Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide: Triggers, Tips & Strategies to Explode Your Writing Skills and Captivate Your Readers.
    Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide: Triggers, Tips & Strategies to Explode Your Writing Skills and Captivate Your Readers.
    Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide: Triggers, Tips & Strategies to Explode Your Writing Skills and Captivate Your Readers.
    Ebook191 pages2 hours

    Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide: Triggers, Tips & Strategies to Explode Your Writing Skills and Captivate Your Readers.

    By Jaime Buckley

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Every story requires worldbuilding. What if there was a way to simplify the process of worldbuilding? A system to open the door of your mind, creating a constant flow of ideas? Advanced Worldbuilding takes you by the hand, showing you the 'why' of worldbuilding, so you can create faster and better than ever. This is a step by step process of creation, sharing unique tips and specific methods to develop whatever your heart desires.

     

    "I must dedicate part of this review to the author, Jaime Buckley. This guy is a genius. The effort and heart he has obviously put into his work, the characters and this world is mind-blowing." -- Jennifer Elgy, UK

     

    "Jaime is an amazingly talented storyteller, artist, and illustrator. The first time I saw his work I was blown away — and he's only gotten better since." -- International & NYTimes Bestselling Author Barry Eisler

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPerspicacious Publishing
    Release dateJan 29, 2015
    ISBN9781507061602
    Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide: Triggers, Tips & Strategies to Explode Your Writing Skills and Captivate Your Readers.
    Author

    Jaime Buckley

    JAIME BUCKLEY IS A professional illustrator, author, husband, father of 13 & grandfather. When he’s not engaged in hunting monsters, acting as a survival flotation device or a master sliver-picker-outer (just ask his little kids), he’s also a cartoonist, game creator, podcaster and avid teacher. Jaime is known best for his WANTED HERO world--specifically his main Chronicles of a Hero series. His book Advanced WORLDBUILDING, continues to assist writers in building fictional worlds faster, easier and in more detail than ever before. Jaime continues to gain popularity  by pampering his fans through WantedHeroWorld.com, an interactive online world where he shares secret story lore, magic, maps, interviews & artwork never revealed to the public. He lives in Utah with his wife, Kathilynn, his organically grown fan club and loves communicating with readers from all over the world. You can connect with Jaime through the Wanted Hero website or emailing him at jaimebuckley@wantedhero.com. 

    Read more from Jaime Buckley

    Related to Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide

    Related ebooks

    Composition & Creative Writing For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Welcome

      May 5, 2022

      What do you do when you’re not writing? You know, those pesky job things. Among our featured authors this month, there’s a thread of biding your time, and knowing that becoming a writer was the only ultimate goal. Editor For some, like our ruthlessly

      1 min read

    • Article

      Add A Little MAGIC

      Feb 27, 2021

      Add A Little MAGIC
      12 min read

    • Article

      Royalties: The Long Tail

      Oct 18, 2021

      When I first signed with my agent, I joked that I wanted my advances to be paid in the form of solid gold toilets,1 and that’s been our code for good news ever since. When I get an email with the subject line “Gold Toilet Incoming,” I know we’ve sold

      4 min read

    • Article

      Magic In The City

      Feb 13, 2023

      Urban fantasy is one of the hottest fantasy subgenres. Set in contemporary times, usually in a big city, the genre features kick-butt heroes and heroines with magical powers, supernatural creatures, a seedy paranormal underbelly, and other common fan

      6 min read

    • Article

      Eye On The Prize

      Mar 26, 2022

      Eye On The Prize
      4 min read

    • Article

      How Do You Write A Dungeons And Dragons Campaign? A Candlekeep Mysteries Writer Explains

      Apr 5, 2021

      How do you write a Dungeons and Dragons campaign? It’s something most Dungeon Masters dream of doing, and it’s the dream for many fans of the best tabletop RPGs. The process isn’t what you’d expect, though. In fact, it’s probably quite the opposite.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Snapshot Theory

      Feb 27, 2021

      The Snapshot Theory
      6 min read

    • Article

      Baldur’s Gate III

      Mar 4, 2021

      Baldur’s Gate III
      8 min read

    • Article

      Trope: My Favorite Dirty Word

      Oct 18, 2021

      Trope: My Favorite Dirty Word
      7 min read

    • Article

      Better writing NOW

      May 6, 2021

      Better writing NOW
      5 min read

    • Article

      Publishing Your First Book

      Feb 7, 2018

      SHELLY ORIA is the author of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), which earned nominations for a Lambda Literary Award and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, among other honors. Recently she coauthored a digital novella, C

      9 min read

    • Article

      Publishing Your First Book

      Feb 14, 2018

      SHELLY ORIA is the author of New York 1, Tel Aviv 0 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), which earned nominations for a Lambda Literary Award and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, among other honors. Recently she coauthored a digital novella, C

      9 min read

    • Article

      As A Matter Of Fact…

      Nov 5, 2020

      As A Matter Of Fact…
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Quest For The Edge

      Jun 14, 2021

      A friend of mine is the marketing director of a California winery. One day, she called to ask if I’d be willing to help create brands and write labels for the bottles. “Why me?” “We’re seeing a trend toward consumers wanting stories,” she said. “They

      10 min read

    • Article

      How To Be CREATIVE

      Apr 1, 2021

      How To Be CREATIVE
      5 min read

    • Article

      Gigi Will Know

      Feb 27, 2021

      What is the most helpful book – or even top three books – you would most recommend to fiction writers to improve their craft? —LURKING IN THE SHELVES Dear Lurking, I don’t love books dedicated entirely to craft. I find some of them obscure and pedant

      3 min read

    • Article

      Knowledge Is Power

      Mar 3, 2022

      Knowledge Is Power
      5 min read

    • Article

      How to Navigate the Editing Process

      Oct 12, 2022

      Dear Writer, Congratulations! We found your essay, “Better Late Than Ever,” perfect for Blurb Magazine’s December Special Issue focused on Essential Procrastination and the Creative Process. Please look for a forthcoming e-mail to detail edits and su

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Curiously Effective Way To Beat Procrastination

      Oct 31, 2022

      I know I need to be writing this novel, but …” How many times have you found yourself thinking that? You know you should be writing, but you find yourself surfing the internet, watching cat videos, or worse—staring at the wall, thinking about your st

      9 min read

    • Article

      About Time. Story Time.

      Sep 3, 2020

      About Time. Story Time.
      3 min read

    • Article

      Show up FOR YO U R WRITING

      Jun 1, 2023

      Show up FOR YO U R WRITING
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide

    4/5

    1 rating1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      "Affect" vs. "effect."
      "Surnames" is a word. "Sir names" -- is not at all how it is written.

      Pesky little details? Perhaps. Enough to seriously interfere with the reading of a potentially excellent book? Unfortunately.

    Book preview

    Advanced Worldbuilding - A Creative Writing Guide - Jaime Buckley

    Part One

    Understanding

    Worldbuilding

    "Wise people learn when they can.

    Fools learn…wait, what was the question again?"

    - Chuck

    Chapter 1

    Introduction

    You have an idea.

    It’s a brilliant idea.

    No really, it’s brilliant—ignore what other people tell you.

    Unless they already think you’re awesome…then you should buy them dinner.

    What I’m saying is, trust yourself.

    All great story ideas have a beginning somewhere. That idea may be a person, it may be a place. Perhaps it’s an event or something valuable, sought after, or obtained.

    Now it’s time to apply your worldbuilding skills to that idea to make it grow.

    The fantastic thing about worldbuilding is it can be likened to a room with many doors. You don’t have to worry about what door to open—just choose one. Any door. Once you open that first door, you’ll find another room with more doors.

    Choose another. Any will do.

    Continue to open doors and you will, over time, come back to a place where an adjoining door has already been opened.

    You’ve been here before.

    …and that’s the true brilliance and power of your own creative brain.

    Everything connects sooner or later—if you let it.

    Regardless of where your first idea comes from, or what it is—this guide is going to show you how to make it grow.

    By using a set of clear, specific, perspectives, triggers, and strategies, you will be able to create a dynamic world to craft stories upon. Tales with depth, diversity, and flavor — with personable and intriguing characters, breathtaking environments, and fascinating lore.

    You’ll build a world that readers will absorb, enjoy, and return to again and again.

    My hope is that you’re ready to craft a world of your own, because I’m excited to show you just how brilliant you truly are.

    Why create a guide on worldbuilding?

    There are many books and guides already published on worldbuilding. Why create another?

    As an author, illustrator, comic book & game creator, I’ve crafted worlds, people, powers and conflicts to entertain, both on and offline since 2005. Worldbuilding is almost second nature to me. It’s become habit.

    Another passion I have is interacting with other creative people. It’s fun meeting writers, artists, and fellow game makers. So much talent wrapped in brilliant personalities. Each person shares a common denominator: a creative process to form their ideas and make them a reality.

    This discovery got me wondering about aspects of writing:

    Why do so many authors experience ‘writer’s block’?

    Why do so many clever people start projects and not finish them?

    Why do we get stuck or even frustrated when writing?

    I have a theory.

    It is my belief that our writing process is often hindered due to a lack of worldbuilding.

    Think about this — when we start the process of crafting a new story, we oftentimes forget that creating with our imagination is supposed to be fun. I don’t believe there’s supposed to be large amounts of stress at this early stage in the creative process.

    Work, sure. Effort? Of course, but not stress…and certainly not frustration. If we are experiencing overwhelming stress in our creative process, I believe something’s wrong.

    Think of it this way: what’s easier—talking with a stranger, or talking with a close personal friend?

    We communicate better with people we know. Sure, there are individuals who communicate openly and fluidly with anyone they meet, but they’re the exception, not the rule. This same predicament happens in writing.

    The better you know your characters, your circumstances, and the variables of your world, the easier your writing will flow. When you pause in your writing, isn’t it usually because you’re trying to figure out what a person would say or do? If you knew the people, places, and circumstances well enough, the results would almost form themselves, wouldn’t they?

    Yes, they would.

    So I asked myself, Could I make the process of worldbuilding both fun, and virtually effortless with explosive results?

    What a guide must contain

    It’s hard not to have big expectations when purchasing manuals, guides, and writing tools. To justify publishing Advanced WORLDBUILDING, it has to meet certain standards.

    The first qualification is simple: will this be something I’d purchase myself? Having few scruples as a shopper, guides must have value by creating value — adding to a process and/or project.

    The material also has to motivate. Encouraging readers to stay the course, while providing a different perspective, feeding the original desire and passion for the subject.

    The material has to hold my attention, just like the books I read for enjoyment. What good is any book or material if the reader isn’t interested enough to finish it? Duh.

    If you write what you love to read, your work is usually better. Readers naturally pick up on this and are more likely to ‘feel’ your intent when you’re passionate.

    The next question to address is: what does this book have to accomplish? To answer that, I addressed the question as a reader.

    The guide must be easy to use and encourage its use through design. That means it has to ‘flow’ — easy to read and understand.

    Provide solid, creative content with definitions, using ‘plain’ language. I appreciate intelligent people, I really do, but losing precious time by being forced to read with a dictionary in hand? Uh, no. This guide is designed to help a wide age and proficiency range of writers. Educated writers out there may mock my weak vocabulary or simplified approach, but that’s alright — the masses will be fed.

    Common topics must be addressed — while providing a unique perspective, backed by real-life examples and easily accessible resources. This is critical. With a growing number of books about worldbuilding on the market — this guide needs to be a ‘working mans solution’. A book allowing writers to take their skills to the next level at their own pace, with results they can see, examine, and ask questions about.

    The material has to be a step-by-step process. Again, this is critical to me as a writer. I want to know exactly what to do to get results. It also had to allow the writer to use the steps out-of-order. This is challenging, providing a product that works for both the linear thinker (not me) and the non-linear thinker (me, me, me).

    The guide has to point to supportive resources for the writer to use, until they can design their own. Templates for each aspect of their creations, such as developing characters, animals, plant life and more. Since the first printing of this book, both the Boundless Journals (a fully custom, printable resource we’ll talk about later) and WorldAnvil (the ultimate online platform) are now available to sustain every skill level of writer out there.

    The guide must be available in both print and digital format. This updated version now satisfies that requirement.

    What you can expect from this book

    This is written to be a conversation between myself and a friend.

    As my friend, I will show you:

    How I worldbuild for my own books, and;

    WhyI do it this way.

    Once you understand the ‘why’ of a thing, nothing can really hold you back except yourself. The rest is simply practice.

    Watching my wife cook, I’ve noticed her doing all sorts of unique things. It’s often the timing and process — not just the ingredients — that make the difference. Those little ‘extras’ that you don’t always get from a recipe book. There is a reason why her food tastes so good. She understands the processes and has practiced her craft.

    I’m sharing this worldbuilding information with you like I do with family and friends. It’s less formal, includes feelings and perspectives, making the whole experience easier to understand and retain.

    By showing you the patterns used to write my own books, theme games, and to build my fictional world, you will have the power and control to do the same. Hopefully you’ll also have more fun, ease, and success with writing than you do right now.

    Study my examples. Apply the steps I show you.

    You’ll achieve results =)

    For those wondering what to do with the material you’ve already created…just set it to the side for a bit. You’ll get back to it very soon, I promise.

    Some writers assume using Advanced WORLDBUILDING means they’ve been ‘wrong’ up to this point, and materials have to be tossed out. Let me be clear: DO NOT THROW YOUR IDEAS OUT! Keep every scrap of paper, every idea you have in a safe place.

    There’s no right or wrong in worldbuilding—just perspectives. My job is to offer experience, along with examples of actual application.

    It’s your job to take it from there.

    Drop by wantedhero.com or shoot me an email if you have questions.

    Let me know about your experience!

    Chapter 2

    How To Use This Guide

    This guide is designed to assist you in the development of your ideas, but it’s written according to how I create worlds myself — which uses a specific method.

    The challenge of this 2.0 version is to clarify these methods, so you can use the portions you prefer, in your own way…any time you like.

    If you are a Novice

    If you’re anything like me, you’re bursting at the seams with creative juices and want to info-dump soon.

    Good News: this guide is designed by me, for people like me…and those who want to further develop their creative talents.

    Start at the front of the book. Stick with the order provided in the guide and follow the system. It is designed to assist you through the process of creation.

    If you are determined to do it your own way, or you already started worldbuilding and you’re more interested in using this guide as an organizational tool, then briefly study the trigger questions and record away.

    Never limit yourself.

    You don’t have to use my methods. This guide is about encouraging you to create something new. It is here for when you get stuck or don’t know how to begin and/or organize you thoughts.

    For Intermediate Writers

    You may already have world creation journals filled or being filled as you read this. You might not need ‘another’ journal to fill. That’s awesome!

    Use the front material to fuel your writing flames and keep going. You’ll appreciate the real life examples of application and its results.

    Those with some experience can use this as a reference and ‘hub’ for your own information. Use the trigger questions to refine your notes and inventions, while Chapter 13: What Your Readers Want, can help you fine tune your story to help grow your results.

    As you fill your journals, use this guide as a dynamic index. I’ve provided a small section with suggestions on how to organize notes you may have in other books. List what you’re writing about, according to subject matter. That way, when you need to find sections or something specific, you can have it all listed in one place!

    For Advanced Writers

    There are still good resources available in here for you. We all work to refine our craft — and new perspectives, suggestions, and information may help you write that next great novel.

    Only you will know for certain.

    There are recommended tools listed herein, and of course, there are trigger questions, which help any writer. Even if you have your own system in place, I’d recommend the Boundless Journal, packed with templates, trigger questions, and customizable formats that will save you time. Even if they serve to inspire you to create your own, I’ll consider this venture a success.

    My humble suggestion would be to give the

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1