Balancing effective worldbuilding with efficient plot progression can be a true challenge when writing fantasy. You want your readers to immerse themselves in the world you've created, but when is the right time to even come up with all the lore? Before you start drafting? During? After? Never? 

OK, not that last part, but you get the idea. In this episode of Fantasy Writing for Barbarians, Jon Negroni walks through importance of adding real, clear purpose to your worldbuilding and how to write exposition in a way that comes off naturally and digestible. Jon also gets into the benefits of writing "lore letters," how you can use your planned word count to get a better sense of your pacing, using mystery (no matter the genre) to keep readers engaged, and strategies for minimizing wasted time when drafting a novel.

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Fantasy Writing for Barbarians‘ host is Jon Negroni, author of The Pixar Theory, Killerjoy, and more. Our producers are Natalia Emmons and Bridget Serdock. You can find all our episodes and various podcast app options here.