Gideon the Ninth is a story of a necromancer and a swordswoman exploring the bowels of a necromantic castle. Some stories that are perfectly at home in fantasy flounder when surrounded with scifi elements, and learning about them can help you avoid similar problems in your own work. These elements include a lot of aesthetic and worldbuilding choices like spaceships, swords, aliens, lasers, magic, and so on, but they can also include specific plots like the return of the one true king.īut what happens when authors choose the wrong genre elements for their stories? Science fiction in particular is sensitive to this, since it’s a genre with fairly high expectations for following the rules of real life unless stated otherwise. ![]() That’s why we can confidently say that some stories are definitely scifi or fantasy, whereas others blur the line. Instead, each genre has a collection of elements we associate with it, and different stories may have more or fewer of those elements. Image: Tolkien Estate.Despite what some purists may tell you, there’s no clear line between scifi and fantasy. The Misty Mountains as painted by Tolkien (undated). Tolkien’s Middle Earth: a uchronia that shows an alternative Earth in the past, inhabited by fantasy beings like hobbits, elves, dwarves, and orcs, perfect for its epic adventure plot. Get inspired by examples of iconic fictional worlbuildingĪlberto and Andrea recommend examining these five literary worlds for inspiration: To avoid this, interweave world details into your action and shorter dialogue.Ĩ. This can easily happen in prologues or the openings of chapters. Infodumping happens when you drop a ton of worldbuilding details on the reader in long paragraphs or excessive dialogue that interrupts your story’s pacing. Worldbuilder’s disease is when you end up getting too lost in research, and never start your actual drafting! Here are some worldbuilding issues to look out for when you're researching and drafting your story: Hitting road bumps is an inevitable part of the creative process-but understanding the issues can help you avoid and overcome them. Watch out for common worldbuilding issues Be patient with yourself and your process.ħ. Never forget the element or aspect of your world that first excited you: come back to this throughout your process to stay motivated.Ĭreation takes time, Alberto reminds us. Your story's world acts as a foundation for interesting plot and character development. As Alberto explains, you’ll probably share only a small portion of your world’s history and timeline, so think carefully about what this moment feels like. ![]() The space (or setting) is where the action takes place, while time is the movement of events and pacing of your story. Think about space and time for your story setting Where are the potential plotholes or unclear elements I need to figure out?Īs the writer, you need to know more about your world than the reader at first, then construct a story that reveals this world to them in an engaging way.Ģ. How will characters relate to each other? What will seem familiar or different to the reader? Identify the main characteristics and rules of your imaginary worldįor Alberto, starting to construct a world means identifying its essential characteristics and internal logic. Now you've got the basics down, the two authors offer advice for aspiring writers and worldbuilders.ġ. How to start worldbuilding: 8 tips for beginners Andrea plans her story using the bottom-up method. You’ll also need to worldbuild as you draft, rather than preparing beforehand. This style has a more focused scope and is quicker to start, but the world can become imprecise and blurry. This style works if you have a specific what-if question that you want to apply to the wider world. Bottom-up worldbuilding means starting from a small change. Top-down worlds can be super-detailed, but a downside is that this method requires heavy research. ![]() From there, you draw inwards to find character and plot. Top-down worldbuilding means starting with the big picture: geography, weather, physics, magic or tech, and long-term history. The basics: popular worldbuilding techniques and termsĭiscover some of the common techniques and terms Andrea and Alberto discuss in their Domestika courses, to help you understand the basics. Both writers work across speculative genres, including sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and magical realism. ![]() Andrea Chapela ( is the author of the fantasy tetralogy Vâudïz and several other books. Alberto Chimal ( is one of Mexico’s most prolific authors and has published more than forty books and stories for adults and children. Luckily, our two professional authors are well-versed in this art.
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