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Worldbuilding for Fantasy Fans and Authors (Patreon)

Published:
2024-04-13 17:00:04
Edited:
2024-04-13 17:07:11
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Something a little different for this week, everyone. My work obviously has a strong emphasis on fantastical worlds, and I know there are a fair number of writers or writing-curious people reading along, so it's not rare for me to get questions about worldbuilding, or if I have any sort of guide on the subject. I have never tried to write something like that myself, but today I do have something for you to consider.

If you're looking to think about fantasy in a more analytical way, or to consider your own worldbuilding from new angles, this book is a good place to start:

https://www.amazon.com/Worldbuilding-Fantasy-Authors-Forging-Realms-ebook/dp/B089GKQYVP

There are of course many books about how to write fantasy worlds, many of them with admirable qualities, but what I especially like about this one is that it cites liberally. Instead of trying to create a formula for building worlds out of whole cloth, it gathers ideas from many different sources. Whether it's Tolkien's On Fairy-Stories or NK Jemisin's newest Masterclass, you'll get well-cited thoughts about the subject.

Any single book trying to cover such a large topic will by nature be somewhat introductory, but in addition to being a good foundation, this is also a good jumping-off point due to those citations. If any section catches your interest, you have good leads for going further built into all the sources being integrated.

I wouldn't say this is solely for writers - it's a very readable book, using examples from some of the most popular franchises to emphasize how worldbuilding can be accomplished in different ways. That's another strength: some how-to books fall into the trap of advocating for only a single path, but this book embraces the fact that worldbuilding can exist for different purposes and fill different roles.

Anyway, I hope that has been of interest for this week. I don't know if I can do an update every week, but I have blueprints and the Deathseed cover ready to share, among other vague plans. Thanks for your support during this interim between books!

Files

Comments

Slightly Morbid

I once read a book about writing movie scripts and it actually took some fun out of watching movies. Instantly being able to recognize the templates used. Forced me to avoid most mainstream movies. Makes me a bit scared to read books like this, as they also makes it easier to find flaws. On the other hand, it makes you appreciate the well-thought out books so much better.

LOLtohru

Oh is this the one you were talking about? Thanks for posting!

PatienceHoney

This is great! My son is working on his first book. I will recommend this to him! Thanks for sharing!

AnythingAtAll

Thank you for the recommendation! I bought the audiobook and it's been a great listen so far. I remember getting to the section about effective vs ineffective vs inspired worldbuilding, and quickly thought about how Authorities hold prominent positions in the Nine's societies versus the Rulers just one tier below them. It's never been explicitly spelled out as far as I remember, so I realized as Presley pointed out that, oh yeah, I just took all that in unconsciously. That was really cool. I also found it interesting how he went into detail about how inspired he and his friend felt about the worldbuilding in Star Wars enough that they spent a week creating plans for killing a Jedi, but whenever I personally think about Jedi and Sith, I can never fully get over the disbelief bump of buying into the viability of lightsabers as weapons. Like, can you not just use the Force AND specialize in space guns? Surely the Jedi can field better armies that way. And slugthrowers? Literal shotguns can counter mythical space knights? Which simply proves Presley's point that you can't please everyone, and that you should try to please as many people instead, which Star Wars clearly did well, regardless of my individual, personal tastes. It's been a fun listen! I haven't gotten through all of it yet, but I think this is one of those books you're better off taking the time to digest than binging, like I usually do.

Runcible Technician

I am always up for book recommendations. It's in the queue now.