Just because you write speculative fiction it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want: your readers expect a cohesive, coherent world. This presentation was originally given on September 17, 2016 for the ANWA Time Out for Writers Conference.

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12. The goal:
To create “the
inner consistency
of reality” within a
fictional story
(J. R. R. Tolkien)

14. George MacDonald:
“The Fantastic Imagination”
J. R. R. Tolkien:
“On Fairy-stories”

16. of worldbuilding

17. of worldbuilding
“Unless specified otherwise, everything inside your
world is assumed to behave exactly as it would in the
real world.” –Simon Provencher

18. Myrtle Von Damitz III’s “All Our Fictional Worlds” from the book Wonderbook

20. Image credit: Sean Chaffey via flickr (cc)

38. Image credit: zongping zhuo via flickr (cc)

43. Image credit: Gina Collecchia via flickr (cc)

46. of worldbuilding
Image credit: bakaotaku via flickr (cc)

47. Picture book:
Dragons Love Tacos

51. Helios in his chariot, 4th century BC, Athena’s
Temple in Ilion
Image credit: Gryffindor (public domain)