5 Worldbuilding Tips for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writers
Fiction Writing Made Easy
Savannah Gilbo
4.9 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 20 June 2023
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, I’m sharing my top 5 worldbuilding tips for science fiction and fantasy writers, with examples from popular novels. Here's a preview of what's included in the episode:
[02:39] Tip #1—Go narrow and deep in your worldbuilding, not wide and shallow. Pick 2-3 worldbuilding categories to focus on, and only flesh out whatever's relevant to your plot and/or characters.
[05:43] Tip #2—Determine what kind of magic or technology will exist in your story world. Will your magic/tech be used to create and solve problems (hard magic/tech)? Or will it be a bit more nebulous (soft magic/tech)?
[09:20] Tip #3—Avoid generalizations when it comes to the people or creatures who populate your story world. Real people have their own unique worldviews, beliefs, fears, and dreams. So should your population!
[11:21] Tip #4—Your story world needs its own internal logic—for every cause, there’s an effect; for every action, there’s a reaction. Whatever you change in your world, consider the ramifications to build your internal logic.
[12:33] Tip #5—Use your target audience’s age range to help inform your story’s learning curve. In general, middle-grade stories will have a more shallow learning curve whereas adult stories will have a steeper one.
[14:56] Final thoughts and episode recap.
Rate + Review + Follow on Apple Podcasts
"I love the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast!" ← If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing this show! Your rating and review will help other writers find this podcast, and they're also super fun for me to go in and read. Just click here, scroll all the way to the bottom, tap five stars to rate the show, and then select "Write a Review." Be sure to let me know what your favorite part of the episode was, too!
Also, if you haven't done so already, make sure you're following the podcast! I'll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed, and if you're not following the show, there's a good chance you'll miss them. Click here to follow now!
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Doors to my Notes to Novel course are officially OPEN! Click here to learn more and enroll before this enrollment period closes on Wednesday, June 28th at 11:59 PST!
- Ep. 95 - How to Start Writing Your Sci-Fi or Fantasy Novel
Interested in becoming a book coach? Author Accelerator a 5-day Book Coaching Business Plan Challenge to help you determine your next steps. Click here to sign up and use promo code PODCAST to get 50% off the enrollment price!
Support the showWant to support the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast? Click here to show your support, starting at $3/month >
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey there, I have a quick note for any listeners who are fairly confident they'd make a great book |
| 0:04.2 | coach but aren't quite as confident about running their own business. If this is you, |
| 0:08.2 | I want you to go check out author accelerators book coaching business plan challenge. |
| 0:12.2 | When you sign up, you'll receive a step-by-step workbook to define who you are as a coach, |
| 0:16.3 | a pricing framework to follow so you know how much to charge, and a business strategy to create |
| 0:20.7 | a sustainable coaching business. And right now author accelerator is offering all fiction writing |
| 0:25.6 | made easy listeners 50% off this $99 challenge. So if you want to dip your toe in the water and |
| 0:30.8 | find out if book coaching is right for you, go to savannahillbow.com forward slash coach and enter |
| 0:35.7 | the code podcast at checkout to claim your 50% off. If you've ever read the first book in that series, |
| 0:41.8 | you know that the learning curve is quite steep. And what I mean by this is you're just dropped |
| 0:46.0 | into the world right away and it's almost as if you have to catch up to what's on the page. |
| 0:51.1 | And I've seen reviews for this where some readers felt it was a little too steep and they |
| 0:55.4 | were confused until they were you know a bit farther on in the story, but that is a series that's |
| 1:00.3 | meant for adults so it is appropriate to have a little bit more of a steep learning curve there. |
| 1:06.5 | Welcome to the fiction writing made easy podcast. My name is savannahillbow and I'm here to help |
| 1:11.6 | you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be |
| 1:16.1 | overwhelming. So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, |
| 1:21.2 | and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. |
| 1:25.3 | So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, |
| 1:29.5 | this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. |
| 1:35.1 | In today's episode I'm going to share five tips that will help you create a believable |
| 1:39.6 | three-dimensional story world. So if you're writing science fiction or fantasy or if you've ever |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Savannah Gilbo, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Savannah Gilbo and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.