(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) I’m not likely to get too deep into the subject of conlanging — constructing languages — in this series. It’s a topic that can literally fill a book on its … Continue reading
Tag Archives: worldbuilding
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Before we get to the post itself, a brief housekeeping note: for this Patreon, I’ve committed to four essays a month. But as you may have noticed, I post on … Continue reading
How many Sf or fantasy novels have you read, or shows have you watched, that toss you right out when the characters started cussing and the made-up words, or euphemisms, sound totally fake? Some writers solve the problem by … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) “I miss seasons.” I hear this sometimes from people who move to the San Francisco Bay Area from the East Coast or the Midwest of the U.S. Truth be told, … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) When “natural disasters” wandered through my head as a possible thing to post about, I found myself thinking, Is that really a worldbuilding topic? Aren’t natural disasters more of a … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) I’ve been re-reading the comic book series Elfquest lately, the setting of which is usually referred to as the World of Two Moons — for the very simple and obvious … Continue reading
When I’m on a panel, or giving an interview, or answering a reader’s question, I often find myself saying that I’m “putting on my Anthropologist Hat.” You see, I spent ten years studying anthropology — first as an undergrad, then … Continue reading
Weave and spin, weave and spin… (When is China not China? or, What is this thing called fantasy, really?) I spend half my life living in dreams, in alternate realities. That might sound bizarre to some, even verging on … Continue reading
Read WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY in earlier installments. This is the final question. Continuing – Question 6: HOW Going back to the trope thing, when I started writing the Were Chronicles it was with a lot of ideas in … Continue reading
Read WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN in previous installments. Continuing – Question 5: WHY The question of motivation has been discussed a lot, to the point of being made fun of. Remember that immortal exchange in ‘Galaxy Quest’: “You’ve got to … Continue reading