how to – Alyssa Lost in Space

How I Outline My Novels in 3 Simple Steps

November 4, 2019December 10, 2019Alyssa Flynn

I know I can’t be the only one out there who is intensely fascinated by someone’s creative process. It’s always so interesting to see what they need to do and how they go about doing it – how each of us has a unique spin to create the same end product. And it can be valuable information – you never know what steps someone else takes that might be just what you need to incorporate into your own process.

I just love reading blog posts and watching videos on Youtube about how someone preps for a video or a podcast, how they work out the composition of their illustration, and of course, how a writer outlines. If you’re like me, then allow me to feed your curiosity a splash by explaining the haphazard way my outlines come to be.

How to Make a Map for Your Fantasy World

June 12, 2019January 23, 2020Alyssa Flynn

I love maps, and let’s face it they are a staple of fantasy. Every fantasy book I open has a map inside of it, and I enjoy it every single time. It makes the world feel so much more real and immersive. It gets me excited about all the places the characters are going to go and makes me want to know more.

I also play D&D and I love when the DM unrolls the map or gives us one we can use. Maybe it’s because I’m a gamer, but exploring parts of a map is just so satisfying.

And what worldbuilder doesn’t want a map of their own? You spend all that time creating the darn thing, but it doesn’t have to exist as just text! Drawing a map is a HUGE part of the process, and it can be really fun!

But when you’re first starting out, it can be really intimidating. And I know from experience that my first attempts looked terrible. Thankfully I’ve learned a few things since then and found some excellent resources. So I decided to create a simple, easy-to-follow guide for making your first map.

Building the Far North: How I Build a Fictional World

May 15, 2019January 23, 2020Alyssa Flynn

When I started this series of blog posts on worldbuilding, I gave a fairly brief introduction of how I defined it, why it was important, and how I go about the process, and then I attempted to create a worksheet based around that.

Of course, up until that point no such worksheet existed. It was a method that existed only in my mind. And the worksheet was an attempt to distill that process into a few simple questions that would hopefully work the same for anyone who happened to use it.

But how did I know it actually worked?

Naturally, the next logical step would be to use it myself. How better to explain my process than with a page by page demonstration using the worksheet I created?