Imagine your favorite movie with nothing but the characters in front of a white screen. No background, no objects, nothing. Without the world around them you lose the illusion of being swept away. Similarly, in writing, your world gives your story and characters the depth to entrance your reader. The way you build your world … Continue reading Organic Worldbuilding

“Oh my god, I’ve been shot.” “Holy shit.” “Saints, that was close.” Sounds familiar, right? There’s a ton of books out there that have instances like this: where a character gets wounded or sees/hears something bad and they do a swear. And the first thing when I come across these instances I’m like. “Wait a … Continue reading Papa Do Preach: Worldbuilding a religion

Let me tell you a story. There once was a princess, known for her beauty. She had eyes like cut onyx, hair glittering with rubies and garnets and the darkest stars from the midnight sky. She desired nothing other than to be left alone. Her father arranged three suitors to vie for her hand: a … Continue reading Folklore

As any fantasy reader knows, the fun thing about magic systems is that they can be almost anything. The terrifying thing about magic systems, as any fantasy writer knows, is that they can be almost anything, and your job is to choose what that anything is. So let’s start with the easy part. What really … Continue reading Magic Systems

There’s a line in Hannah Kent’s 2014 novel Burial Rites that describes the windows of a 19th century farmhouse. Instead of glass in the panes, stretched, veiny sheep bladders protect this Icelandic family from wintry elements. Kent paints a stark picture of rural Iceland circa 1828 using such descriptions—imagine dried seaweed stuffing your pillows!—and it … Continue reading Worlds are Built with Small, Specific, Unexpected Details

Every character has their own unique psychology — that’s why it’s so fun to dive into their heads! But no one’s worldview is created in a vacuum: the world around us directly affects our personalities, traits, and current mental state. So imagine something totally far-fetched: A country teetering on the edge of dictatorship. Small accidents lead … Continue reading Perspective in Worldbuilding

Linguistics IS worldbuilding Yeah, I said it. Linguistics is worldbuilding. In the real world, we understand and create through language. Everything we do is filtered through various forms of communication, so every aspect of our lives is built on how we talk about those things. Likewise, every bit of worldbuilding you do in your fictional world, whether … Continue reading Worldbuilding and Linguistics