Quotidian Writer Episode 3: Worldbuilding

This is the transcript of my Q&A writing advice podcast, Quotidian Writer, which can be found on Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms.

Hi there! I’m Diane Callahan, fiction editor, YouTuber, arts marketer, and writer of all the things. I asked for your questions about WORLDBUILDING! This mostly applies to fantasy or science fiction, but I feel like it also applies to made-up settings in a contemporary or historical context.

And as a companion piece to this episode, I created a video on the fundamentals of worldbuilding and specifically how to integrate the character’s journey into that world. So definitely go give that a watch or listen as well. Here we go!

Question 1: How can you establish backstory of the world/political elements early on without infodumping?

This is absolutely the number-one question when it comes to worldbuilding. Infodumping, for those who are unfamiliar with that term, is when you deliver this huge chunk of information to the reader — you’re spending a full page explaining why the city was built on a mountain or any other background information. And it’s a really blatant description of how things work in this world, specifically something that the author wants the reader to know so they can understand…