On Vanity

If a kingdom minted coins that have a picture of a dragon on them, does that make dragons more or less likely to want them? Or no change? This is the principle question the writer must ask when deciding the nature of dragons in the setting.

Shaping Up

You've heard of round worlds and you've heard of flat worlds, but have you ever heard of ribbon-like worlds? Probably, followed by ". . . seemed like a neat idea but I couldn't think of anything that it would do for the story." That kind of thinking is why we haven't colonized the sun yet.

Addendum

That aside, the future will almost certainly have either trains or the apocalypse. Possibly both.

Science Fiction Logistics Considerations

When considering whether your setting's transportation has developed to such a level that there are no longer surface trains, remember that people can grab on to the sides and shoot bandits or else have tense fights on the top.

Setting Aesthetics Particulars

If you have masers, is your science fiction necessarily a retro future? Some kind of maserpunk? Do the computers have to be quite large? Or can you just throw those in anything?

Meteorological Reminder

You did give rainbows different colors in a futile attempt to make your setting stand out, right? I'm including you, science fictioners.

Important Fantasy Worldbuilding Considerations

If we go with an arcane/divine distinction, and please remember that there isn't much reason to do so unless we're writing Dungeons and Dragons fanfiction, and if also we decide our fantasy setting can go ahead and have a magical internet, a defensible decision, I bet the clerics would have it, or if they both do, theirs would be better. Wizards would keep sending each other faxes.

Q&A Corner

Q. How do I get across that my setting is full of magic and grand deeds?
A. Slivers of dead gods are a standard currency.
Q. How do I get across that my setting has dragons in it?
A. Here's the first line: "That was the day I saw a dragon."
Q. How do I get across that my orcs are noble and cool and stuff?
A. Here's the title: Neo-Fantasy Is All Out of Ideas
Q. What comes after neo-fantasy?
A. Rachet fantasy, then palin-fantasy, then intimate fantasy (intasy), then tidal fantasy.

The Sun Is Obsolete

Remember to have your fantasy world orbit the beating heart of a god, the final resting place of heroes, the mixing bowl where monsters are made, or something fun like that instead of dumb atom nonsense.

Worthwhile Digressions

How can your setting feel alive if you don't spend a couple thousand words on how soap is prepared? I'm talking about science fiction here. We all know about fantasy soap. It's been covered exhaustively.

Eureka

What about a world with lots of marsupials? And graphic sex and violence. Try it out. You might be surprised.

How to Inform the Audience of the Grim State of the Setting

"Demon dollars." That's the currency. It can't get worse than that.

Effective World Communication

Worried about how to get your setting across to the readers? Just have your characters be forced to enter a quiz competition. This segment should be 200 pages.

More Action

You were going to write about your setting's equivalent of the Magna Carta? Now it's the Fragna Carta. The stars are in some sort of alignment, an action alignment. For three months. After that, make everything all weepy.

February Club

Who's making every month in the fantasy setting twenty-eight days and just not telling the readers? Feels good, doesn't it? Kind of scandalous. A little bit of intrigue, you know, some mystery.

Addendum

For science fiction however, you can just go with hypergold.

Tired of the Same Old Currencies?

Gold, crowns, potch, we've seen it all before. We've seen some of these, too, but that won't stop me.
- casholeons
- blucks
- monni
- gramgrams
- glizzies
- dollarios
- borts
- spinkles
- zouches
- foddor

Animal Sacrifice

I think animal sacrifice might make a comeback in the future, but for the time being, be sure to consider including it in your fantasy or scifi setting. You don't gotta, but at least make a deliberate choice.

Burning Science Fiction Concern

Do the space mechs work on land, or do you need different ones? This is crucial to your setting.

Christmas Fantasy

Now that Christmas has started, it's time to start writing fantasy in which people celebrate Christmas. There's no need to explain it. They just do.