Currently viewing the tag: "fiction writing"
This post carries on the line of thought I first explored in “Lodgings in Fantasy Settings: Where do Adventurers Spend the Night?”
In eras and settings where inns and public traveler accommodations are not common, where does a traveler or adventurer stay for the night?
Historically, wayfarers had only two choices: they slept rough in the countryside, essentially camping whenever they needed to overnight, or they turned to the locals and asked for lodgings at a farm or village, or even a random house in a town.…
The advice to worldbuild only enough to support the needs of a story or rpg adventure is based on three flawed premises, and often results in shallow, trite settings. I critique the writing advice that frequently lands us in that position, and advocate for world building beyond the immediate needs of what the audience will experience on the page.…
The Storyteller – Jules Zermati
I talked to a few authors lately who for the first time are giving some serious thought to world building. They’re all coming at the process from different directions: one is new to writing, one is returning after years of not writing at all, one is changing genres and now has to invent something from scratch.…
This month the World Building Academy is publishing a book we’re really excited about: The Gazetteer Writer’s Manual: Creating Travel Guides for Fictional Worlds[1]. Gazetteer writing can be both a master blueprint for documenting a world, and a nifty way to showcase aspects of it and inject bits and pieces of a setting (or the whole enchilada!) into other people’s games, fiction writing, and imaginations.…
Blood Falls pouring into Lake Bonney in Antarctica
TL;DR: Create a fictional person, place or thing that is far-fetched and sell us on it. The best-presented, most out-there-yet-believable creation wins the contest.
PRIZES: A free pass to our “#1 Killer of Believability” workshop, or equivalent $39.95 discount on future programs or products from WBA.…
I recently put on a teleclass about a sneaky problem that undermines belief in fictional worlds. In fact, it’s such a common thing I consider it to be the #1 killer of believability.
This class is now available for registration as a recorded event. If you do world building and want to learn to recognize this problem and banish it forever, click here for class info.…
