Worldbuilding for Masochists

What can translation and transmission of ideas and stories over time teach us about a society -- and about storytelling? Guest  Ken Liu joins us to talk about the intertwining of philosophy, imagination, and translation. As writers, we can never fully translate the story that plays out in our heads onto the page, because every reader will imagine something a little different. How do we embrace tha...

Where does mythology come from? How does it tie us together? What does one world's mythology tell us about its people, how they view themselves, and their interactions with the divine? We speak to Nalo Hopkinson about myths, mythologies, folklore, and the stories that we tell each other as well as the stories we invent. [Transcript TK] Our Guest: Nalo Hopkinson is the award-winning author of numer...

A perennial question that our listeners often have is: How do you organize your worldbuilding? Do you have templates to use? Charts to fill out? Once you start imagining all your fantastic choices, how do you keep track of them all and then weave them along with your plot? Well, the answer to all of this, as with so many writing questions, is "do what works for you" -- but how do you even figure o...

A lot of the time, fantasy worldbuilding invokes huge maps, spanning civilizations and continents, with characters traversing vast distances on their epic quests. But what about the worldbuilding that happens with a tighter focus on an intimate, even insular location? Guest Cherie Priest joins us to discuss creating small towns just ripe for gothic mysteries, peculiar traditions, and weird, haunti...

It's the start of our sixth season! And we've got some projects going on. The  Traveling Light anthology , which we Kickstarted -- with the help of many of you listeners! -- at the start of the fifth season, is now almost complete! We've finished the page proofs and are about to turn this into a Real Book. In this episode, you'll get to hear from the anthology authors about their amazing, exciting...

Massive worlds require massive worldbuilding -- or do they? Sometimes, a narrower, character-centric scope can create a tight and compelling narrative while still crafting an expansive world. Guest Rebecca Roanhorse joins us to discuss how knowing your characters can help you konw your world. What does it mean to let character lead worldbuilding? How does that define your scope and how much worldb...

"Traditional" fantasy novels often hold themselves to a pre-gunpowder/pre-steampower level of tech. So, what’s fun about setting a fantasy world in an era that has anything from the printing press to cell phones? Guest  Hana Lee joins us to explore incorporating the technological into the magical world! How can the harnessing of magic be similar to or dissimilar from channeling other kinds of powe...

Making fantasy worlds into living, growing worlds means giving them a history of change and growth and shifts in technology and culture, not to mention governments and borders.  We talk about building history, historical ages and generational shifts, as well as diving into what are the historical ages in the world of the MNG, and how has it grown? Also! It is  Hugo Award voting time ! And we would...

It's been a while since we spent some time in the world of the MNG! So in this episode, we apply some topics from recent episodes as well as some worldbuilding staples to the cultures we've been developing in our ongoing co-created world. We play with nifty biology! We consider the monstrous! We think about love and education and phases of growth! How does Mirraden conceputalize and use the Gates?...

Critters, creatures, and things that crawl -- part of the fun of building a new world is getting to populate it with not just sapient characters, but all the flora and fauna. And sometimes, that means the things you find in the smallest corners and crevices. Guest  Premee Mohamed joins us to talk about the role of bugs and other biology in worldbuilding! Bugs are a critical part of our world, perf...

From the Minotaur to xenomorphs to the undead, monsters and their ilk have long been a staple of the sci-fi and fantasy genres. But what exactly is it that makes a monster? Guest  John Wiswell joins us to discuss how monsters in fiction often reflect not only our primal fears, but also the people that society seeks to Other. When monsters reflect what a real or fictitious society values and doesn'...

We spend a lot of time thinking about how to work with worldbuilding as writers -- but how does a reviewer approach the topic when they're reading works of sci-fi and fantasy? Guest Paul Weimer joins us to share his insights as a prolific consumer and critiquer of speculative fiction! Paul talks about the details that he pays attention to, the things he looks for, and the things that draw his atte...

When you're creating your world and bringing it into a story, how much do you let show? Guest John Hartness joins us to discuss balancing the off-page and on-page elements, and how that balance might shift based on what kind of a world you're working in and what sort of a story you're telling. How do you ensure that the worldbuilding serves a purpose and serves the characters? In this episode, you...

We've talked before about the difference between aesthetic-driven genres, like sci-fi and fantasy, and structure-driven genres, like mystery and romance. So what happens when you want to build a world just ripe for all your favorite romance tropes? How can your world create the obstacles to your characters getting their happy-ever-after? Guest Gwenda Bond  joins us to talk about the love of worldb...

When you've put your heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into building a world -- what happens when you then have to leave it behind? Most SFF authors will, at some point, close up their work in one world and start building a new one, but that comes with its own set of challenges! You know the old world so well; it's become comfy and familiar. The new world still has all its work yet to be done,...

When you're creating tomes of information about your world -- spreadsheets of demographics, maps at every level of geography, tomes of lore -- how do you keep tabs on it all? How much can you keep in your head, and how much has to be written down, codified, and carefully tracked? In this episode, we explore our tools of worldbuilding. We use all sorts of different methods and platforms, some of th...

Why do we worldbuild the way that we worldbuild? The start of a new year seems like a great time to take a zoomed-out view of how we do this thing that we do. In this episode, we consider, contemplate, and cogitate on the major concepts that guide our worldbuilding. Why is it important to us? What parts of it are important for us, and help us find our story and develop our characters? Too, how do...

In this final episode of 2023, we have a momentous announcement! Rowenna Miller is stepping down as a full-time co-host of the podcast, because... well, life! It happens to us all sooner or later. But fear not! Rowenna will still be joining us from time to time, and she's still working with us on the Traveling Light anthology. And we're welcoming an amazing, fantastic, glorious new co-host! Please...

It's another listener Q&A episode! Many thanks to the folks who submitted their questions! In this episode, we tackle some things that can block and stymie your worldbuilding, how to approach research that's not really in your preferred milieu, and some details about how we interact with our guests. Also, learn what your hosts' favorite holiday pies are! No one asked us that, but we're telling...

Worldbuilding is great! You get to make all the choices! On the other hand... you have to make all the choices. "Choose, don't presume" has long been our ethos on this podcast, but does choosing always mean making the weirdest possible choice? Does every choice have to Make A Statement? Does an "anything goes" approach to worldbuilding actually make things harder than setting some boundaries for y...

Everyone knows that writing is writing. And everyone knows that authors are super great at finding things to distract us from our writing. But under what circumstances is not-writing essential to writing? Guest Mur Lafferty  joins us to explore the underpinnings of the writing process! From research and concept-noodling to moodboards, playlists, and other creative expressions, what non-writing thi...

When the glorious hero calls for his allies to follow him into battle... why should they? And how can that hero convince them? In this extremely-niche-themed episode, guest  Anna Smith Spark  joins us to explore the interplay of language and leadership! In fiction, we love a great, rousing speech -- but how realistic is that stirring moment? (And do we care if it's realistic, or do we follow the R...

A lot of work and thought can go into worldbuilding, but sometimes, you just have to go with what feels right. In this episode, guest Seanan McGuire joins us to explore how writers can make the most of their worldbuilding flow and lean into their personal resonance. How can writers develop worldbuilding instinct? Why does worldbuilding come easily to some writers but require more conscious effort...

This one's for the folks who don't want to spend a few eons building their world before they can start their story. Author and game designer  James L. Sutter joins us to share some quick-and-dirty methods for getting the worldbuilding going! In this episode, we explore the question of how much worldbuilding is necessary -- and when it's necessary. If you already have your plot and want to charge r...

Shiny swords, sharpshooting archers, magically-assisted martial arts: all these things are staples of fantasy literature. But how do you do fights right? Guest SL Huang joins us to discuss all the pointy bits! In this episode, we think not just about the technology and technicalities of fighting, but also how combat fits into (or goes against the grain of) social norms. Is your world one where a c...