Why Character Belief Matters More Than Worldbuilding in Fantasy Writing
I used to think that the magic of a fantasy world lived in the details, the cool-looking maps, the lore and elegant names from ancient languages. I spent the first month or two of planning on just this, creating my world and making it look as good as humanly possible. While this isn’t exactly bad, I did come to realize that no amount of worldbuilding matters if your characters don’t believe in something.
My editor brought up a point to me recently. She said my book felt like a tv show, where characters popped in and out when they were or weren’t needed. They did things for the purpose of moving along the story and not because they believed in it. This is really easy to do when writing, but we must realize that we are creating full humans, so they better act like it.
We need to ask what the protagonist wants and what they are willing to sacrifice for it. That will give you the motivation and drive behind every action they make. Not every belief and drive needs to have end-of-the-world stakes, but they need to believe in it so much that the reader does too. No reader wants some surface-level goal that is only there for the timeline to progress.
Lately, I’ve been asking myself this as I’m rewriting scene after scene in my fantasy manuscript. The first round of edits is no joke. I’ve realized that it’s not enough for my heroine to want freedom. She has to believe deep down that she deserves it. And that belief is what pushes her to take risks, trust the wrong people, or even walk away when safety is offered.
I know that I read fantasy because I crave the comfort in the world. The wonder that comes with it. But what keeps me turning the pages isn’t in the setting, it’s the quiet war within every character I care about.
It’s the villain that believes he’s saving the kingdom.
The girl that believes nobody cares about her, so she stops waiting for it.
Or the boy who believes he will never be whole unless he finishes the quest he set out on, even if it ends in his demise.
These beliefs shape their choices. And those choices shape the story.
So if you’re stuck in your writing, don’t go back to the map or the magic system. Go back to your characters and their core beliefs. Ask what they think is true, and how far they’d go to prove it.
It might just unlock everything you needed to move forward.
