Description:
From contemporary to historical to fantasy, all stories require worldbuilding. To be truly immersive, a world cannot simply be a place where your story is set: it's an entire microcosm defined by your character and their unique perspective. Your job as the writer is to establish and define the world of your character, and invite the reader in. In this Creative Lab, Tiff Liao will show you how to build a world that feels compelling, distinctive, and real. The lab will cover how to gather research and inspiration, convey information while avoiding the dreaded infodump, and explore how to make the world come alive on the page.
Skill Level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced):
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
This lab is best for participants…
Who are writing or revising a NOVEL (chapter book, middle grade, or YA)
Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation:
Please bring a completed rough draft of a novel or a partial draft. Bring your manuscript, either on your laptop or printed out with plenty of space for notes, as well as a notebook, pen or pencil, and your laptop if you wish. Please bring one or two mentor texts that show the kind of worldbuilding you wish to achieve.
Schedule:
- Introduction (3 min)
- Warm-Up: Participants introduce themselves and their stories/worlds (5 min)
- Why is worldbuilding Important?: Introduction to class objectives and ideal worldbuilding characteristics (5 min)
- How story and perspective shape your world (5 min)
- Identifying character motivation as a worldbuilding tool, including examples (10-15 min)
- Introducing different worldbuilding processes (5 min)
- Coffee/Snack/Stretch Break (10 min)
- The “Big Stuff” - macro worldbuilding considerations, including avoiding stereotypes (10 min)
- The “Small Stuff” - micro worldbuilding considerations (10 min)
- Writing Exercise #1: Using sensory details (10 min)
- Sharing, discussion, and Q&A (10 minutes)
- Avoiding the infodump (5 min)
- Analysis of effective worldbuilding in first pages with examples (15 min)
- Learning from mentor texts – world introductions (10 minutes)
- Sharing, discussion, and Q&A (10 minutes)
- Before & after analysis of first vs. final first page (10 min)
- Writing Exercise #2: Using best practices to rewrite a character’s first appearance (10-15 minutes)
- Small group time: Attendees share and workshop their scenes together (10 minutes)
- Coffee/Snack/Stretch Break (5 min)
- Attendees share scenes for in-class feedback (15 minutes)
- Big-picture worldbuilding revision checklist – Overview (5 minutes)
- Final Q&A (10 minutes)
Objectives:
Participants will:
- Analyze the big-picture themes and granular details that make a world feel real
- Learn how to show, not tell, worldbuilding details and avoid infodumping
- Learn how to steer clear of stereotypes and inadvertent appropriation when worldbuilding
- Analyze first page worldbuilding introductions from successful MG and YA novels
- Practice guided free-writes to effectively and clearly establish worldbuilding
- Revise a first-impression passage, making use of best practices
- Identify a world-building to-do list, specific to a novel’s fantastical or realistic setting
- Collaborate with colleagues to identify and strengthen worldbuilding introductions
- Make a post-workshop revision to-do list to guide next steps after the conference.
