Why is worldbuilding is essential in your writing? Today, we answer this question and dive into some working definitions of how we want to talk about it. After the break, we discuss why we chose this book Arkady Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire” and highlight what it does well. We dive into the elements that help make Martine’s worldbuilding so accessible and effective.
Thing of the Week:
“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman (think about what it teaches you about POV!)
Homework:
Pick your favorite fictional worlds and for each write down three defining attributes that establish culture, legal systems, and physical spaces.
Here’s a link to buy your copy of “A Memory Called Empire” if you haven’t already:
https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19
Sign up for our newsletter:
https://writingexcuses.com
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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17.2: It Was a Promise of Three Parts
17.1: Genre and Media are Promises
16.52: Structure is a Promise
16.51: Promises are a Structure
16.50: Worldbuilding Finale: Making Deliberate Choices
16.49: Magic and Technology: Two Sides of the Same Coin
16.48: Believable Worlds Part 2: Creating Texture
16.47: Believable Worlds Part 1: The Illusion of Real
16.46: World and Plot: The Only Constant is Change
16.45: World and Character Part 2: Moral Frame
16.44: World and Character Part 1: All Your Characters Are Biased
16.43: The Narrative Holy Trinity of World, Character, and Plot, with Fonda Lee
16.42: M.I.C.E. Quotient, After the Fact
16.41: Middles and Conflicts with M.I.C.E. Structure
16.40: Nesting Threads in the M.I.C.E. Quotient
16.39: Deep Dive into “Event”
16.38: Deep Dive into “Character”
16.37: Deep Dive Into “Inquiry”
16.36: Deep Dive into “Milieu”
16.35: What is the M.I.C.E. Quotient?
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