Worldbuilding vs. Character Building: Which Comes First?

Writers love a good debate, and this one pops up all the time: should you build your world first or your characters?

It’s a fair question. Both matter. Both take time. And both, if done right, can make your story feel alive. But if you’re sitting there staring at a blank page,

wondering where to start, here’s something to think about.

Most writers already have a sense of their characters before they even begin. Maybe it’s a voice that’s been in your head for weeks, a face you can’t quite picture but somehow know, or a line of dialogue that just won’t leave you alone. That’s perfectly fine. Let that character live a little while you find your footing.

But here’s the thing. Spending time building your world first can pay off in ways you might not expect.

When you create a detailed, consistent setting before dropping your characters into it, you’re giving yourself an anchor. The world becomes more than a backdrop; it becomes part of the story’s DNA. You know where the rivers run, what the people eat, what the sky looks like after rain. When you finally let your characters loose, they move through that world naturally because it already exists in your head.

A well-built world does more than support your story. It quietly informs how your characters think, speak, and act. A soldier raised in a city built on cliffs will see danger differently from one raised in an endless desert. Culture, history, and geography shape people, and by extension, they shape characters too.

And here’s another bonus: a solid world is reusable. Once you’ve put in the work, you can keep coming back to it. You can write another novel set in the same universe or tell a different story that explores another corner of that world. Every new character benefits from that existing foundation. Every new reader gets the feeling of a bigger, richer place that stretches beyond the page.

So, if you’re torn between building your characters or your world, start with whichever feels clearer, but give the world its fair share of attention. Your future self will thank you when you realise how much easier it is to write believable characters in a world you already know inside out.

In short: know your characters, yes. But build your world like you plan to live there. Because in a way, you will.