As everyone begins decorating for Halloween, planning Thanksgiving meals, and jotting down Christmas gift ideas, writers are preparing for another kind of season filled with new characters, fresh stories, and the excitement of creative goals.

World-building in fiction writing is more than just dropping landmarks on a map or naming towns. It’s about creating a place where your readers can walk through, hear, taste, smell, and maybe even feel like they’d never want to leave. The best settings help shape the story and your characters in ways that matter, just like in real life.