When creating a worldbuilding bible, it can be helpful to have a template to work from. Below is a list of information you might want to think about including in your worldbuilding bible.
You can copy and paste this list into a document and start filling it out, but please delete anything that isn’t relevant to your story. You don’t want to spend a ton of time filling out information in your worldbuilding bible that isn’t relevant to your story because it will suck up your time and won’t benefit you!
If you have any suggested additions to this list, please post it in the comments!
The Natural World
- Stars, suns, moons, and planets
- Oceans and/or major bodies of water
- Mountains, woods, and/or other prominent features of the landscape
- Common plants
- Rare plants
- Poisonous and/or medicinal plants
- Common animals/creatures
- Rare animals/creatures
Locations
- Natural formations
- Monuments
- Government buildings/castles
- Train stations/airports/subways/launch pads/highways
- Shops/stores
- Houses/apartments
- Countries/states/cities/planets
Travel
- Restrictions on travel
- Dangerous locations
- Luxury/vacation locations
- Immigration/emigration
- Travel times between locations
- Common methods of travel
- Affordability of travel
Architecture & Infrastructure
- Common building materials
- Expensive building materials
- Appearance and layout of typical houses
- Appearance and layout of expensive houses
- Appearance and layout of typical shops/stores
- Streets and sidewalks (brick, cobblestone, dirt, etc.)
- Availability of plumbing and sewage
- Garbage collection
- Distribution of energy
- Burial practices
Medicine
- Curable diseases
- Incurable diseases
- Common diseases
- Rare diseases
- Availability of medicine
- Cost of medicine
- Legal drugs/potions/substances
- Illegal drugs/potions/substances
Professions
- Common professions
- Less common professions
- Rare professions
- Gender/racial/species/education restrictions of professions
- Unemployment rate
Economy
- Distribution of wealth
- Lifestyle of average income earners
- Lifestyle of the poor
- Lifestyle of the rich
- Money system or bartering system
History
- Major world events
- Major wars
- Major natural disasters
- Age of civilization
- Previous leaders/rulers
- Recent cultural shifts/changes
Clothing
- Cheap fabrics
- expensive fabrics
- Lower class clothing styles
- Middle class clothing styles
- Upper class clothing styles
- Differences in clothing between genders
- Differences in clothing between regions
- Differences in clothing between cultural groups or species
Food
- Staple foods
- Luxury foods
- Availability of food
- Local/regional dishes
Entertainment
- Professional sports
- Hobby/schoolyard sports
- Board games and/or card games
- Music styles
- Common instruments
- Common themes and subject matter of fiction
- Government/legal/regional restrictions on films, plays, novels, music
- Affordability of films, sports games, board games, instruments, books, etc.
Law
- Criminal justice system
- Minor crimes
- Major crimes
- Laws impacting daily life
- Common sentences for crimes (prison, labor, execution, etc.)
- Police behavior, uniform, practices, powers
- Prison conditions
- Public opinion of law enforcement
Politics
- Political parties
- Ruler/King/Queen/President/Prime Minister
- Prominent Members of Court/Government
- Secret government agencies and/or organizations
- Public opinion of the ruler/government
Magic
- Common spells
- Rare spells
- Restrictions on spells
- Common magical skills
- Rare magical skills
- Restrictions on magical skills
- Common potions
- Rare potions
- Restrictions on potions
- Prevalence of magic users
- Society’s perception of magic
- Requirements of using magic
Technology
- Availability of technology
- Capabilities of technology
- Weapon technology
- Entertainment technology
- Energy creation technology
- Transportation technology
Religion
- Major religions
- Dynamics between religious groups
- Places of worship
- Religious holidays
- Morals and beliefs
- Origin of religion
- Prevalence of religion
- Separation (or lack of separation) between church and government
Family
- Typical age of marriage
- Typical number of children
- Typical family dynamic/structure
- Attitudes towards children
- Attitudes towards the elderly
- Attitudes towards romantic love
- Care for elderly relatives (in-home, nursing homes, etc.)
- Care for children (traditional parenting, nannies, boarding school, etc.)
- Gender roles (or lack of gender roles)
- Importance of birth order to family roles, inheritance, profession
Education
- Typical education level
- School subjects
- School environment (strict, lenient, etc.)
- Availability of schooling/education
- Cost of education
- Restrictions on education due to gender, abilities, species, etc.
Language
- Primary/major languages
- Regional/minor languages
- Prevalence of multilingual/bilingual people
- Colloquial phrases, slang, and curses
Races & Species
- Primary/major races and/or species
- Minority races and/or species
- Dynamics between species and/or races
- Cultural disconnects between species and/or races
- Commonalities between species and/or races
Weather
- Typical weather
- Atypical weather
- Seasonal variations in weather (or lack of variation)
- Clothes for each season
- Heating & cooling homes
Ellen Brock 
What a list! Just what I was looking for š
Thanks so much!
Glad you liked the list!
Amazingly helpful!! Thank you, Ellen!
Amazingly helpful!! Thank you, Ellen!
A few documents I have created to aid me in my world building, as well, include family trees; basic maps of the pertinent homes/dwellings, the villages/cities, and the world as a whole; a list of the characters’ ages in relation to each other over time; and a height chart, so I can visualize how the different-sized species/characters interact with each other.
P.S. I’m not on Twitter, but I enjoyed Toby’s blooper you posted on the side here š
P.S. I’m not on Twitter, but I enjoyed Toby’s blooper you posted on the side here š
Glad you liked it!
Hi Ellen, I posted a comment yesterday on the Worldbuilding post and then added the P.S. post comment. I see you’ve responded to the PS post, but I don’t see either post in the comments section of the blog. Did I do something wrong when entering those? This is a little new to me. Thanks! Tracey
The worldbuilding template is on a separate page (link is in the blog post). It’s not a blog post itself. Your comments are visible on the page.
Oh, boy. Can you tell I was having technical (if not mental) difficulties yesterday? Sorry about that š
No problem! I’m very technologically challenged myself.
is there something similar that can be used for genres other than sci-fi or fantasy novel?
That’s incredibly helpful. Thanks!
Thanks so much. I love lists. Not into sci-fi or fantasy but it gives a great base for any story when tweaked a bit.
Thank you! This is very helpful and really appreciated!!
Crikey! This is why I don’t write fantasy. š
This is useful in ANY genre of fiction or non-fiction. If your setting is foreign to you in any way then this list would help keep things clear. When I say foreign, I mean it’s a society or culture that you don’t move in & think in as a native. Blacks, whites, Hispanics, etc in the same city in the same year often lead radically different lives, even speak the same language differently. Your personal experience is limited. Unless you ONLY write within that “comfort zone”, you’re gonna need to track details. The same can be done & added to for each major character in your story, different people groups, etc.