WORLDBUILDING THREAD, but first my credentials bc why not:

I'm a published novelist (fantasy) and a member of the neo-pro Codex writer's group, thanks to which (along with con-going) I also now have a bunch of writer friends, never mind all the writers I follow on here.

I've read lots of worldbuilding threads by friends and acquaintances and people I admire, I've listened to podcasts, and there's one piece of advice that I think nearly everyone would agree with:

If you want to build a convincing world, do your best to understand the one you live in.

Some authors are super into sociology. Or geology. Or economics. Most are into history. Me, I'm into history, psychology, and ancient (esp. Jewish) theology. The more you understand how YOUR world works, the more ability you have to mess with the variables in a convincing way.

This is even more important IMO if you're writing contemporary this-world settings, but even wild epic fantasy like the kind I've published, with active gods and stars made of eternally burning torches splintered off a primordial plant-monster, deep knowledge of something helps.

Do you need to know about *everything*? Of course not. But you don’t get Broken Earth without geology, you know what I’m saying?