Writing Excuses

19.24: An Interview on Worldbuilding with Arkady Martine

Jun 16, 2024

Award-winning author Arkady Martine discusses her intricate world-building process, blending historical research with fiction. She explores food culture, character perspectives, and narrative choices in creating immersive and believable worlds in her novel.

35:43

Creator website

Episode guests

Arkady Martine

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Quick takeaways

Incorporate personal expertise to enrich worldbuilding with historical nuances.

Utilize character perspectives as a lens for readers to navigate complex fictional worlds.

Deep dives

Crafting Worldbuilding Through Personal Experience

When developing a novel, authors may draw inspiration from personal experiences and expertise. The podcast discusses how the author's background in Byzantine history influenced the worldbuilding in their science fiction novel. By intertwining themes of empire, diplomacy, and succession crisis, the author crafted a narrative rich in historical nuances. This process highlights the fusion of academic knowledge with creative storytelling to create a deeply immersive fictional world.

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01:59

Balancing Complexity and Storytelling in Worldbuilding

01:38

Intro

5min

From Historical Research to Fictional Worldbuilding

13min

Exploring Worldbuilding and Food Culture

12min

Exploring Worldbuilding and Character Perspectives

7min

Perspective and World-Building in Writing

7min

We've spent the last month talking about "A Memory Called Empire, and now, we are so excited to welcome the author, Arkady Martine, to the show! On today's episode, we talk with Arkady about the origins of her novel, and dive into how she navigated the dense and intricate world-building. Arkady gives us advice on what not to do, where to look for your first ideas, and what her writing process looks like.

Thing of the Week:

“The Shamshine Blind” By Paz Pardo

Homework:

Using the character and the story you are currently working on, look at the nearest building you can see out your window, and describe it from their point of view. What does that say about the world that you are in and the world that they are in?

Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline

Next up is Character! Starting July 7, we’ll be diving into three short stories by C.L. Clark. These are all available for free through Uncanny Magazine.

Character: “You Perfect, Broken Thing,” “The Cook,” and “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” by CL Clark (starting July 7)

And a sneak peak on the rest of the year…

Tension: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (starting September 1)

Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (starting October 13)

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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were DongWon Song and Erin Roberts. Our guest was Arkady Martine. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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