Category: Worldbuilding

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How to Avoid 5 Common Worldbuilding Pitfalls

How to Avoid 5 Common Worldbuilding Pitfalls

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Like any element of storytelling, worldbuilding has the potential to greatly elevate the quality of a project. But, also like any element of storytelling, it can be easy to fall into common pitfalls and fail to tap into the full potential of your worldbuilding. Today I’m addressing some common pitfalls that authors can fall into when it comes to worldbuilding, and how to avoid them.

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Under-Valuing the World

One pitfall I see fairly often is that authors don’t value worldbuilding in the first place. They see their world as Continue reading “How to Avoid 5 Common Worldbuilding Pitfalls” →

5 Benefits of Worldbuilding Challenges

5 Benefits of Worldbuilding Challenges

Posted on by R.M. Archer

In my last post before beginning my hiatus, I wanted to share something that would be relevant over the summer, so I’ve decided to talk about worldbuilding challenges–like World Anvil’s upcoming Summer Camp challenge.

Didn’t know I was going on hiatus? Want to get an exclusive email series over the summer while I’m gone? Sign up here for all the summer fun!

*This post contains affiliate links, marked with an asterisk. Purchases made through these links earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I’ve participated in various worldbuilding challenges over the years–mostly World Anvil‘s* various events and the worldbuilding week of my own Preptober Prompts event–and they’re always a lot of fun! In my case, they make an already enjoyable part of the process even more fun, but I believe that worldbuilding challenges have benefits even for those who aren’t so naturally disposed to enjoy worldbuilding, and today I want to talk about some of the benefits I’ve seen from such challenges!

Worldbuilding Challenges Stretch Your Skills

Some worldbuilding challenges–like World Anvil’s Summer Camp–encourage Continue reading “5 Benefits of Worldbuilding Challenges” →

Developing Gender Roles for Fictional Cultures

Developing Gender Roles for Fictional Cultures

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Last month, it was brought to my attention that I didn’t yet have any articles on developing gender roles in fictional cultures, which led to the topic floating around in my brain until a post outline formed (likely helped along by the fact that I do have a section on gender roles in Building a World with a View, so this is a topic I’ve written about before even if it wasn’t in an available format until now). While some folks prefer to avoid gender roles as a fraught topic, knowing how your culture views the responsibilities and roles of men and women makes a huge difference in how they frame society as a whole; broader societal structure has its foundation in the structure of gender roles and family units, whether we like that reality or not, so gender roles are an important topic to consider when fleshing out a fictional culture!

Consider Natural Strengths & Weaknesses

Men and women have different natural strengths and weaknesses–biological and otherwise. The same is Continue reading “Developing Gender Roles for Fictional Cultures” →

Developing Fictional Views on Providence, Luck, and Fortune

Developing Fictional Views on Providence, Luck, and Fortune

Posted on by R.M. Archer

St. Patrick’s Day has nothing to do with leprechauns, four-leaf clovers, or lucky pots of gold… except in grocery stores and on my blog today because I did allow the seasonal aesthetic to inspire today’s topic. Today we’re talking about how your fictional cultures view providence, luck, and fortune–whether they see all three as synonymous or maintain distinct categories. Let’s get started! (And to be fair, here’s a video–albeit a somewhat comedic one–about the actual reason we’ll be wearing green next week.)

Establish Your World’s Baseline

Before you develop individual cultures’ views of providence and luck, it’s beneficial to have an idea of what those terms really mean in your world and who (or what) is truly responsible for events occurring the way that they do. Is your world guided by a sovereign god/pantheon? Do things really come about by chance or luck? Are events steered primarily by man’s choices?

Knowing how things truly work in your world will inform Continue reading “Developing Fictional Views on Providence, Luck, and Fortune” →

Organizing Years of Scattered Worldbuilding with Scrivener

Organizing Years of Scattered Worldbuilding with Scrivener

Posted on by R.M. Archer

One of my primary goals over the past month has been to flesh out and solidify the world of Lightning and Thunder. This world has existed in my brain for somewhere around a decade (and I’ve published snapshots of it in Short Story Collection vol. 1), but it took me until now–writing a longer project in that setting–to finally compile all of my notes into one place, flesh out more specifics in areas where I’ve been banking on aesthetics and general principles, and iron out the inconsistencies that have popped up over a decade of scattered note-taking.

If you’ve been around for a while, you may have noticed that I have a pretty consistent Continue reading “Organizing Years of Scattered Worldbuilding with Scrivener” →