How do you create a fictional world that feels as complex and convincing as the real one?
In this episode of Wordsmithing, N. K. Jemisin discusses the craft of world building and the thinking that goes into creating the societies, environments and systems behind her fiction.
Drawing on the perspective of an author whose Broken Earth trilogy is renowned for its richly constructed world, Jemisin offers a rare glimpse into how an imagined universe is built from the ground up.
I created Wordsmithing to capture something I was regularly discovering in my author interviews: accomplished writers had an enormous amount to say not only about their books, but about how they actually write them.
During my interview with N. K. Jemisin, I asked her to talk about her approach to world building. She jokingly pointed out that this was something she normally charged people to learn in her writing classes—which confirmed exactly why I thought the conversation was worth capturing.
I shaped her response into a Wordsmithing episode focused specifically on craft, allowing Jemisin to move beyond promoting a particular title and share some of the thinking behind the worlds she creates.
The larger idea behind the series was to use Hachette’s access to extraordinary writers as an educational resource—turning portions of my author interviews into concise masterclasses on process, technique, inspiration and the practical craft of writing.