Category: The Poison Sky
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Worldbuilding: back to the map
Sure, fantasy maps are fun, but why do we create them? How do they help both the reader and the writer better understand the story?
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Worldbuilding: walking an airship’s deck boards
Tour the deck boards of an airship from my work-in-progress novel. More important, understand why I created a ship layout in such detail.
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Worldbuilding: navigation
The worldbuilding of “A Philosophy of Air” combines historical navigational tools and techniques with inventions specific to a world of airships.
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Worldbuilding: How to sail an airship
Airships incorporate traditional and invented sails in “A Philosophy of Air.” Learn about how I thought through this aspect of worldbuilding.
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Worldbuilding: how to launch an airship
Continuing my discussion of worldbuilding for “A Philosophy of Air”, I discuss the physics of airships in my world. Part one of two.
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The Sursus
The sursus is a key feature of the world of A Philosophy of Air. Learn how this poison sea affects the world both practically and symbolically.
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Wordcraft and worldcraft
A Philosophy of Air delves into a rich sea of language, some invented, some sourced from history.
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The shocking biochemistry underpinning “show don’t tell”
When we “show” rather than “tell” we set off an unexpected chemical reaction in our audience. We can leverage that reaction in many walks of life.
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The Archipelago
My fantasy novel A Philosophy of Air boasts a deep, richly-built world and history. Today I introduce the setting.
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The importance of theme: what your story’s (really) about?
Your story isn’t about what it’s about. Plot simply relates what happens, but a story is really about theme: about an underlying argument and message.