World-building

Strange and peculiar things: An interview with Amie Irene Winters

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A young woman in a red dress crouching in a dark forest.

Amie Irene Winters is the author of Strange Luck, a fantasy series about a girl named Daisy and a secret realm that built on stolen memories. BELINDA: You’ve just released the second book in your Strange Luck series, The Nightmare Birds, tell us a little about the heroine, Daisy. AMIE: Daisy is one strong and cynical chick, … Read more

Worldbuilding and Game Design: an interview with Diana Pinguicha

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Lego Shakespeare standing in front of Lego Globe Theatre

Diana Pinguicha is a woman of many talents not least of which include designing games and writing books. BELINDA: Tell us about your book. What’s it about and what kind of audience would it appeal to? DIANA: The Fantasy novel I currently have on submission is called A Trace of Madness (I call it ATOM, … Read more

The Worldbuilding Leviathan goes Spanish!

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I love how many people have discovered the Worldbuilding Leviathan and I’m always quite chuffed (and just a little bit amazed) whenever someone drops me a line to tell me how useful they’ve found the template. One such person was Juan de la Cruz, who asked me if he could translate it into Spanish. I said ‘of course!’ … Read more

On starcats, worldbuilding and cinematic storytelling

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This is a reposting of an interview I conducted as part of the launch of Leonie Roger’s second book, Frontier Resistance, and has been edited to reflect the growing list of Leonie’s published works. Starcats are the kind of animals that we all would have nagged our parents to get for Christmas. Fortunately for our parents, starcats … Read more

5 more Scrivener templates

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Screenshot of open Scrivener template showing the new template sheets.
5 new Scrivener template sheets for your enjoyment.

I might have previously mentioned that I love templates, and you might ask why. I love them because they make world-building easier, not in a ‘this is how things must be done’ way, but in a ‘here’s some questions to get you started’ way.

Sometimes, when I’m in the thick of creating a story, or the world it’s going to be set in, I have an idea for a something (generally a plant, animal, person or thing). This something often plays an important role in my developing plot (or world), and while I may know a few details, such as its name and function, the nitty-gritty can elude me. 

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