Dec 27, 2019
I wrote a short story when I was twelve, in which the moon blows up. Then I saw the same thing happen in the movie adaptation of H.G. Wells’ Time Machine. Did the movie producer steal my idea? Hardly. By the time I read Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, I was not only...
Dec 26, 2019
You’ve designed a hero. Well done. Now ask this new-formed person, still shiny and innocent, the following question: What’s the worst thing that can happen to you? Worst in the way of most tragic, unnerving, dreadful, personal, disastrous, or horrible. And, because...
Dec 25, 2019
My last article on deep worldbuilding left me wondering: Is depth really better than breath? Should depth be the default prescription for all kinds of worldbuilding? Exploring the full depth of a concept makes for a story worth telling. Jumping between a dozen or more...
Dec 18, 2019
You know great worldbuilding when you see it. Concepts and ideas mesh in a way you’ve never seen before, the conflict has an air of inevitability about it, nothing seems out of place, and everything makes sense. It clicks. I’ll show you how you can achieve that effect...
Dec 23, 2019
I was recently exploring the many delightful Christmas Markets here in Berlin, and as I strolled down the artisan pavilion, browsing hundreds of remarkable handmade objects, a thought struck me. Here was a painter, a sculptor, a potter with their market stall, their...
Dec 22, 2019
I have a folder where I keep all the drafts of my articles. The contents of that folder range from pieces that are nearly done but require some extra polish, to those that are merely unfinished notes on something that caught my attention recently. Opening that folder...
