Avoiding Worldbuilding Plotholes with Dr. Trent Hergenrader

Рет қаралды 8,536

5 жыл бұрын

Worldbuilding Plotholes are a big pain - but Dr. Trent Hergenrader (yes, a REAL LIFE professor of Worldbuilding) from Rochester Institute of Technology, NY and Janet from World Anvil discuss what they are, how to avoid them, and if you even need to!
Website: www.worldanvil.com
Twitter: / worldanvil
Facebook: / worldanvil
Reddit: / worldanvil
Discord: / discord
**About our guest**:
Buy Trent's Book here: www.bloomsbury.com/us/collabo...
Trent's Website: trenthergenrader.com/
Find Trent's Worldbuilding Card deck! www.collaborativeworldbuildin...
Trent Hergenrader is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. He teaches worldbuilding modules and this semester he’s using World Anvil to teach his class!
His fiction writing has appeared in such places as Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, and Best Horror of the Year #1. He is co-editor of Creative Writing in the Digital Age (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Creative Writing Innovations (Bloomsbury, 2017). His book “Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers” was published in October last year by Bloomsbury and was an instant success.

Пікірлер: 36

@titojdavis8374 4 жыл бұрын

I helped Dr. Hergenrader debut these cards at a conference and ran a group of conference attendees through making a world in like, half an hour. We had a sociology PhD in the group and he was really resistant to the randomness at first because of the "4 for class relations but only a 2 for wealth distribution?! that makes no sense!" (to use Trent's example). It took some coaxing but one of the real cruxes and strongest points of the system is exactly that. Why would something like that exist? It gets you to form worlds that you wouldn't think of before.

@titojdavis8374 4 жыл бұрын

also mentioned was the artwork on the cards but not plug! Shoutout Paolo Orso for the brilliant artwork all created by making black paper cutouts and placing them over colored paper and a light shined through. So cool

@popasaurusrexrex7019 5 жыл бұрын

Congratulations on 200,000 WorldBuilders

@WorldAnvil 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! We're SO EXCITED ABOUT IT! :D

@carolinelabbott2451 5 жыл бұрын

All really insightful points, and a good refresher on a lot of what I already kind of knew. Good though to be reminded of again, and I loved the conversation format of this video. I look forward to watching more of these.

@WorldAnvil 5 жыл бұрын

So glad to hear that! I'll be uploading the next one with writer Eran Aviram really soon!

@carolinelabbott2451 5 жыл бұрын

The only nit pick I had with this was Dr Trent's comment about 9 to 10 year olds ability to comprehend and understand the social world they live in, I think he underestimate's their abilities there. But other than that I found it very interesting. Edit. 7 to 8 years old is the youngest you could feasibly start at. I remember when I was at junior school and we were learning what it was like to be a kid our age during world war 2. We grasped the concept's fairly well and it left a lasting impression upon us. I was 8 years old at the time.

@WorldAnvil 5 жыл бұрын

@@carolinelabbott2451 Interesting point - I think it also depends VERY MUCH on the child in question! Smart kids constantly surprise me with how much they can grasp!

@carolinelabbott2451 5 жыл бұрын

@@WorldAnvil Agreed, it does depend on the individual child. ❤️🙂

@IsaacIsaacIsaacson 5 жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed hearing from Trent.

@FMD-FullMetalDragon 5 жыл бұрын

Great video and conversation. Thank you.

@WorldAnvil 5 жыл бұрын

You're SO welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

@ProjectEchoshadow 4 жыл бұрын

Most of my stories are serious despite the world building being heavily inspired by the Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy. Which I think goes back to how I think the real world is a joke despite me taking things seriously in my daily life. The world we live in is ridiculous so the ones I make follow suite.

@AukeSlotegraaf 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent food for thought!

@WorldAnvil 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you ❤😊!

@morthismejere1879 5 жыл бұрын

Okay, I have to speak up. Idk about everyone else, but I primarily am using my bluetooth ear piece and my headphones, so that *ting* which is symbolic of anvils and such literally at times has me sending my audio devices flying across the room as I defensively have instinctively swatted them off of my head before doubling over, clutching at my ears. PLEASE FIX THIS! Else I shall have to stop watching/listening to your channel. I LOVE your channel, but I cannot keep experiencing this pain.

@WorldAnvil 5 жыл бұрын

Hi there! Have taken this on board! The bells have been tamed in our latest videos ;)

@konzack 4 жыл бұрын

Janet, you are a very good active listener.

@rayrerej9630 4 жыл бұрын

answer to his question about that student world: yes, it exists. shannara chronicles.

@Grox44 4 жыл бұрын

The problem I have with some of what Trent is saying is he limits worlds to be a certain way. A general set of rules and must haves he has.

@danthiel8623 4 жыл бұрын

Can’t touch this hehe

@danthiel8623 4 жыл бұрын

Hehe I might have done that with one character except he made my universe is Thetas, so he is a deity right off the bat, that automatically makes him very powerful. He is a paragon character but he does not really get involved with the intricacies of life.

@danthiel8623 4 жыл бұрын

He pretty much does what he wants.

@danthiel8623 4 жыл бұрын

But that might rub people the wrong way.

@Grox44 4 жыл бұрын

Interesting I'm creating a universe which is created by one character like yours. This being is basically the ''universe''. But intentionally holds off on using his power and dumb himself down. Created a system, and life but made it random to some degree.

@docstockandbarrel Жыл бұрын

👍🏻

@WorldAnvil Жыл бұрын

👍❤

@presleybaldwin3756 4 жыл бұрын

He's good, that's some great advice he gave, except for the Star Wars stuff because Disney's Star Wars is not Star Wars...

@he-mememan359 3 жыл бұрын

The only Star Wars is the EU. Disney just crossed a line for me, de-canonizing the EU just so they could rip off EU stories to use as a political platform.

@gangurogeisha 2 жыл бұрын

I used to be a HUGE Star Wars fan until Disney acquired LucasFilm, and now I don’t like it as much. :/

@danthiel8623 4 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah that’s pretty much what I did but it is literally a theocracy.