Genre: Non-fiction; worldbuilding
Length: ~92,000 words
Draft: 3rd
Estimated Release: To be determined
Commentary
In 2021, a blogging friend named Catherine commented that I should compile my worldbuilding articles into a book. After some internal questions of, “Am I qualified?”, I decided to take her advice and got started on a book that would walk authors systematically through the process of building a world and its cultures around the concept of cultural worldview—with the author’s own worldview as a foundation.
I worked on it fairly steadily for about a year, before stalling on one particularly long and complicated chapter that led me to set aside the draft (*cough*procrastinate*cough*). In 2023, after almost a year-long hiatus, I picked the draft back up and got back to work, making steady progress until finally finishing the first draft in October 2024! My first round of edits went much faster, finishing up in February 2025, and after acquiring beta-reader feedback over the summer of 2025, I’m now working on another read-through and editing pass.
The more I’ve worked on this book, the more excited I’ve become to share it with authors. I’ve yet to find another book that is as comprehensive about the worldbuilding process and starts with worldview at its heart, which I think is a really important combination when building a cohesive and meaningful world that firmly supports strong themes. Unfortunately, my sabbatical has put the release timeline on hold, but I will still be working (albeit slowly) on editing the book and compiling its accompanying workbook between now and my return, and Building a World with a View is very likely to be my first release post-sabbatical.
Synopsis
Building a World with a View is a systematic guide to developing dynamic fictional cultures grounded in foundational values and priorities. Beginning with the idea of making a world intrinsic to the storytelling process by founding it on theme, this book proceeds to walk authors through
- how to build worlds that reflect their values in a way that still allows for rich thematic exploration,
- how to develop various areas of their world in greater detail,
- and how to maintain cohesion in the cultures they build by keeping a few core values in mind as they work.
Building a World with a View is meant for speculative fiction authors who have some experience with worldbuilding but feel their worlds are lacking and/or do not effectively support the stories they have to tell.
Additional Reading
Book Review: World-Building for Writers by H.C. Harrington
Book Review: World-Building from the Inside Out by Janeen Ippolito