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PODCAST

Worldbuilding for Masochists

worldbuildingformasochists

A podcast by three fantasy authors who love to overcomplicate their writing lives and want to help you do the same.

arts books

All Episodes

52:12

Episode 95: Building and Bending Gender, ft. G.R....

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2023/02/01

When you're building a society's conceptions of gender and gender roles... where do you start? Do you want to draw from historical precedent (for good or ill), or try to create something from scratch? G.R. Macallister joins us to discuss thoughtfully incorporating ideas of gender into your world, whether or not you're making it a cornerstone of your premise. We also discuss where gender intersects with other important worldbuilding concepts: religion, government, sexuality, family structures, and

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01:04:10

Episode 94: Natural and Supernatural Disasters

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2023/01/18

Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, volcanoes... unstable wormholes, hellmouths, murder hornets, sharknados... When you're writing speculative fiction, the scope of disaster can be wild! Do the local wizards cause occasional hails of turnips? Does Gondor have a tornado warning system? After a thousand-year flood, does magical FEMA show up to rebuild? Decisions about how your society plans for and reacts to disaster can imply a lot else about their infrastructure, government, religion, and other

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01:12:11

Episode 93: Queries and Quandaries

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2023/01/04

Happy new year, listeners! In this episode, we take some questions from you! But not just any questions -- questions that probe specific worldbuilding conundrums you're facing, either in your own work or in popular media. In response to your prompts, we discuss imaginary friends, villain tropes, the deficiencies of sci-fi obstetrics, cultural shifts, and grappling with originality. Transcript for Episode 93 (tk)

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01:05:23

Episode 92: Ringing in the New Year

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/12/21

As 2022 draws to a close, your WFM hosts take a moment to celebrate winter traditions, especially those commemorating the start of a new year! But... what is a year, even? Does your culture have that conception? Is it tied to seasons, to floods, to the stars, or something else? And if they do recognize a regular rotation of time, how do they mark the observation? Is it a time for gift-giving and wild parties, or for somber reflection? For cleansing and spiritual purifying, or for hedonistic

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54:41

Episode 91: Making the Incredible Credible, ft....

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/12/07

When you've added a fantastical, super-science-y, or paranormal element to your world, how do you make that feel well-integrated, baked-in, and totally normal for that world? Guest Charlaine Harris joins us to discuss using history, society, and your imagination to fill in the corners of a world and make it feel like a place you could actually go visit. Sometimes, that work is about making sure a world is internally consistent -- and sometimes, it's about giving your werewolves fast food

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01:06:30

Episode 90: The Editor’s Take ft. BRIT HVIDE

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/11/23

We're big believers in doing all the work when it comes to the worldbuilding, but when it comes to putting it in the book, how do you know how much you need to have in the text? What do the readers need to know, and what goes in the ephemera or appendices? Who can help you figure that out? An editor, of course! So we sat down with Orbit Books executive editor Brit Hvide-- who's worked with authors like N.K. Jemisin, C.L. Clark, Django Wexler, Andrea Stewart and many more-- to get her thoughts on

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01:01:53

Episode 89: Stealing the Best Parts of History, ft....

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/11/09

Many fantasy authors draw from history to shape their worlds and inform their worldbuilding choices. Where do you draw the line between hewing to the record and just using it for inspiration? How much do accuracy and authenticity matter? And, when those research rabbit holes are so very alluring, how do you make yourself stop? Guest Laura Anne Gilman joins us to talk about the various ways to approach historical research and integrate it into your worldbuilding, as well as what to do with the many,

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01:07:10

Episode 88: Hashtag Aesthetic, ft. MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/10/26

We throw the word "aesthetic" around a lot on this podcast -- but we've never really slowed down to talk about what it means. How do we define the aesthetic of a work? Is that different from the aesthetic of a world? How do subgenres and plot structures intertwine with those ideas? Guest Mary Robinette Kowal joins us to explore the crafting of aesthetics in worldbuilding and storymaking! We discuss pacing, word choice, set dressing, the theatre of the mind, the "breath" of the written word, and so

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01:00:02

Episode 87: Building Up Hope, ft BRANDON CRILLY

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/10/12

Can you see the climate fiction for the trees? In this episode, Brandon Crilly joins us to discuss solarpunk, cli-fi, hopepunk, and the places where these concepts overlap and intertwine. How do you build a world with a deliberately optimistic outlook? How much of that is about technology, and how much is about social paradigms? What other considerations go into storytelling from this particular worldview? Transcript for Episode 87 (in-progress) Our Guest: An Ottawa teacher by day, Brandon Crilly

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59:34

Episode 86: Live at WorldCon!

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/09/28

This episode was recorded in a panel session at WorldCon/ChiCon 8 on September 4th, 2022. Many thanks to everyone who attended in-person! We had a blast, and it's so great to get to field your questions in real-time. We discuss favorite bits of worldbuilding from our own projects -- and the things about worldbuilding that we love less! Then, we answer questions about world-generating seeds, deciding on tech levels for our worlds, intentionality in designing magical systems, and more! Transcript for

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01:12:17

Episode 85: Falling in Love Again… with Worldbuilding...

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/09/14

Where's the love? It makes the world(building) go 'round and 'round and 'round... At least, it does when things are going well! In this episode, guest Sara Mueller joins us to discuss how to get yourself re-engaged with your fantasy worlds when you've drifted away from them, for one reason or another. When you've gotten jaded, what can bring you back in? Do you cling to a particular detail of life that fascinates you? Return to the map and start filling in the blank spaces? Pivot to another project,

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01:08:49

Episode 84: Make or Break Worldbuilding Deep Dive:...

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/08/31

The Magical Nude Gate is a what we call a tentpole idea: a concept that touches on so many other elements of a world that it can't be just a throwaway shiny idea. It has to be well-integrated. Culture, economy, language, religion, politics -- the MNG has implications so wide-reaching and fundamental that they cannot be ignored. So what is the MNG? A network of magical portals connecting our world -- but the catch is, it only allows living creatures through, so you come out on the other side naked as

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01:11:55

Episode 83: Using Our Vacation Time

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/08/17

Here in the dwindling days of summer, we want to know: what do the people in your world do on vacation? Are they relaxing by a beach, wandering museums, hiking in the wilderness? Unpacking that idea ties into a surprising number of other worldbuilding concepts, including economy, labor, and transportation. In this episode, we explore some of the conditions that even allow for vacation to be conceptually available, the practicalities of arranging time off, and whether or not you can board your

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54:08

Episode 82.5: Live at ArmadilloCon!

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/08/10

In this bonus episode, your hosts gather together in real life at ArmadilloCon 2022! We talk about why we love worldbuilding, what our strategies are, and take a bunch of really fabulous questions from the audience. Because this episode was recorded on-site in a convention hall and because it is a bonus episode, this is essentially raw audio! So you're getting us unfiltered and unedited... and you're getting the chaos of recording in a large open room, with the various intrusions and fuzziness

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01:06:09

Episode 82: From One-Note Worlds to Complete Space...

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/08/03

What happens when you have to build not just one world, but a whole passel of them? In this episode, guest Valerie Valdes joins us to talk about how an author can craft compelling adventures in spaaaaaaaaaaace. The vastness and potential diversity of space makes for an appealing sandbox for writers to play in. In a genre that often depends on the element of handwavium to make its interplanetary travel, interstellar stations, and laser swords possible, how can you still build cultures and societies

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01:00:39

Episode 81: That’s Just Good Policy feat. VICTOR MANIBO

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/07/20

DUN-DUN. Law & Order. What does it mean in your world? Who makes the laws, and by what power do they do so? How easy or difficult is it to change the rules? Guest Victor Manibo, author and real-life lawyer, joins us to discuss how different structures of formal and informal policy could affect the choices your characters make. So much of law comes down to "who is allowed to do what." But where's the line between a law and a policy? Where does power reside -- and how did it get there? All of these

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01:00:21

Episode 80: Festivus for the Rest Of Us

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/07/06

We've talked about big holidays and religious observations before, but what about the small, weird, highly-location-specific festivals and traditions that might dot the landscape of your world? From cheese-rollings to local saints' days to parades to "hey, all our squash came ripe at once, guess we better do something with it!", how do the people in your world make their lives a little more interesting with periodic celebrations? We also invent some tiny, specific festival occurrences for our

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01:01:07

Episode 79: Building Past the Horizon

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/06/22

We kick off our fourth year of the podcast with a conversation about how to fill in the rest of your world, beyond the immediate scope of your plot. What's outside the borders your characters are familiar with? What's beyond the woods we know? Is it "here there be dragons" or a highly-detailed map with every corner marked? Your methods of showing that may vary depending on if your characters are isolated village folk, citizens of a bustling port town, or merchants moving through many cosmopolitan

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01:05:51

Episode 78: Reimagining Relationships w/ FOZ MEADOWS

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/06/08

Your characters and the relationships they have -- romantic, sexual, friendly, familial, professional -- will drive much of what readers connect to in your stories. So what sort of relationship dynamics do you want to build into your world's cultures? Foz Meadows joins us to discuss all the things that make up the space between two or more hearts. From power structures and politics to financial inheritance and gender roles, there's a lot to consider. What kinds of relationships are possible in your

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01:01:15

Episode 77: Pull a Thread, Build A World w/ KRITIKA...

Worldbuilding for Masochists ·

2022/05/25

When it comes to worldbuilding, what's the difference between going deep and going wide? Kritika H. Rao joins us to discuss finding the balance between the things that are tentpoles of your world and things that can be window dressing. How do you choose what to focus on? How many worldbuilding innovations might be too many innovations? In this episode, we discuss different processes of worldbuilding and how an author's choices might cause revelations or problems down the line. Transcript for Episode

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