REMINDER: Keep in mind the purpose of this guide is to be exactly that, a guide. Nothing in this guide is required (technically) and you are not obligated to follow it 100%. Adapt this to whatever you need or ignore it if you do not need it. That choice is yours! Comment or DM me if you have any thoughts or questions!
An essential part to any Sci-Fi, the worlds the story takes place on or travels between. While not exclusive to Sci-Fi, this chapter will primarily be useful to anyone who is not writing a story taking place on Earth. For those fantasy writers out there who are not writing Sci-Fi, could still benefit you for the basis of the home planet the stories take place on.
General
Name of Star System: Otherwise known as a solar system, this is a grouping of planets orbiting one or more suns. Repeat for each star system in your story or on your map.
Stars
Star Name/designations: The name of the star or an identification number or whatever. Depends on the system you decide to use to track each star.
Secondary name/designation: Optional but also useful if you have several factions or groups with different names or nicknames for a star.
Star Type: There are several different kinds of stars, each with a varying degree of traits and conditions. A follow-up chapter will go into detail on the different kinds of stars and some details about them.
NOTE: For the above, if you are a fantasy writer and are developing constellations, the above layout is still useful. For Sci-Fi writers, I personally would only use the above to mark or note Suns and other major stars in the system that are of some importance. This can, like before, also be used on planets to name starts apart of a constellation.
Planets
Planet Name or Designation: For our Sci-Fi writers out there, this can be repeated for each planet in your solar system. Fantasy writers, you might only need this once, maybe more if you have some other means for people to travel between worlds.
Planet Type: Like before, a supporting chapter will follow this chapter with a list of each different type of planet and it's quarks. Feel free to get inventive though and let your fictional universe be, well, fictional. If you want to keep things relatively within the appropriate realm of realism, contact a local college and speak with a professor on the possibilities you can work with.
Planet Size and Mass: For those that care, this will affect gravity, land vs water ratio, and other aspects of the planet. If you are not concerned with those and just want to write it off as "it works" because fiction, go for it and have fun. Otherwise, research may be required.
Distance from the star it orbits: Okay, so, here is a fun one to answer. The distance of a planet from the sun is going to affect if life can exist and in what way. Too far and it might be too cold. Too close and it is a desert. Get it just right, you get Earth. In any case, if you want to be accurate, again, research. Otherwise, ignore it and have fun xD Repeat for any other stars the planet may orbit or be close to.
Planet Details
Amount of Heat/Light planet receives: The surface temperature of a planet is determined by how much energy the planet receives from the Sun and how quickly it radiates that solar energy back to space. A planet's interior temperature is determined by its size.
Year Length:
Day Length:
Planet Gravity: Same as Earth? Stronger? Weaker? Stronger or weaker by how much?
What is the tilt of the planet?
What are the seasons like, if any?
1A) Describe the moon, if any:
1B) If the planet it a moon, describe the planet it orbits instead:
Other Related Chapters: Star Types & Planet Types
ATTENTION: As always, remember to save and backup your work. My recommendation is at least three saves. One printed, one on a portable drive, and another on your PC. If you want to be extra careful, you can also email yourself a copy, both as an attached document and as a written email. If you want to be even MORE careful, you can utilize could storage services like Google Drive or My Cloud.
Lastly, as you complete your work and start collecting pages of documents, be sure to register your collected work with the Writers Guild of America as an extra level of protection for your writing, and if possible, publish the material even if you don't market or sell it.
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Worldbuilder Tips and Guides
Non-FictionThis is a guide written by me to share with you templates, tips, and other information I have collected over the years about world-building. Here, you will learn how to create civilizations, characters, places, objects and more for your story. Some...
