world-building Archives -

You Weren’t Born in a Vacuum! – Real Characters from Real Worlds

December 9, 2015
Student Contributor
Guest posts, Help with Characters, Push Your Imagination, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
0 Comments

Janae Leeke, Guest Contributor: World building is just backwards sociology, piecing together a culture instead of picking it apart. It asks the same questions. What is important to your people? What do they treasure? What do they believe is right and wrong?

Writing a Novel with Multiple Narrators

August 20, 2015
Staff Writer
Culture, Help with Characters, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
1 Comment

Gabrielle Schwabauer, Staff Writer How can I demonstrate the variety of cultures and people groups in my story world without detracting from the main thread of the story? Surely one-off visits to unfamiliar cultures with one or two other characters (soon to be left behind) would quickly move from a novelty to a gimmick. Reluctantly, I began to consider multiple perspectives.

Practical Steps to a Rewarding Fantasy Map

September 18, 2014
Staff Writer
The Writing Life, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
9 Comments

Tineke Bryson, Staff Writer How do we make our story world maps the best they can be? After tackling intimidation, and coming to terms with the risks we take by not actually drawing our fictional world, how do we actually make the map?

How a Map Can Save Your Story

September 4, 2014
Staff Writer
Push Your Imagination, Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
12 Comments

Tineke Bryson, Staff Writer In last week’s post we tackled the intimidation many of us feel about creating a map for our novels. (Thanks, no thanks, J. R. R. Tolkien.) This week we focus on why we can’t afford to give up the dream or hand off the project to someone else.