Show Notes for Episode 07: Settings and Worldbuilding
Alone in a Room with Invisible People is a podcast focusing on topics related to writing, revising and publishing fiction.
In this episode, host Rebecca Galardo discusses the topic of Settings and Worldbuilding with Author and Teacher Holly Lisle. They cover world building done right, why this is a crucial – and often overlooked – part of every well written story, how to start world building quickly and the questions to ask yourself.
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Mentioned in the Podcast
- Minecraft
- Holly’s Minecraft Builds
- 5 Minute Worldbuilding Workshop (download page)
- Secret Text Maps: East | Central | West
- Holly’s Mini Worksheet on Building Maps
- The Ruins
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- AIARWIP Website
- HollysWritingClasses
- Holly’s Ko-Fi (support Holly!)
- Holly’s Personal Website
- Holly’s Blog
- Rebecca’s Website
Credits: Producer – Rebecca Galardo. Sponsor – Holly’sWritingClasses.com. Intro written by Holly Lisle and performed by Mark Hermann. Our podcast is 100% free and sponsored only by Holly’s Writing Classes. See the full sized beautiful image by DarkWorkX on Pixabay
Wow, you two!
I was driving in to work, listening to the podcast (which I enjoy, and, yes, have rated on iTunes) and came to the ‘question’ exercise.
So I asked my right brain, ‘What’s up with that alley, anyway?’ (As you do.)
My right brain (I think of her as a Pacific Octopus) touched the back of my neck with a cold tentacle and said ‘It’s a dead end because they walled It up back there to keep it contained. They didn’t realize how far It could still reach into the alley itself. Best not go in alone.’ Then she sat back, smug and waited.
Last night, I was idly thinking about a suburban fae world – with a magic branch to the RCMP (the federal cops up here, but they’re often contracted for municipal policing by smaller municipalities) and where the constables will bring offerings of milky coffee sweetened with honey and sandwiches with roast meat for the local homeless woman known to be the area Wise Woman, and people pour out small portions of their frappes into Dixie cups to leave under the bushes in the park, and there’s always a vendor at the farmer’s market selling horseshoe-nail rings. (Where I live, the forest reaches her fingers deep into the cities, and brings the bears, the wildcats, the salmon, and the eagles with her; why wouldn’t the Fair Folk come, too?)
And this is a spark for the first short story in that world, isn’t it? Time to go see where it fits into the short story class. And definitely time to download the exercise!
WOW! That’s a terrific response to the question. And definitely a good road to a first story in the world.
This is so exciting! I love it! Are you putting the two together? Or are these separate stories?
I’m thinking those two bits of worlds belong together.
The alleyway seems to belong in that suburban-fae world, with the cop in her flak-vest and the homeless woman with her knowing eyes who won’t touch the shadows of the looming buildings. There’s a single beige pump with an expensive orthotic off beside the dumpster, and the werewolf forensics guy says that puddle is a mix of blood and definitely not-blood. (‘She must’ve fought back pretty hard, Luce, because I don’t want to know what you gotta do to make something that smells like /that/ bleed.’)
I didn’t know before that there was a werewolf on forensics (but of /course/ there’s a non-discriminatory hiring policy; that’s the RCMP all hollow, but some of them will also haze him if they think they can get away with it) until he identified the not-blood, or that the cop (Main character? Next vic?) on Uncanny duty was short, female and a recent transfer from a more rural area, unused to the ways the Folk show up in the urban landscape.
All I had last night was ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to do modern city fae? I’ll stick that in the vault for a while.’
Apparently it was muse candy. I think it’s the Short Story class. Everything is muse candy with the short story class. She loves it.
Loving your Podcast series! But OMG, I was listening to Holly talk about her Muse being a little trouble-stirrer and all I could think was Sam Winchester hallucinating Lucifer in Season 7 of Supernatural. Thank you, ma’am – you have forever given my ‘muse’ the face of Mark Pellegrino.
Seriously, though – Listening to all of this is putting me back in the mood to be a productive writer. Though I’ve put things down on paper often throughout the years (And yes, Rebecca, I LOVE reading!) I’ve never really finished anything outside of class assignments when I was in school. I’m starting on the Flash Fiction course now and look forward to seeing where this road will take me.