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On Writing and Worldbuilding #2
On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume II
Following the immense success of Volume I with over 35,000 copies sold, On Writing and Volume II brings a host of new topics to table in even more detail and depth. Writing advice tends to be full of "rules" and "tips" which are either too broad to be helpful or outright wrong.
Aimed at specific, applicable, and practical discussions, from writing fight scenes to first-person narration to hard and soft worldbuilding, Volume II is a "must have".
On Writing
Fight Scenes Handling Pacing Mentor Characters Positive Arcs and Redemption Arcs Power Escalation in a Magic System Flashbacks and Backstory Civil Wars First-person Narration Dark Lords On Worldbuilding Fantasy and Alien Races World Histories
Monarchies Place Names Class, Wealth, and Power How Class Systems are Maintained How Class Systems Collapse Cities and Towns Hard versus Soft Worldbuilding
Aimed at specific, applicable, and practical discussions, from writing fight scenes to first-person narration to hard and soft worldbuilding, Volume II is a "must have".
On Writing
Fight Scenes Handling Pacing Mentor Characters Positive Arcs and Redemption Arcs Power Escalation in a Magic System Flashbacks and Backstory Civil Wars First-person Narration Dark Lords On Worldbuilding Fantasy and Alien Races World Histories
Monarchies Place Names Class, Wealth, and Power How Class Systems are Maintained How Class Systems Collapse Cities and Towns Hard versus Soft Worldbuilding
Audible Audio
Published June 17, 2022
131 people are currently reading
1050 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Hickson
7 books2,031 followersI host the channel Hello Future Me dedicated to discussing writing and worldbuilding.
And here, you can tell me how wrong my opinions are!
And here, you can tell me how wrong my opinions are!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
January 28, 2022
Much like the first volume of this series, the subjects within are transcribed from Hickson's YouTube videos.
And much like the first volume, this sequel is just as aimless, if not more so. Mind, I still believe that nothing Hickson says is objectionable, but I am more convinced than ever that these volumes aren't very useful as craft books. There is a lack of focus and a lack of purpose, and while everything is mostly reasoned and thought out, there isn't a real point to most of it. Many of the tips are introductory or tangential, and very surface level.
While I am sure this is great for Hickson's visual media fans who just wanted a written copy of his videos, it falls short of what one should be looking for if they are a newbie or amateur writer seeking a good craft book to enhance their writing skills. While there is indeed information in these books, there exists a dearth of functional education. I'm not sure an unrelated writer would walk away from reading these volumes with a greater ability to write. I unfortunately can't recommend this book as a resource.
And much like the first volume, this sequel is just as aimless, if not more so. Mind, I still believe that nothing Hickson says is objectionable, but I am more convinced than ever that these volumes aren't very useful as craft books. There is a lack of focus and a lack of purpose, and while everything is mostly reasoned and thought out, there isn't a real point to most of it. Many of the tips are introductory or tangential, and very surface level.
While I am sure this is great for Hickson's visual media fans who just wanted a written copy of his videos, it falls short of what one should be looking for if they are a newbie or amateur writer seeking a good craft book to enhance their writing skills. While there is indeed information in these books, there exists a dearth of functional education. I'm not sure an unrelated writer would walk away from reading these volumes with a greater ability to write. I unfortunately can't recommend this book as a resource.
July 13, 2022
Great book, just like the first. Really going into detail about how to write one's stories and how to detail one's world. This book felt more focussed on fantasy and sci-fi than the original but I think that works to it's strengths. Timothy Hickson is a great help to me in how I write stories and touches on some really great points of development in this book though I think it works primarily with fantasy authors. When looking at generic fiction I'd suggest On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Steven King. Anyway that's my two cents worth.
November 25, 2021
If you're a fan of Tim's, you will know how much effort he puts into everything he does and just like Volume I in this now SERIES of books, he masterfully dissects key storytelling elements and presents them in an easy and digestible way.
Tim said multiple times throughout his videos and interviews/chats on other channels that he wanted to give specific advice over the often very general storytelling techniques other people present, and he accomplishes it here again. He does so building on everything he already discussed on his fantastic YouTube channel, even giving additional information, tightening the scope and gifting us with even more reasons to pick this up, even if you're a veteran writer.
In the end, the best thing I can say about Tim and ALL of his content—now including this delightful book—is that without it, I would probably never believed I could write anything worthwhile. Now, however, I am in the final couple of chapters of my first novel and without Tim's insights and lectures this would not have been possible.
So thank you Tim, for all your hard work, you inspire many of us to greater things. To everyone else:
Would you please—for the love of everything dear to you—throw some money at this guy?!
Tim said multiple times throughout his videos and interviews/chats on other channels that he wanted to give specific advice over the often very general storytelling techniques other people present, and he accomplishes it here again. He does so building on everything he already discussed on his fantastic YouTube channel, even giving additional information, tightening the scope and gifting us with even more reasons to pick this up, even if you're a veteran writer.
In the end, the best thing I can say about Tim and ALL of his content—now including this delightful book—is that without it, I would probably never believed I could write anything worthwhile. Now, however, I am in the final couple of chapters of my first novel and without Tim's insights and lectures this would not have been possible.
So thank you Tim, for all your hard work, you inspire many of us to greater things. To everyone else:
Would you please—for the love of everything dear to you—throw some money at this guy?!
March 15, 2022
I found this author from his YouTube channel where he talks all about writing and worldbuilding (given away from the title of his book). I always found his videos interesting. It's what made me pick up the first book which led me to this one. If you enjoy him on YouTube as I do then you'll enjoy this book and it's predecessor even more.
February 6, 2024
This volume's strongest impression is that it is refreshing to read a guide to worldbuilding that uses contemporary examples from across a spread of mediums.
While I recommend picking up this book if you're interested in helpful tips for specific fiction writing, I do not recommend reading through the entirety of the book. Choose the chapters that are relevant to your process/needs and scan the rest.
While Hickson provides some excellent insights into building a landscape and icing it with complex characters, the summaries at the back of each chapter/essay are often far more useful than the rest of the content. It's not that the bulk of the word count is boring, it's more that the book is padded in a way that becomes frustrating after a few chapters.
While I recommend picking up this book if you're interested in helpful tips for specific fiction writing, I do not recommend reading through the entirety of the book. Choose the chapters that are relevant to your process/needs and scan the rest.
While Hickson provides some excellent insights into building a landscape and icing it with complex characters, the summaries at the back of each chapter/essay are often far more useful than the rest of the content. It's not that the bulk of the word count is boring, it's more that the book is padded in a way that becomes frustrating after a few chapters.
March 5, 2025
Another sequel that's better than the first, and this time for different reasons. As with the first book, this is a very good collection of writing advice - it's thorough, the topics are well-chosen, and the author breaks down the discussions in a way that's easy to follow. Some of the sections are about writing very specific things, such as Dark Lords and power escalation (those are two different chapters, though I'm sure they can be related), which also keeps it interesting, as specific writing advice is often more useful than just general discussions of craft. The three-part series on social classes in the worldbuilding section was a very interesting read, as that's the kind of thing that most writers would benefit from understanding but it's something I almost never see brought up in worldbuilding advice. Also, the closing essay on "soft worldbuilding" was fascinating and something I've never seen discussed anywhere else.
Thankfully, the book also fixes most of the formatting issues that plagued the first volume. They show up a little as the book goes on - there are several pages in the later chapters with headers at the bottom of the page - but I didn't see the problems with paragraph spacing and alignment like the first book had. I understand this wouldn't bother most people, but I format documents for a living, so this sort of thing is like nails on a chalkboard for me.
I still plan to pick up the third volume at some point, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's covered in that, as well as hoping the formatting issues have been fixed entirely.
Thankfully, the book also fixes most of the formatting issues that plagued the first volume. They show up a little as the book goes on - there are several pages in the later chapters with headers at the bottom of the page - but I didn't see the problems with paragraph spacing and alignment like the first book had. I understand this wouldn't bother most people, but I format documents for a living, so this sort of thing is like nails on a chalkboard for me.
I still plan to pick up the third volume at some point, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's covered in that, as well as hoping the formatting issues have been fixed entirely.
February 1, 2022
Definitely a great resource for aspiring writers, especially if you're looking for advice relating to structure, and the mechanics behind writing.
While I didn't agree with all the advice given in this book (as is expected, when one is talking about a very subjective creative process), Tim delivers all of his points with the disclaimer that writing is not made of hard and fast rules, which is a refreshing tone for this sort of book.
He uses lots of in-depth examples for each topic, which helps the advice and its application become more concrete; seeing how the formula results in a powerful outcome, when polished into a final product.
There isn't much new advice in this book, at least coming from someone who has seen Tim's videos, and has a working knowledge of the writing process, but for newer writers, or anyone who hasn't delved deep into story structure, this is a great general starting point!
|| I do want to end this review with my own personal advice, which is to not get so caught up in the structural mechanics of your story, that you set creativity and emotional depth aside. A lot of the advice you absorb will be applied naturally, but if it's not, there's always room for change in editing. If you're focused on structuring each scene in a certain manner, you risk your story becoming rigid, and losing the impact it otherwise would've had. You don't want the writing to distract from the story. ||
While I didn't agree with all the advice given in this book (as is expected, when one is talking about a very subjective creative process), Tim delivers all of his points with the disclaimer that writing is not made of hard and fast rules, which is a refreshing tone for this sort of book.
He uses lots of in-depth examples for each topic, which helps the advice and its application become more concrete; seeing how the formula results in a powerful outcome, when polished into a final product.
There isn't much new advice in this book, at least coming from someone who has seen Tim's videos, and has a working knowledge of the writing process, but for newer writers, or anyone who hasn't delved deep into story structure, this is a great general starting point!
|| I do want to end this review with my own personal advice, which is to not get so caught up in the structural mechanics of your story, that you set creativity and emotional depth aside. A lot of the advice you absorb will be applied naturally, but if it's not, there's always room for change in editing. If you're focused on structuring each scene in a certain manner, you risk your story becoming rigid, and losing the impact it otherwise would've had. You don't want the writing to distract from the story. ||
July 8, 2022
Proof That A Guy On YouTube CAN Nail It!
I've followed Timothy's Hello Future Me channel for few years now, and loved his video content, so I was stoked to discover he'd written an actual writing craft BOOK. But there's always that worry with YouTube authors, isn't there? "Sure, this guy can definitely talk the talk... but can he write the write?"
I'm happy to report he most certainly CAN. If you only plan to buy one worldbuilding craft book in your whole life, do yourself a huge favour and make it this one. Oh, and also Vol 1, so two books. But they will be the only two you'll ever need, I promise.
Still not convinced? If you've never watched any of his Hello Future Me videos, go do that right now. You'll probably binge-watch a load of them, but that's okay. Now imagine all of that juicy knowledge and goodness in two handy, portable forms. That will become reality if you buy this book and it's predecessor.
Thank you for coming to my review talk. My work here is done.
I've followed Timothy's Hello Future Me channel for few years now, and loved his video content, so I was stoked to discover he'd written an actual writing craft BOOK. But there's always that worry with YouTube authors, isn't there? "Sure, this guy can definitely talk the talk... but can he write the write?"
I'm happy to report he most certainly CAN. If you only plan to buy one worldbuilding craft book in your whole life, do yourself a huge favour and make it this one. Oh, and also Vol 1, so two books. But they will be the only two you'll ever need, I promise.
Still not convinced? If you've never watched any of his Hello Future Me videos, go do that right now. You'll probably binge-watch a load of them, but that's okay. Now imagine all of that juicy knowledge and goodness in two handy, portable forms. That will become reality if you buy this book and it's predecessor.
Thank you for coming to my review talk. My work here is done.
October 21, 2024
It had some good points and good ideas and questions to keep in mind while writing and planning, but it just felt like there was a lot of "padding" around some chapters.
Maybe it comes off as a nitpick, but one thing that sort of annoyed me is he would credit and use the book(s) for nearly every other example (like J.K Rowling's Harry Potter book series, or the Witcher book series instead of their movie/show adaptations), but not for Howl's moving castle or Kiki's delivery service, he used the movie adaptations instead. It's a small nitpick, but I think it would be better to use the book versions because the plots are different and the worldbuilding could be fleshed out better and/or differently in the books verse the movies. (plus it would be nice to give the authors the credit of writing the story instead of Miyazaki. like I said, a small nitpick.
Maybe it comes off as a nitpick, but one thing that sort of annoyed me is he would credit and use the book(s) for nearly every other example (like J.K Rowling's Harry Potter book series, or the Witcher book series instead of their movie/show adaptations), but not for Howl's moving castle or Kiki's delivery service, he used the movie adaptations instead. It's a small nitpick, but I think it would be better to use the book versions because the plots are different and the worldbuilding could be fleshed out better and/or differently in the books verse the movies. (plus it would be nice to give the authors the credit of writing the story instead of Miyazaki. like I said, a small nitpick.
August 3, 2023
Not perfect, but an excellent companion to the first book. "On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume II" is an entertaining manual for those looking to write science-fiction, fantasy or adventure novels. And this time, author Timothy Hickson has managed to include more examples than in the first instalment. Hence, he not only talks about "Avatar: the Last Airbender", but of all manner of novels, comics, films and TV shows. This, plus the great variety of topics --many of them focused on the politics and details of worldbuilding--, means this is quite the satisfying book. It may actually have helped me find new motivation to keep writing my novel... which, of course, is the best review I can give "On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume II".
January 10, 2022
Just like volume 1, this is a fantastic resource for writers of all levels.
I'm of the level where I don't think I learned anything new from this book, but it was still a useful read for me. Tim has this fantastic way of putting to words the processes and justifications for why certain things happen in crafting storytelling. By breaking down tropes and techniques to their component parts, it's easier for writers to understand the method behind what they do. I found this to be a really good experience, and has already helped me reshape some of my WIPs.
I'm of the level where I don't think I learned anything new from this book, but it was still a useful read for me. Tim has this fantastic way of putting to words the processes and justifications for why certain things happen in crafting storytelling. By breaking down tropes and techniques to their component parts, it's easier for writers to understand the method behind what they do. I found this to be a really good experience, and has already helped me reshape some of my WIPs.
June 1, 2022
I bought both volumes after watching one of the author's videos on Youtube, although I cannot recall which one. There's a lot of good "You may want to keep this in mind for your story" along with some healthy "Tell the story you want to tell, even if you disagree with me" seasoning. He provides examples from popular media, sources people are likely to be familiar with. It is oriented toward the beginning author, which makes sense since as far as I can tell he has no published fiction to his credit.
May 23, 2022
Overall, this book struck the same accord with me as the first, in that, it’s generally interesting, but not much else. It’s interesting to see someone who is passionate about a craft write about it, but there’s little more I can take away from the book. For that, I give it a solid rating for a solid book. I imagine it could be well read and dearly enjoyed in some hands, but those are not mine.
April 15, 2023
Very practical book on writing fantasy and science fiction. Hickson does a good job of synthesizing ideas and laying them out for other authors and lovers of literature to glean from. I like how he pulls samples from many different series to showcase how particular authors demonstrate various principles. The chapter on battle scenes is definitely a highlight and worth getting the book just for that chapter.
January 14, 2024
The sequel to the book is just as useful as the first volume. The four-star rating is there for one reason. While I was reading through the chapters I could not help, but notice that I have heard these things before. Most chapters feel like exact transcriptions of videos made by the author. In itself, this is not a problem. However, I was hoping for a little more extra to learn about writing and worldbuilding. It is still a nice a book to have a round and check once in a while.
March 23, 2022
Hickon's writing has improved between volumes, and is less reliant on distracting attempts at humour. He draws from a much wider selection of examples and more frequently than not uses quotes and explanations to really make the point clearer.
This book is full of useful food for thought and several useful questions, but still remains quite light for my tastes. It is very much for the beginner.
This book is full of useful food for thought and several useful questions, but still remains quite light for my tastes. It is very much for the beginner.
November 16, 2022
A good, well-written followup to the last written work by Timothy Hickson. I read the first one before this one release and as soon as it when up I bought it. Was worth the wait and shipping time, great sequel. He did not rely heavily upon 'The Last Airbender' like the other, and it would be a nice edition to my book pile for writing on things in case I forget something essential.
September 22, 2023
watch his yt channel for literally years now and trust me I also loved reading this book. He put so many good Ideas and systems in it, a must read for ever aspiring and also professional author. Even if the ideas are not new to you, it's not that large and you can look them up easily
Beside the thing that the 1 one does already well, I have to say. The cover on that one looks smoother.
Beside the thing that the 1 one does already well, I have to say. The cover on that one looks smoother.
September 24, 2023
Like the first volume, this book gives concrete examples and thinking points for writing fictional worlds. It doesn’t go into detail for each topic nor does it mandate a certain writing style/framework. As a beginner writer, it is a good resource to refer to when writing stories in new fictional worlds.
April 23, 2025
it's all good, insightful advice and whatnot, but it's more for specific world building issues in specific stories than advice that can be used for virtually any story. I think that's pretty awesome though, because we have PLENTY of general writing advice books and now I have a singular source to return to when I want to tackle something covered in this book.
December 5, 2021
Hickson organizes his thought process so concisely and clearly, drawing examples from many different sources--authors, video games, tv shows. His ability of analysis is incredible and taught me many things.
This is a must buy for aspiring writers!
This is a must buy for aspiring writers!
December 7, 2021
An absolutely excellent tool for any creator! Whether you're creating a fictional book or a homebrew TTRPG world, this is an a worthy successor to "On Writing and Worldbuilding" and a must-have tool for your creative sessions!
April 2, 2022
The second book in this series is, again, an amazing companion piece for the author's videos, but also a very good study of worldbuilding by itself. Recommended read if you're interested on the subject.
June 6, 2023
Loved how Tim has expanded on the topic. My one comment is that it is pretty repetitive if you are a fan of his youtube work. I know that the book is a tangible reference to his other work, I just over-listen to his online stuff anyways so everything was familiar
February 28, 2024
I love Timothy Hickson's work from his YouTube channel, Hello Future Me, and these books that expand on those video essays. They're very helpful and give me a lot to think about in regards to my own writing.
March 24, 2024
In many books I have the examples seem antiquated or hard to grasp, but Hickson invites you on this journey with fun and easy to follow examples. It's one of those few books on writing and Worldbuilding that's hard to put down.
October 1, 2024
Useful Tips and tricks on how to construct your story.
After enjoying the 1st volume,I bought 2nd book for the purpose of worlbuilding but now after reading this it is now the writing that makes me motivated to buy the 3rd one.
After enjoying the 1st volume,I bought 2nd book for the purpose of worlbuilding but now after reading this it is now the writing that makes me motivated to buy the 3rd one.
December 19, 2024
I think this book was an improvement over the previous one, with a greater focus on worldbuilding concepts and I found it gave me a lot of good advice to enrich my writing. I also found that the selection of works was larger, giving more examples that I can use as inspiration.
September 9, 2025
A very inspiring read! Gave me lots to think about. The only (minor) complaint I have about this book is that the layout/formatting is a little off in places. Content-wise it's full of things that are good think about when you're trying to make a secondary world for a story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews