By Kris Maze

World-building is often seen as something exclusive to fantasy or sci-fi, but in Young Adult (YA) fiction, it’s essential for every genre. From gritty contemporary urban settings to imaginative adventure worlds, every YA book needs to immerse its readers into a believable reality. A reality based on a teen's world view, whether that’s in a high school, a fantastical kingdom, or a futuristic city.

In part two of this YA writing series, let’s dive into examples from some popular YA novels and break down how they build their worlds. Want to read about YA characterizations? Read part one of this series here.

Worldbuilding examples for YA Writers

1. Reflect Social Structures Through Setting

In contemporary settings, the world teens inhabit often revolves around school and social dynamics. Like in One of Us is Next, the high school environment can be a breeding ground for tension and secrets. In this novel, the high school becomes a world of its own, with social politics and the tension of constantly being watched. See how these descriptive examples about the book’s setting bring the suspense?

“The school is full of secrets, and everyone’s trying to figure out everyone else’s. It’s like a live-action mystery game.”

“There’s an unspoken rule at Bayview High: if you’re not part of the in-crowd, you’re invisible.”

“The cafeteria’s like a chessboard, where every move—who you sit with, who you talk to—has consequences.”

Social hierarchies are integral to YA contemporary stories and writers can use this to heighten the tension in their stories. When you create contemporary worlds, one option is to use the school setting as a microcosm. The high school setting can become a character itself, filled with unspoken rules and hidden motives. Reflect the social pressures and hidden drama teens experience, whether it’s academic stress, cliques, or one’s reputation.

Try it:

• Map Out Social Landscapes: Define the cliques, rivalries, and hierarchies that shape your characters' world. These structures can influence how characters act and interact.
• Build Hidden Tensions into the Setting: Use locations (like jungle-like cafeterias or narrow, student-filled hallways) to symbolize unspoken rules or power struggles.
• Turn the Setting into a Character: Make the high school, neighborhood, or city an active participant in the plot, with rules and dynamics that influence the characters’ decisions.
• Use Public vs. Private Spaces: Highlight how characters behave differently in private (home, quiet corners) vs. public (school, social events) spaces.

2. Let Emotions Shape the World Around Your Characters

In All The Bright Places, Jennifer Niven uses physical locations to mirror the emotional states of her characters. The world feels simultaneously beautiful and heavy, creating an affecting backdrop to Finch and Violet’s emotional journey.

“The top of the Ferris wheel was a different world, where everything below looked like a miniature model, and for a moment, the pain of life seemed distant.”

“The back of the library is a sanctuary of forgotten stories and hidden dreams, a place where time feels suspended.”

“In the middle of the river, we are weightless, like we’re floating above everything that’s trying to drown us.”

The settings reflect the characters’ emotional landscapes—places of both escape and suffocation, reflecting their internal struggles. This not only grounds readers in a vivid, relatable place but also adds an emotional depth that makes the setting resonate long after the story ends. Whether it’s a sanctuary or a place of tension, let the world mirror the inner lives of your characters.

Try it:

• Match Mood with Setting: If your character is feeling overwhelmed, describe their surroundings as oppressive or claustrophobic. If they’re feeling hopeful, open up the setting—wide horizons, airy spaces.
• Emphasize Shifts in the World: Let the character’s emotional journey affect how they perceive familiar spaces—what once felt safe may become threatening as their feelings evolve.
• Use Physical Landmarks to Reflect Change: A character’s evolving relationship with a specific location (a treehouse in their backyard, Grandma’s kitchen, or museum once visited) can show their emotional growth or descent.
• Weave in Nature or Weather: Use changes in weather or nature to symbolize internal conflict or peace.

3. Engage the Senses to Deepen World-Building

In I’ll Give You the Sun, the world is experienced through the characters' artistic eyes. This makes the setting feel like living, breathing canvases. Sensory details make a setting immersive and emotionally charged. Jandy Nelson’s novel stands out in contemporary YA novels because the setting feels like a piece of art, building not just a physical space but an emotional one.

“The world is a canvas, and we’re just splashes of color trying to make sense of the chaos.”

“Every corner of the house has its own story, like a gallery of our lives and memories.”

“The beach is endless, stretching toward an ocean that’s both wild and serene, just like us.”

Nelson creates a vibrant, sensory experience for the reader. The world is full of color, sound, and feeling, making it resonate and linger with readers. Think beyond just physical description—layer in sensory details to make your world feel alive. This is especially effective if your character sees the world through a unique lens, like an artist or musician.

Try it:

• Describe More Than Just What’s Seen: Include sounds, textures, and smells to make a setting come alive for the reader. How does the world feel against the character’s skin? What does the air taste like?
• Use Artistic Language When It Fits: If your character has a creative background, let that influence how they perceive the world. A painter might notice colors and light, while a musician might be attuned to sounds.
• Make Settings Reflect Creativity or Despair: Show how the state of the world (organized vs. chaotic, vibrant vs. dull) reflects your characters’ internal state, especially in emotionally charged moments.
• Balance Detail with Action: Ensure sensory details don’t slow the pacing—let them heighten the world without overshadowing the story.

4. Use Contrasts to Add Depth to Your World

In Shadow and Bone, Bardugo’s fantasy world is rich with contrasts—between wealth and poverty, light and dark, for example. Leigh Bardugo’s book introduces a rich fantasy world where contrasts in the setting reflect the larger conflict within the story. These contrasts create tension and reveal underlying themes.

“The Shadow Fold was a place where the sun’s light was swallowed by darkness, and monsters prowled the empty, blackened land.”

“Ravka is a country of contrasts, where the opulence of the capital city stands in stark contrast to the poverty of the outskirts.”

“The Little Palace was a thing of beauty, gleaming with golden domes, while the rest of the kingdom seemed to crumble under the weight of its own despair.”

In Shadow and Bone, the stark contrasts in the setting reflect the tensions between characters, highlighting divisions of class, power, and danger. Fantasy, dystopian, or even contemporary settings can benefit from placing stark differences side by side. This sets up a world that feels real, full of tension and high stakes. Use contrasts in your world-building to reflect the themes of your story.

Try it:

• Highlight Class Divisions: In dystopian or fantasy worlds, sharp differences in wealth, power, and status can be reflected in the settings—luxurious castles vs. run-down villages.
• Contrast Light and Dark: Symbolize hope and despair through physical spaces—bright, open areas for safety or optimism; dark, confined places for danger or fear.
• Create Geographical Opposites: Use contrasting locations to deepen the world, such as cold, distant mountains versus warm, bustling cities, to reflect opposing forces or ideologies.
• Layer Social Conflict into the Setting: Let the geography itself serve as a battleground for conflicting values—urban vs. rural, rich vs. poor, controlled vs. wild.

5. Make Future Worlds Feel Relevant to Today

In Burning Bright, futuristic world-building is grounded in themes and issues relevant to the present. Think of present day themes important to us today, such as technological advancements and environmental change. Alexa Donne’s Burning Bright uses futuristic settings to offer a glimpse into a possible future that still feels grounded in the present.

“The floating city is a marvel of technology, suspended in the sky like a beacon of hope and innovation.”

“The remnants of Earth’s past are scattered like relics, and the new world we’ve built is a testament to our resilience and ambition.”

“The artificial sun bathed the city in light, but beyond its glow lay the darkness of an uninhabitable world.”

The setting is awe-inspiring but rooted in concerns we face today, like sustainability, innovation, and survival. This makes the world relatable, even if it’s set in the far future. If you’re writing futuristic or sci-fi settings, tie them back to current concerns. This not only grounds your world but makes it easier for readers to connect emotionally.

Try it:

• Link to Current Global Concerns: Base your futuristic world on today’s real-world problems, like climate change or societal inequality, so readers can draw connections.
• Show the Evolution of Today’s Tech: Incorporate familiar technology that’s advanced, but recognizable—drones, AI, or environmental tech—to make your futuristic world relatable to the needs humans have and predictably would have in the future.
• Demonstrate Human Adaptation: Show how humans in your world have evolved to survive (mentally, physically, or culturally) in a new environment.
• Highlight Cultural Continuity: Even in a futuristic setting, include remnants of today’s culture to ground the reader—traditions, pop culture, or language changes.

Effective world-building in YA fiction is about more than just creating a backdrop. It’s about immersing readers in a space that feels as dynamic and complex as your characters’ emotional lives. Remember to let your setting shape the story just as much as your characters do!

Resource List - YA Novels List

The books used in this deep dive in YA series were chosen based on popularity with students (determined by how often they were checked out and how many copies were in circulation). These titles are all within the YA bounds primarily because of the main character's age, but also for the themes, topics, and other important aspects of Young Adult writing. See the details below for each novel.

Creating Worlds That Teens Want to Live In (Or Escape From)

World-building in YA is about more than just describing a place—it’s about creating an environment that feels as emotionally rich and complicated as the characters themselves. Whether you’re crafting a dystopian society, a fantastical kingdom, or a high school filled with secrets, your world should be vivid, immersive, and reflective of your story’s deeper themes. Keep these examples in mind as you create your next YA masterpiece, and let your setting become a character in its own right!

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About Kris

Kris Maze is an author, writing coach, and teacher. She has worked in education for many years and writes for various publications, including Practical Advice for Teachers of Heritage Learners of Spanish and the award-winning blog Writers in the Storm where she is also a host. You can find her horror stories and young adult writing on her website. Keep up with future projects and events by subscribing to her newsletter.

Find her newest collection of spooky stories HERE .

A recovering grammarian and hopeless wanderer, Kris enjoys reading, playing violin and piano, and spending time outdoors. And sometimes she chaperones a Homecoming dance.