Well, we're back on the creativity track after a few diversions, and back on the subject of religion in your continuity.

Eventually, you're going to have to design a religion if you're making a really original world. You aren't going to be able to avoid it for one reason:



DESIGNING A RELIGION 1: Religion is inevitable.
In the broadest sense, religion is how people define and relate to the universe, and how they order their lives around how they feel the universe works. Yes, this is my definition, but it's my column and it’s the approach I'll be taking.

So, in short, you WILL deal with religion in your world - because your residents will have ways of perceiving the universe ...

When writing of conflicts, it's too easy to break things into good guys and bad guys. I can point to any number of historical events - or, sadly, as of this writing, current events, where it's very difficult to do so.

What is odd in writing conflicts is that, when we stand back, the good guys and bad guys may not be obvious, yet it seems rather obvious to those in a conflict who the good guys and bad guys are. As authors, however, we fall into ...

A lot of this column comes from my experiences in worldbuilding - playing and writing RPGs, a shared-universe project, and my past and current writing, quite a few years of it. I still recall my first universe - a bizare mix of mary-sueism, genetic engineering, weird religious stuff, and an interest in UFOs. I was about 11 when I created it.

However, I'm always learning new things. Art in a strange way isn't about success - it's ...

You've created a world you consider realistic for stories or role-playing games. Or perhaps a tale of your world, original or not, is hailed for its realism.

Realism seems to be something worldbuilders and writers and gamemasters aspire to have in their creations. However, that does lead to the interesting question of just what is realism in the settings you create or use? What is this quality of realism ...

The five things that creates a good scene

Narrative
Making sure it’s necessary
Description of events and surroundings
Believable dialogue
An outcome that empowers and moves the story
The scene is the most vital part of a story. It is the vein in which the life of the story flows. If one scene is cut, or disrupted in a way that dulls the reader, then all life is drained away. There is no imagination. This article of Lucid Writing Advice should at least give you a hint to creating a good scene.

NARRATIVE

If the scene is the vein, then the narrative is the blood of the manuscript. The creation of good narrative will make any story a good read. Fantasy writers fall into a common trap by given pages upon pages of inactive narrative as the opener of their manuscript, ...