14.8: Worldbuilding Q&A #1
Your Hosts: Howard, Mary Robinette, Dan, and DongWon
We invited attendees at WXR 2018 to ask us some general worldbuilding questions. Here’s what they asked:
- What cultural stuff do you need to know during the writing process?
- How do you treat overlaps between real-world religions and fictional religions when the fictional religions are part of the story’s fundamental conflict?
- How much worldbuilding do you have figured out before you start your first draft, and how much do you discover on the fly?
- What’s the point in a book beyond which you shouldn’t introduce big worldbuilding elements?
- How do you ensure that the world comes through as a character of its own?
- How much change to terminology is too much?
Credits: This episode was recorded live by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex Jackson.
Homework: What do you do about time in your universe? Spend some time considering how it is demarcated in your setting.
Thing of the week: Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik.
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