Thoughts on Dune

Thoughts on Dune

In January, I finally got around to approaching Dune. In the months since, I have watched the first Timothée Chalemet movie twice, read the book, and watched the second movie, and all of my thoughts on all of it are kind of tangled up together, so here is one “review” post to cover all of it, for anyone curious.

Movie #1

I was going to wait Continue reading “Thoughts on Dune”

Creating Fantasy Etiquette

Creating Fantasy Etiquette

Do your characters mind their manners? If so, this post will help you determine what manners they’re minding; if not, this will help you determine just how rude your characters are. Etiquette differs from culture to culture, and this post is for you if you haven’t yet considered what good manners look like in the fictional culture(s) you’ve created!


Greetings & Farewells

I’ve discussed how greetings and farewells may be communicated in terms of language before, and saying the right thing is an aspect of a polite greeting or farewell. Your characters should Continue reading “Creating Fantasy Etiquette”

Calendars & Timekeeping in Fantasy

Calendars & Timekeeping in Fantasy

Have you ever thought about how your characters keep time? Our observation of time shapes our days, years, and lifetimes, shaping what we focus on when and how we are able to interact with others. If you haven’t yet shaped the calendar and divisions of time in your world, now is a great time to start. ;) This post will help you understand the critical Continue reading “Calendars & Timekeeping in Fantasy”

Worldbuilding Lessons I’ve Learned from Each of My Published Works

Worldbuilding Lessons I’ve Learned from Each of My Published Works

Today I’m going to mix a post for readers with a post for writers and talk about worldbuilding lessons I’ve learned from the books I’ve published (whether I learned these lessons before or after I published a given book). So for those of you here for worldbuilding lessons, welcome. For those of you curious about what you might find in my published works, welcome to you, too. Let’s get started.

Short Story Collection Vol. 1: Solidify before you publish (& what you publish is semi-permanent)

We’re taking this list in Continue reading “Worldbuilding Lessons I’ve Learned from Each of My Published Works”

Developing a Fictional Government — The Short Version

Developing a Fictional Government — The Short Version

If you’re like me, developing governments and politics might not be the most thrilling part of worldbuilding. But it is an important facet to think through–especially if your stories tend to prominently feature governments and/or politics. (Anyone else end up writing lots of political stories even though you’re not a big politics person?) So today I’m going to show you the most critical pieces of shaping a fictional government. Once you have these Continue reading “Developing a Fictional Government — The Short Version”