The Worldbuilder’s Tavern

Listen in as we chat about how to write comedy and action for different age categories, traditional vs. self-publishing, the "sucked into a video game" genre, and the movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

In today's episode, we're chatting about bending, magic rules, disability, and how to reveal worldbuilding details as they relate to character via Avatar: The Last Airbender!

Join us for a chat with author Ada Hoffmann about their sci-fi horror novel The Outside. We talk about how to choose narrating characters, writing antagonists, writing nonbinary characters, and making stuff up when worldbuilding.

Join us for a chat about Over the Garden Wall, the animated series that you have probably never heard of! We chat about dream sequences, leaving clues, over-explaining, and trusting your readers.

Season Two is here! In this episode, we talk about the TV series Wheel of Time, adapted from the novels by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. We chat about complex worldbuilding and how to distill it, why it doesn't matter if the show is different from the book, and gendered magic systems.

It's the Season One finale! In this episode, we talk about House of the Dragon, so be prepared for some dark and disturbing topics. Allison gives her top seven horrifying moments from the show, and we give some tips on how to write your own grimdark worlds.

In this episode, we talk about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with guest and freelance editor Jeni Chappelle! We talk about how to immerse readers in your world, telling information out of order, and how to write interesting puzzles.

Jeni is an independent book editor, a co-founder and editor for Twitter pitch event Revise & Resub (#RevPit); and co-host of the Indie Chicks and Story Chat Radio podcasts. Find her at Jeni Chappelle Editorial.

We discuss Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer in this episode! We talk about how weird it is, the unsettling narration style, and how to worldbuild according to genre.

As per Bigolas Dickolas's recommendation, we're discussing the novella This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone! Learn how to use worldbuilding as a backdrop and subtle ways to deliver worldbuilding in this week's episode.

What is worldbuilding without fat dragons, magicless bards, and birdfolk named Jarnathan? Join us for a discussion about the fun romp that is Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

And don't forget to vote on the topic of our finale episode! Will we discuss the worldbuilding of Wednesday, The Last of Us, or House of the Dragon? It's up to you, dear listeners! Cast your vote on Twitter here. If you're a patron, vote here instead, and your vote counts as double!