Sanderson’s Laws

Motivation: Some stories feel like they cheat with their worldbuilding. That is, they feel like plot contrivances and deus ex machina.
Note: These are not actually laws, they are rules for a particular style result.

Your ability to solve problems with “magic” in a satisfying way is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic
Inventing new systems at the halfway point just to bail the characters out of the conflict, thus, feels like cheating.
There is a continuum with regards to magic. On one end is a sense of wonder with magic, and on the other, magic-esque science (that is magic with pre-defined rules).
- As you move towards the magic-esque science side of the spectrum you lose the sense of wonder given by thee magic system.
- As you explain the rules, you define the toolset that the characters have under their belt.
There are two types of magic:
- Soft Magic involves magic where the rules are not entirely known to the users or the reader.
- Hard Magic involves magic with a well-defined rules.
- Hard and Soft Magic can coexist.
- Whether to use hard or soft magic systems will depend on the needs of the story as a whole.
This rule is a rule of foreshadowing. That is, the audience could have figured out what will happen.

Flaw or limitations are more interesting than powers.
In developing a magic system, developing the flaws, limitations, and costs of these powers leads to interesting stories.
The severity of the cost can be used to control how often we would like the characters to use the magic system.
If the limitations are contrived, the audience will question the validity of these limitations. The limitations should feel natural and explained sufficiently.

Before adding something new to your setting, see if you can instead expand what you have.
Less is more. Bigger settings are not always better.
Having 10 worldbuilding features is better than having 10,000 features.
The audience will latch on a deep idea rather than multiple shallow ideas
Most notably, while we may be tempted to make a very deep world, pragmatically we can develop the depth just enough to give the illusion of depth (but not to the point the story becomes shallow).
Do the bare minimum that is necessary in worldbuilding and no more.

Always err on the side of what is awesome.
Start the premise of your story with something very interesting for you and the reader.

Some Tips

Remember: The goal is to make a good story. Worldbuilding is a means to an ends to tell a story in an interesting way.
Convery worldbuilding through the characters and the plot. Avoid the info-dump or the encyclopedia entry.
- Instead have the worldbuilding come out through the dialogue.
  - Caveat: Avoid maid-and-butler dialogue where the characters talk about things they should already know for the sake of exposition for the reader.
- Give less worldbuilding than needed. Give the audience the opportunity to fill in the blanks.
  - Ground the audience in a firm, concrete foundation so that the more high level things do not feel like a manifestation of the author’s hand.
  - Show don’t tell, but use less filler words.
  - Ground the audience by showing them a concrete example of your more abstract ideas.
Worldbuilding can be divided into two kinds:
- Physical - pertaining to objects that can exist on their own without people.
- Cultural - pertaining to products of culture (i.e., people)
- There are many aspects of worldbuilding. Realistically, it is not possible to depict all of this.
- Highlight the interesting things of the world, and then how they impact the culture of the world.
- Importantly, have everything be interconnected. Run with the logical consequences of the core focus of the worldbuilding.