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Worldbuilding is the ultimate act of creation for speculative fiction writers, but how exactly do you worldbuild? You ask ‘what if’ and use each answer as a springboard to more questions and answers about your fictional world.
In The A-Zs of Worldbuilding, that ‘what if’ process is broken down into 26 themed chapters, covering topics ranging from architecture to zoology. Each chapter includes a corresponding set of guided exercises to help you find the ‘what if’ questions relevant to your story’s world. The guided exercises are essay-style questions, and the print version of the book includes space to write your answers in if you choose to do so.
Fair warning, though: worldbuilding is addictive. Once you get started, you might never put your pen down again.
In volume 1 of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding, the focus is on the actual creation of the world (setting) your story and characters will inhabit, and only briefly touches on creating magic systems.
Author: Rebekah Loper
Publisher: Fantasia Hearth Press
Cover Image: Footage Firm, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0692850558
Length: 252 pages
Dimensions: 8 1/2″ x 11″
What People Are Saying About The A-Zs of Worldbuilding…
The A-Zs of Worldbuilding is a very well written and comprehensive book. It’s informative and has a strong author voice. And, because of the subject matter, it even covers the importance of diversity. I would recommend it to any writer who is building a world from scratch, and also to those who are writing a story using a setting with which they are not very familiar.
…If you are a writer, a thinker, a reader, a fantasy game builder or player, I would highly recommend The A-Zs of Worldbuilding to you. This book’s format will guide you through the creation of a whole new world, crafted from your own imagination and with [the help of] the prompts on these pages… This book absolutely belongs in every fiction writer’s tool kit!
The A-Zs of Worldbuilding is a very well written and comprehensive book. It’s informative and has a strong author voice. And, because of the subject matter, it even covers the importance of diversity. I would recommend it to any writer who is building a world from scratch, and also to those who are writing a story using a setting with which they are not very familiar.
I received A to Z as a prize in a writing competition and I must say it has been a great book to have. As a writer of fantasy, getting to know my world before I begin to write is a necessity for me. I found Rebekah’s 26 topics and the corresponding exercises extremely helpful to trigger ideas, dig deeper and flesh out the world.
This book is a great resource for world-builders, whether you’re just getting started or have created entire universes of your own already… this covers a lot of ground with lots of explanations, so that it can serve as a comprehensive introduction to world-building, but still has enough scope to inspire writers who are already world-builders.
…Loper structures each entry in two parts: a two to five page discussion, followed by worksheets with several questions to help flesh out the subject… while such a format could be considered encyclopedic or formulaic, Loper’s fun, personable writing style makes it feel more like a dialog with the reader, and less like the cookbook I thought it would be.