March 06, 2023

60 - What is Worldbuilding?

34 minutes

Do you ever stop to ask yourself why? At the WorldCraft Club that’s a yearly tradition. In order to perfect the craft of building exceptional worlds we hold the practice of pausing to reflect. We consider the definitions of our terms and look at how our understanding has changed. In this episode Seth and James discuss the meaning of Worldbuilding and, more importantly, what good worldbuilding is.

Key Takeaways:

Worldbuilding vs. Story - There’s an ongoing question in creative spaces about the value of worldbuilding and there are markets emerging where having an exciting world is a big part of the value of the property. This is where the rub is with traditionally published authors like Stephen King and something we’d do well to think about in our own creative endeavors.

Humility is worldbuilding currency - Participation is about your visitants creating their own head canon for the setting. It requires humility as a worldbuilder to let control of your creation go, at least a little bit, in order to see it flourish in the hands of your audience. This is how you know you’ve completed your path as a worldbuilding and, with the right mindset, can be thrilling to watch.

Your world is ultimately a collection of unfinished, unresolved conflicts - Leaving these elements open ended is not only realistic (as life seldom resolves) but is incredibly enticing. “I wonder what happened to that guy?” “Did those two nations ever find peace?”

Links and Sundry:

The Infamous Stephen King Tweet - What are your thoughts on this? Go ahead and buzz us using our LinkTree below.

Where to find Seth’s stuff:

Seth’s nifty website - Find out the latest about Seth’s comings and goings on this site as well as catching up on his latest books.

Seth’s Newsletter - To make sure you always know what he’s up to.

How to reach us:

The only link you'll ever need - This is our LinkTree, from here you can get access to our Discord Community (which you definitely need to join) as well as everything else we make including the Worldbuilder's Journal.

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