; we would have never received the Mona Lisa. No matter what, keep writing!

Still need more inspiration? Check out these other inspirational blog posts that I have written: Keeping the Beacon Lit, Working Out & Writing Down. Tell me about the worlds you are creating! Do you have an inspirational blog post you want to share to inspire others? Post it in the comments below!