14.01: Worldbuilding Begins! Up Front, or On the Fly?
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Howard
Season 14 is all about worldbuilding¹, and we’re kicking it off with a discussion of when you do that bit of work. Do you handle worldbuilding before you write the story, as you write the story, or after you’ve finished the story? We’ll talk about how we do it, and the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.
Credits: This episode was recorded by Benjamin Hewett, and mastered by Alex Jackson.
¹ The question of whether this term should be a closed compound (worldbuilding), an open compound (world building), or hyphenated (world-building) is an open one. Our decision to use the closed compound “worldbuilding” in our episode descriptions this year is a matter of personal preference.
Homework: Dan collected these three worldbuilding elements from Brandon, Mary, and Howard. Your job? Work them into a scene.
- Red food is taboo
- hairstyles are important
- Different species/races of sophont who cannot interbreed or share food.
Thing of the week: The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi, narrated by Wil Wheaton.
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