Which came first, the worldbuilding or the plot?

[Loffyglu]

...Okay, so what I'm writing isn't Pokémon. But nyeh. ||OTL

So yeah, I have a vague sort of idea for something I wanna write; as almost like an illustrated book (think Japanese light novels, if you will). It takes place in a fantasy setting, right? And I have a very basic plot outlined (which is horrendously clichéd, mind you; basically, ~Evil Empire~ (still needs a name) storms into a quaint area, says "HAHA WE'RE TAKING OVER YOUR LAND BITCHES," the main cast flees and eventually finds other refugees to start ~La Resistance~ (also needs a name, if it gets one at all) and, at the very least, get their home back, even if they can't completely overthrow the ~Evil Empire~; told ya it was clichéd. *snort*). I also have most of the protagonists at least vaguely planned out, and I have an idea for a magic system. Thing is? I have no idea what I want to work on first; worldbuilding, or a more detailed plot?

What I mean is, like... I don't know if I should work on more detailed events in the plot/story arcs before I work on the setting itself, or if I should make the setting as detailed as I can before I even think about the plot. Because, well, they're both gonna influence each other; I'm just not sure where to start out... so yeah. Any advice? :V

 

[Superbird]

I'd say, go with the plot first. Figure out what you want to happen, and then build the world around that. As soon as you have the plot outlined, then's the time to work on worldbuilding, fitting everything around what you have in the plot. That way you won't have a nice pretty volcano just sitting around somewhere for no reason, building up suspense for the reader and yet the main character never visits it. Also, that helps with making sure that your world contains everything your story needs ("...wait, where was that castle supposed to go? I thought there was a castle? Where is that?").

 

[Butterfree]

I'd have to recommend the opposite and say building your world first is the way to go; the world should feel like a place with an independent existence, not just a vehicle for your plot. Plus, once you have the world fleshed out, you can get great plot ideas from the features of the world; maybe suddenly you realize the volcano you put there could actually make for a great plot point.

 

[Valerunner]

From experience, I say world. It's much easier to think of a plot within an established world rather than fitting a world to your plot.

 

[Loffyglu]

Hm, those are all good points... Thanks, everyone! c: I guess I'll try working on worldbuilding, for the time being, and see how things pan out from there. (I do love worldbuilding, haha~)

 

[Harlequin]

THIS THREAD IS OLD but idc I'm posting in it anyway because I like talking about worldbuilding and plotting so there.

My current project is about three and a half years old. Maybe four. I can't really remember. Anyway, it's an old project. I started it pretty much by just opening my laptop when I was waiting for lectures to start in my first year (maybe second? icr) of college and writing. I had no worldbuilding, no plot in mind, nothing. Then, after a bit of a rewrite, I added more and more plot. Then I rewrote it again with some minimal worldbuilding and a lot of attention on the plot.

If I've learnt anything from this whole situation (and I think I have) it's that you should always worldbuild first. If you have a plot in mind that's great! You should write it down straight away so you don't forget it. What you should do then is worldbuild. Worldbuilding is wonderful because even if you don't have any ideas for plot when you start you definitely will when you're finished.

I've had my current project plotted out for over a year now. I know what's going to happen in the first book. I know what's going to happen in the second and third books. Hell, I even have vague ideas about what's going to happen in the second trilogy. But what I didn't know very much about was the world. I thought I did. I had a map. I had some lists. I'd written down some information.

But what I found out was that my worldbuilding sucked and that the plot as it was didn't fit the world I'd sort of built. So I decided to start from the ground up. Starting on Tuesday of this week I completely rebuilt my world. I started by redrawing the map, which led to some really interesting points and ideas. Then I constructed a language for the people of my then-unnamed empire. After I had a name and a rudimentary language for them, complete with concepts and ideas not found in English, I stopped working with the language and moved on to culture. I still haven't finished religion or government, but I know a hell of a lot more about the world than I used to and the story fits into it a lot better. I've had to change things around and there are some big differences, yeah, but I prefer it this way.

So what I'm trying to say (tl;dr) is that even if you have a plot in mind you should worldbuild first. You can use your plot to shape your worldbuilding, but don't build the world around your plot. Your plot should fit into the world; your world shouldn't fit around your plot.