Tag: world-building

  • Plotting a novel old-school – Excel spreadsheets are still alive!

    Plotting a novel old-school – Excel spreadsheets are still alive!

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    “It’s alive! It’s alive!” cries Dr. Frankenstein cries in the classic 1931 movie. I was starting to feel like his creation, plodding away with my Excel spreadsheets to plot out my novels, when I came across something that made my little old-fashioned heart beat again. Excel, the clunky, cumbersome software…

  • Nourish your inner writer: Camp NaNoWriMo this July

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    Is it time for you to contemplate writing your own book? Consider signing up for the Camp NaNoWriMo starting on July 1st. It features three tracks that I think might interest you: ‘World-building — Dive deep into the world of your story.’ This track offers a number of cool resources to…

  • World-building: Just the Facts, Ma’am

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    The July 4th fireworks began just as the sun was setting, sprinkling their bright colours across the Niagara River as they rose and burst into a thousand stars. We’d just finished dinner at 7 p.m. and walked across the road from our house to see them … Wait, what??? In…

  • Building the world of your novel

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    Novelists create fictional worlds for their story to take place in, even those novels set in the real world. The best world-building makes readers feel like they could be reading about an actual place, even if it’s completely imaginary. While some people find it difficult to get into the extensive…