After a recent break from writing, I’m back in the chair and am assessing my unfinished stories and the world I’ve forged around them. One story in particular, The Rage Within, was written to explore a race called the Dagorans. They are a gray-skinned folk afflicted with a berserk-like rage. Sifting through my notes revealed … Read more
This article is by Michael Cairns. Fantasy is an expansive genre in which the reader can be transported to far-off lands. Urban fantasy does something quite different, laying the fantastical world over the one in which we live. This can be a tricky thing to get right. Too much fantasy and the realism can be … Read more
This article is by Katie Cross. It was so hot that summer, I would have preferred vomiting barbed wire to walking outside. The air was muggy and thick with humidity so high that a permanent haze settled in like a fog. I didn’t see my thermostat go below 80 degrees for far too long, even … Read more
When worldbuilding, writers tend to focus on topics such as magic systems, fantasy races, kingdoms, politics, and religions. These elements form the settings, the backdrops against which our stories take place. But consider your world. Not the world you’ve created, but the one you live in. What is important to you? What aspects of your … Read more
Every time I ask other fantasy writers a question about the worlds I create, one of them will inevitably respond, “What does this matter to your story?” That’s because many new writers, influenced by roleplaying games and the illustrations featured in our favorite fantasy novels, are prone to view worldbuilding as filling in the gaps … Read more
How you handle crime and punishment in your fantasy world is an important aspect of creating a vibrant and real culture. The legal system you create should reflect how society views law generally, as well as the values of society. This article provides a starting point for considerations of criminal law in your fantasy world. … Read more
This article is by S.G. Rogers. I’m a fantasy author who enjoys building worlds. Perhaps my interest in world-building stems from the wonderment I feel in the presence of beauty. Magic exists in the waterfalls of Brevard County, North Carolina, the stunning views at Big Sur, and the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Magic radiates from … Read more