Worlds Within Worlds
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(Mostly) Unobtrusive Worldbuilding
Infodumps are boring. Yet without them, how do you explain why your protagonist’s magic powers are so important? How do you explain why that particular monster ... -
Magical Warfare
Fallout taught fans that war…war never changes. Military historians, however, argue otherwise. Case in point: the stirrup. Before firearms dominated the battlefield, it’s generally agreed that ... -
Qi and Fantasy
Most people associate magic with strange symbols, chanting, and waving a wand around. Dusty books are usually in the picture, along with ritual circles or sacrifices. ... -
Wizards: Old Grey Beards
If you ask someone on the street to name the first three wizards that come to mind, you’ll probably hear the names Gandalf, Merlin, and Dumbledore ... -
Exploring Vvardenfell: How Morrowind Created an Immersive Secondary World
Back in 2012, I was sitting with a group of fantasy writers at the PNWA conference in Seattle. Everyone had begun rolling off their favorite authors, ... -
The Necronomicon to the Nokizi: Creating Texts For Secondary Worlds
Writing in-world texts offers an anchor for characters, readers, and authors—when everyone is working off the same information, there’s a sense of immersion and verisimilitude, that ...
