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We don't all have the time or energy or even the creativity to develop entirely new worlds for our stories. Some writers prefer to stay true to the "real world" to avoid this, but for SFF writers, I'm here to make your worldbuilding job a little bit easier.
Ignore the epic fantasies like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones for a minute. This post isn't about creating new religions, new countries, or new languages. If you want ideas for those things, I recommend r/worldbuilding on Reddit. This post is for people who aren't yet committed to creating a base-16 counting system or hierarchy of deities in their worlds. It's for those who want to sprinkle worldbuilding into their stories without spending too much time or energy on it, but who still want to reveal just enough of their world to intrigue and entice.
So, grab a cup of coffee, and read on for a few simple ways to sprinkle worldbuilding into your stories.
Phrases
This is one of my favourite ways to sprinkle worldbuilding into anything I'm writing. Think about some phrases we use in everyday life (e.g. "Oh my god" or "What the hell"). Well, in a world where polytheism is the norm, characters might be more inclined to say "Oh my gods" (plural), and in a world where there is no concept of heaven or hell, perhaps they would say "What under the ground?" Maybe there isn't a phrase for "bad luck" so your characters say "bad skies." In one of my stories, the characters don't have words for time, hour, minute, day, month, year, so everything relates back to the sun or the moon (a "sun" is a year, and a "sunrise" is a day).
This can also apply to curse words, but be careful with how often you use them. Creating new swear words can actually be more detrimental than beneficial, as it starts to look juvenile. If you prefer to stick with real swear words, expand on them to fit your world. For example, in my Throne of Stars series, stars play an important role, so most swear words include star symbology: starshit, fuck the stars, etc.
When creating new phrases, consider the important symbols or motifs in your book. In a place where the ocean plays a big role, characters are more likely to have phrases relating to water. If fire is a recurring symbol, most phrases might relate to heat or the sun. And if your story spans several countries or several lands, change it up to show that people don't use the same phrases all over the world.
Religions
Okay, I know I said this post isn't about creating new religions, but this one ties into the above tip. To keep it minimal, play around with the idea of different religions and include those in your phrases. "Oh my gods," "Thank the goddess," "Bless the moon," things like that. These small snippets hint at something larger, and you don't need to go into depth explaining every religion in your world. Perhaps instead of churches, your world has temples. Additionally, chances are your entire world doesn't have a single religion (yes, there might be one that is more widely observed, but there are likely people who don't observe that specific one in other parts of your world). This is a good opportunity to show what other people believe or why they believe it, but remember you don't need to go into extraneous detail.
Passing remarks
This one might be a cop-out, but hey, the whole point of this is to make it easier, not harder. What I mean by "passing remarks" is to have your point-of-view character remark on something that they find strange or unusual. An easy way to do this is if they're passing through a large city or kingdom, a major trade route, where people from all over the world are gathered. Perhaps your character comments on the different languages or different fashion styles as they walk down the street. Maybe they're wandering through a market and notice all the different foods they don't have back home. This is a super simple way to show that your world expands farther than what readers glimpse through the POV character only.
Confusion
Similar to passing remarks, confusion can work extremely well in larger, unfamiliar settings. For example, your character bumps into someone on the street, and the other person says something your character doesn't understand - it's in a language they don't know! There's a bit of confusion as they walk on, wondering what that person meant - was it an apology, a curse, were they flirting!? Or maybe your character stumbles into a strange building and garners a lot of curious glances - what kind of blood-letting ritual did they just walk into? They hastily bow out, stating they're not from around here. It's fun allowing your characters to look ignorant or confused as they navigate their world.
Traditions
Funerals, weddings, birthdays, holidays - these are all traditions that you can include in your worldbuilding. And again, you don't have to go into depth describing them. You can easily allow your characters to come across a celebration during their travels and have a local explain it's the end of harvest or the queen's death day anniversary. A celebration or event can also play a large role in your story - it could be the cause for the central plot, even. This gives you the option to go as big or as small as you like. It's your story.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I'm not suggesting you weaken worldbuilding for the sake of ease. There are so many aspects to worldbuilding that often get overlooked - currency, fashion, food, education, architecture, agriculture, commerce, etc. Focus on 2-3 of these broad topics and work inwards to create specific habits/traditions/jobs within your world. Worldbuilding is super fun but it doesn't have to be a chore.
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