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A Map Of The Cathedral Galaxy, Including Ancient Alien Artifacts
Aerospace engineer Joseph Shoer whipped up this cool map of a galactic civilization in his spare time, when he wasn't researching designs for real-life spacecraft. Not only is this galaxy thoroughly mapped, but it's also got an ultrafast transportation system. More »Gigantic Fleas and Killer Fish Wait on an Alien World
Brynn Metheny's The Morae River is a fascinating exercise in ecological worldbuilding. She populates her alien world with strange and unusual creatures, from man-sized rodents to towering, tentacled arthopods. More »All Your Characters Talk The Same — And They're Not A Hivemind!
James Cameron Is The Tyrannical God of Pandora
The New Yorker followed James Cameron's alien opus Avatar throughout its production and has delivered a fascinating article, detailing Cameron's tyrannical behavior on-set, Peter Jackson's opinion of the effects, and how much more went into Pandora than naked cat people. More »What's The Difference Between Denouement And Picking At A Scab?
The One Sentence That Can Ruin Your Whole Day
The Questions You Shouldn't Answer, And The Answers You Can't Let Go Of
Make Your Epic Space Novel Live Up To Your "Elevator Pitch"
Enrollment Open to Teens for "Shared Worlds" Summer Worldbuilding Workshop
How To Start A Novel So It'll Grow Into A Compelling Series
Fantasy author Gwenda Bond points us to a fascinating discussion among novelists: How much planning do you put in before you start a novel? And raises a related question: what makes a great book series? More »The Curious Art of Science Fiction Road Maps
Adrian Leskiw is one of the rarest kinds of science fiction creators: He does his world-building entirely through the medium of road maps. A self-professed road geek, Leskiw creates extremely realistic road systems for fictional countries or alternate versions of existing ones. Here you can see a map he's created of an imaginary island called Breda in the south Pacific, in the year 2040. More »The Greatest Characters Come From The Weirdest Worlds, Says Eileen Gunn
Secrets Of Great Characters, According To 6 Science Fiction Authors
SharedWorlds Creative Writing Program Gets a Sequel
The Rules of Quick and Dirty Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is the art of creating an alternate universe where the rules of present-day Earth life don't apply, and you have been appreciating that art for as long as you've been reading or watching science fiction. Some worldbuilding is epic in scale, and requires thousands of people: the Star Wars universe is like that, if you think of all the people who have helped create the movies, books, art, TV and games from that world. But other worldbuilders work alone. Ursula Le Guin wrote several novels set in her "shared worlds" universe without any help and without spawning any spinoff tales by other people. But worldbuilding doesn't have to be something that just the pros do. You can get in on the cool create-your-own universe action any time you want, and fast. Just follow our five simple rules for whipping up a universe in your spare time. More »SF Authors Pick Favorite Examples of World-Building
Why Commericals Are the Best Way to Evoke an Alternate World