Hello Worldbuilders!
This post is going to serve two purposes – first, it will be my theme reveal for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge! I really wanted to get it up last week, but… life. *gestures vaguely*
And secondly, this post is going to serve as an introduction as to what exactly The A-Zs of Worldbuilding is and how the blog posts differ from the books, etc.
So… *drumroll please* what is this year’s A-Zs of Worldbuilding theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge?
It is…
I’ve really wanted to tackle this subject since I first conceived of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding. Religion has played a huge role in my life, and not just in the raised-in-a-Christian-home way. The way religion shapes people and cultures, and how vital it is to many of those, has always fascinated me, and in many ways that fascination put on the first paths to worldbuilding.
Now, I am a Christian. This does impact my writing, but I strive to make The A-Zs of Worldbuilding a valuable resource for all writers, regardless of faith in anything divine or lack-thereof.
But part of the beauty of speculative fiction is the what if aspect, and through those types of stories, I love exploring questions of faith and religion in ways that are not always possible in the real world.
So how do these blog posts work?
For all blog posts that integrate with the different chapters of the various A-Zs of Worldbuilding books, they will be divided into a teaching portion and a question portion. The teaching portion will be approximately 200-600 words, depending on the individual topic. The teaching part will be followed by 3-5 questions that relate to that topic to help you apply it to your own world that you’re building for your story.
Basically, the blog posts are bite-size intros to worldbuilding.
So what about the books?
The A-Zs of Worldbuilding books are expanded, in-depth versions of these blog posts. The first volume was published in 2017, and the worldbuilding exercise portions comprise about (maybe a little more than) 300 questions across all the topics. I’m too tired to remember right now.
The teaching portions range from about 600-1500 words (maybe a few that are longer), depending on the individual topic.
My goal for the two upcoming volumes of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding (Magic Systems, and Religion) are to have them be as in-depth with just as many exercises (possibly more) as the first volume, Building a Fictional World From Scratch.
The first volume of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding is available for purchase in both print and ebook forms. You can also get it for FREE if you sign up for the A-Zs of Worldbuilding newsletter.
How come the only posts on the A-Zs of Worldbuilding right now are the magic system ones?
Because I ran out of time. My intent, at the beginning of this year, was to get all previous A-Zs of Worldbuilding posts (from 2014 and 2019) edited and imported over here from my author blog. Then there were… many complications. If you want to know more about that, I’ll be putting up a post on my author blog in the next day or so.
So, the plan (at this point) is to post the worldbuilding religion topics in April for the A to Z Blogging Challenge, and then to pick up in May with revised versions of the original A-Zs of Worldbuilding posts that went up for the A-Z Blogging Challenge in 2014.
This website is brand new. As I’ve started cinching down my author brand/platform, I realized that The A-Zs of Worldbuilding really needed its OWN separate home. Please feel free to poke around and see what’s available so far!
Thank you for dropping by, and make sure to leave a comment below so I can make sure to visit your blog for the A-Z Blogging Challenge this year!
If you have any questions about worldbuilding in general, or about the A-Zs of Worldbuilding, please ask away!
Rebekah Loper began creating epic worlds and stories as a child and never stopped. She is the author of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding series, and has a fantasy novella published in Beatitudes and Woes: A Speculative Fiction Anthology.
She lives in Tulsa, OK with her husband, dog, two formerly feral cats, a small flock of feathered dragons (…ok, ok, they’re chickens), and an extensive tea collection. When she is not writing, she can be found battling the elements in an effort to create a productive, permaculture urban homestead.
Hi Rebekah. Didn’t know about this new blog. I’m so happy I’ve found it.
Can’t wait to read your challenge. It is an extremely fascinating topic, in my opinion and I’m very curious about the angle you are taking.
Hey Sarah!
It’s pretty new, and I haven’t gotten around to sharing it a lot of places yet because life has been CRAZY.
I was hoping to have all my A-Z posts written and being scheduled by now, but it looks like I’ll just be trying to stay a few days ahead of myself at this point. I’m glad you’re looking forward to it!