I’ve done a lot of writing for The Art of World Building this past month, including completed chapters on creating monsters, gods, and world figures like heroes and villains. Each has a new template, too. I’ve also drafted much of a chapter on inventing undead, travel considerations, and another on creating organizations like the X-men, Knights of the Round Table, and other informal groups out to do good or evil.
I currently plan to publish the book as three separate volumes of roughly 30,000 words each, which is an awful lot of world building advice! Volume 1 is nearing completion but I’ll be sitting on it until the entire project is complete.
Thank you for putting yourself to the test here. The “idea” of world building is always fun and exciting, but I think many writers–myself included–forget just how much SHOULD go into the structure, especially the foundation. The foundation is always covered, built upon, and therefore, not seen. To go on without it, though, always leads to catastrophe. So, thank you.
I have a whole chapter about whether to do it at all and just how much because it’s easy to get carried away. I just spent more time than I should have on something myself 🙂