Q&A for How to Create a Fictional Universe

Think of the kind of story you want to tell, then adjust the level of details. For instance, if you are writing a fantasy novel, you only have to take into account the neighboring land and its inhabitants. If you are going for science-fiction, you have to detail cities to galaxies and anywhere in between.

Maybe track down the things that make it 'overkill' and change or remove them. Remember, this is your universe, so you can do anything you want with it.

If you are doing it only for yourself, that's fine, but if you are thinking of publishing it as its own thing, it's not okay. Maybe tweak them a bit to make them yours.

Start with the basics. Identify the things that you'd have to explain to someone first. Figure out what needs to make sense at the very beginning for your universe to work. You can start anywhere you want to, but it will likely be more efficient to start with the basic concepts and fill in the details later.

Base a creature off a real-life animal, such as a puffis animal could be a walking pufferfish that can breathe in water and in the air.

Yes, that is okay. There's nothing wrong with having a physical copy of your ideas. If writing things out on paper works better for you, go for it!

That's the best part of writing. It's your story, so as long as it makes sense to you, and serves a purpose, your characters/world can look however you want it to.

Maybe your Earthling superhero has a vacation spot that is hidden from sight. Use your imagination to evolve your characters much more.

You can, if you use the correct terms, try to be as impartial as possible. Being offensive in this case could be leaving out crucial details of the history, which can be avoided by sticking to the truth as much as possible.

You can have a My Little Pony world with your own OC. It is not uncommon for people to make self insert characters for fiction they enjoy. It is your world, you can make it how you see fit.

Completely up to you! You could write about something which happens within your universe, or just continue developing it by adding new ideas to it every so often just for fun! I've heard people who write a diary every day but as if they were someone living in their fictional universe. It's completely up to you what you do with it - you can even do nothing with it if you just wanted to create one for fun.

Yes, of course! You can write whatever you like because that’s your fictional universe! It’s all about your creativity.

Of course! As long as you make it different enough so that it isn't going to get copyrighted if you thought about publishing it into society. Different characters and traits will help along the way!

Yes, your fictional universe can be anything of your choosing, from anything to a world upon rainbows and stars, to a world of shattering realities.

Yes, this is perfectly okay. Find a logical reason as to how the characters discover it, and a logical reason why they are connected and how it formed. For the example you provided, the rainbow bridge, you should maybe explain how a character discovered it, and how it was made, so it feels real and natural. Anything is possible!

Sadly, it isn't possible to manifest universes. But, you can lucid dream! Lucid dreaming is being aware that you are asleep, then using your mind to change or interact with the dream. An app I recommend to visualize with is IBS paint, but if you would like the program to also run on your computer easily, I recommend MediBang paint. If you want to stick to only a computer, I recommend Krita.