Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers

by Trent Hergenrader

The digital technologies of the 21st century are reshaping how we experience storytelling. More than ever before, storylines from the world’s most popular narratives cross from the pages of books to the movie theatre, to our television screens and in comic books series. Plots intersect and intertwine, allowing audiences many different entry points to the narratives. In this sometimes bewildering array of stories across media, one thing binds them their large-scale fictional world. Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers describes how writers can co-create vast worlds for use as common settings for their own stories. Using the worlds of Star Wars , Lord of the Rings , A Game of Thrones , and Dungeons & Dragons as models, this book guides readers through a step-by-step process of building sprawling fictional worlds complete with competing social forces that have complex histories and yet are always evolving. It also shows readers how to populate a catalog with hundreds of unique people, places, and things that grow organically from their world, which become a rich repository of story making potential. The companion website collaborativeworldbuilding.com features links to online resources, past worldbuilding projects, and an innovative card system designed to work with this book.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

274 pages, Paperback

Published October 18, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book for creative writing faculty who teach fiction writing. Especially those of us who teach speculative fiction. Also useful and applicable for people who lead RPGs. Simultaneously a clear and cogent instruction manual for creating a world collaboratively, and an well researched meditation on power of creative writing and world-building to make students more conscious citizens.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an awesome introduction to worldbuilding, and provided me with the easily actionable steps to jump into it and hit the ground running. Hergenrader got me thinking more critically about the cultures and issues that would inevitably appear in my worlds, and opened the door to things I likely would not have previously considered in any great detail. With collaboration as the backbone of his methods, at also doesn't understate the importance of hearing other people out, about concerns, about ideas, and about all of the other things that contribute to a diverse, fun, and engaging world.

One of the biggest takeaways for me, which I have continued to consider since reading this book, is the lesson that the joint, diversity of experiences and viewpoints of a collective will often - if not always - create a more convincing and engaging world. To not be so protective over my world and what I know as to disregard the creative contributions of others would be to do my world a disservice, shutting out ideas that I may never have had. I have found that this is a truth not limited to worldbuilding, but something I have come to embrace in all facets of my daily life.

Great book!

[Carla Kipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Trent Hergenrader! I've always had an interest in worldbuilding, and this is one of the best books I've read on the subject. While it leans hard toward collaborative building, the information is still applicable to any creator or imaginator interested in creating a fictional world. Trent offers an approach then gives detailed examples of how it applies to current sci-fi/fantasy worlds through the first part of the book. Then in chapters 9-12 he walks you through a step-by-step guide of applying the same approach to a fictional project called Tal-Vaz. Again, incredibly detailed with great examples. If you're in to worldbuilding, check this book out!

[Emy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a worldbuilding book that's focused on building a world with other people. However, the concepts and tips within work just as well for a single worldbuilder on their own.

I really enjoy the structure/framework Hergenrader has come up with, and I will definitely be using it when developing each of my countries/regions.

The examples from A Song of Ice and Fire, Star Wars, and The Lord of the Rings were really helpful too, to highlight what the author means by each structure point.

This book is also quite academic in tone, which could put some readers off. It did kind of feel as though I was reading a university text book in places, but, considering that Hergenrader is a university lecture, it makes sense.

Overall I would recommend this book for worldbuilders. It's given me lots of ideas.

[Michelle Corder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful and easy to understand

[Emrys Donaldson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great textbook! Planning to adopt it in my Worldbuilding class this spring.

[Abby]

I’m so glad my worldbuilding method of “just write a textbook” isn’t entirely insane…