timwburke

Worldbuilding for Science Fiction and Fantasy Resources
Compiled by Stephen Morgan
Jason Sanford’s Patreon (FREE!) Genre Grapevine alone will keep you informed and up-to-date
on the sci-fi/fantasy side of publishing: https://www.patreon.com/jasonsanford
The Dark Fantastic by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas: critical race theory applied to sci-fi/fantasy
fiction
Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff: political psychology in modern society
Disfigured by Amanda Leduc: disability representation in sci-fi/fantasy fiction
Soft vs Hard Sci-fi:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness
Using sci-fi/fantasy to analyze the real world:
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1891-lindsay-ellis-how-science-fiction-makes-sense-of-th
e-present
Common sci-fi/fantasy terms: https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/SFTerms.html
WORLDBUILDING QUESTIONS FOR SCI-FI/FANTASY
THE NATURE OF THE WORLD
Question 1: Is this a good-hearted, mean-spirited, or apathetic world?
ECONOMICS
Question 2: How do your characters think about money/trade?
THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Question 3: Do characters expect a fair shake from the justice system?
RACIAL/CLASS DIFFERENCES
Question 4: Do your characters perceive class and racial differences?
Question 5: How do you make the presence/absence of differences
Question 5: relatable?
MORALITY
Question 6: What guides your character’s morality?
SELF-PERCEPTION
Question 7: What is the status quo?
REBELLION
Question 8: Does your character feel at home in the world?