Everything You Can Imagine Is Real: Worldbuilding, the Donnée and the Magic of Writing
- Publisher:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Publication Type:
- Chapter
- Citation:
- Creative Writing Practice Reflections on Form and Process, 2021, pp. 65-82
- Issue Date:
- 2021-11-13
Closed Access
Filename | Description | Size | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DebraAdelaideSa_2021_Chapter5EverythingYou_CreativeWritingPracti.pdf | Published version | 323.93 kB |
Copyright Clearance Process
- Recently Added
- In Progress
- Closed Access
This item is closed access and not available.
Worldbuilding is often described as the process of constructing an imaginary world, as in a science fiction or fantasy story, a process informed by both research and imagination. Creation of the big ideas underpinning a world and selection of convincing detail is critical for the aesthetic pleasure, emotional weight and intellectual credibility of these worlds. But as Nabokov points out, all worlds are imaginary when you are writing them. With the accelerating pace of change, contemporary literary fiction faces the same questions and requires as much research and careful selection of detail, as much ‘worldbuilding’, as any other genre of writing. Recent research shows there are specific ways of using words that engage the reader’s brain, allowing the reader to have a real experience of the world they’re immersed in. This chapter shows ways of approaching worldbuilding that apply to all types of fiction, using examples from a range of genres. These techniques will ensure that your work immerses your reader.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: