For starters, you want to have your magic system fleshed out really thoroughly. What good is teaching a bunch of kids how to use a magic system that you, the author, don’t really know how it works, right!? If you haven’t done this, you might check out my Brainstorming posts Here (Part 1) and Here (Part 2) to get started. Beyond that, you need to think about some school basics: Are all children educated in magic? Or only the most talented, the richest, or the poorest? How does society at large feel about magic education and how does that impact the freedom and funds of the school? (Related:) W ..read more

It kind of depends on how similar to real-world monarchies you want your fictional one to be. If you are wanting to build monarchy similar to those we have, then some proper research is going to be your friend. You’re going to want to figure out what type of monarchy your world will have. Most “fantasy” monarchies are hereditary, absolute monarchies. But you could also have an elective monarchy, where the people or at least a sect of people elect the King/Queen/Pharaoh/etc. Modern day UK is a Constitutional monarchy, where the monarch is more of a figurehead than a ruling leader. Narrow down w ..read more

..read more

You will need to have a fully fleshed out religion and it wouldn’t hurt to have (at least in your own mind) the reason why an entire society of people are willing to follow a deity as their government head. Is it because human extremists have diluted them into following a deity or is it because the god itself is present and either gains loyalty by being a good leader or by being domineering. These brainstorming posts might also help you, if you haven’t looked at them already: Government and Religion Happy building ..read more

wondrousworldbuilding: wondrousworldbuilding: I will continue to build upon this list as time goes on. For now, I hope you find something useful! Worldbuilding Prompt of the Day Tag Brainstorming Series Posts Magic Systems, Part One Magic Systems, Part Two  New Species New Worlds  New Cultures  New Civilizations Politics and Government  Map Making  Belief Systems & Religion Guilds, Factions, Groups War & Conflict Science & Technology Wildlife & Ecosystems History & Lore Species/Races Creating long-lived species Evolution of sexual reproductio ..read more

I don’t see anything illogical about this situation necessarily, but I do suggest that you be really careful in the way your narrative handles and comments on this situation. You can totally develop a society where the sexual view of a gender is skewed and very different from our own, but if your narrative appears to be saying things should be this way or that way, you could be angering or isolating readers. For example: you can have a racist or sexist protagonist without the narrative itself being racist or sexist. Does the story condone the bad situation or behavior? As far as a logical puni ..read more

I’m aware that this ask is probably pretty old, and I’m sorry about that. I get to asks as I can and life has been crazy for me….but if this is still something you’re struggling with, then perhaps someone out there can help you. I’m not sure I’m going to be much help as I’m not a biology expert at all, either. I got a degree in *writing* so….. *shrug* I can say that sometimes the science doesn’t have to be exact and as long as you deal with it properly in your narrative, your readers are not going to mind. Readers can suspend their disbelief a really long way if it’s needed and warrented. I me ..read more

..read more

A wise person once said: There’s some truth in every point of view. Yeah, I’m just kidding, I made that up. But it sounds like it’s probably true. If you Google “basic plots” then you’ll come across a half million articles all giving you a number (and they won’t all be the same) about how there are only x number of plots and all fiction is recycled. I mean, I guess. But why does it matter? If you take five writers–all of relatively equal talent–and sit them down at a table and say, “Write a 5000 word story about an anti-hero protagonist and their bff getting into a scrape and using morally-gr ..read more

The rules for creating poetry are going to be true no matter what language you are writing in. Now…as far as math-inspired poetry specifically I fear I am not going to be the best at that because math. Not my thang.  However, poetry. I am definitely a prose writer, but have needed to write poetry occasionally for pieces of my fiction, for assignments, and for workshops. There are a few tips for beginners who are attempting their hand at poetry I can give you. Read poetry - As in, before you sit down to write your poem, get into the right headspace. If you are planning to write poetry reg ..read more