The Secrets of World-Building: It’s the Small Stuff with Timons Esaias - #246

Matty Dalrymple talks with Timons Esaias about THE SECRETS OF WORLD-BUILDING: IT’S THE SMALL STUFF, including his insights into effective world-building for fiction, emphasizing the importance of small, non-generic details that enhance character development and scene-setting. He touches on the difference between immersive storytelling and simpler narratives and offers practical tips on how to gather and use unique details from ephemera, old books, and postcards to enrich a narrative. He offers guidance on balancing research with storytelling ... and on knowing when to stop.

If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section of the interview by clicking on the flagged timestamps below.

0:00 Meet Timons Esaias
03:01 Things that are commonly missing in settings
04:16 Introduce the details gracefully
07:02 Handling character descriptions
10:33 Engaging in "playsearch"
12:48 Consider what would be appropriate for a character (not a reader) to note
14:13 Choosing the right language
15:33 Exploring museums and antique shops and ephemera
22:20 Consider the day-to-day environment
26:38 Factoring in architecture and geography
32:40 The power of secret symbolism
35:48 Write the story first
41:14 When to know you've gone too far: when you're sick of the story

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Timons Esaias is a satirist, writer, and poet living in Pittsburgh. His works, ranging from literary to genre, have been published in twenty-two languages. He has been a finalist for the British Science Fiction Award, and he won the Winter Anthology Contest, the SFPA Poetry Contest, and the Asimov's Readers Award (twice). He is a recent Pushcart nominee, and Intrepid Award winner for the story "To Do." His poetry collection is “Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek.” He collects chess sets.

Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she’s learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She has written books on the business of short fiction and podcasting for authors; her articles have appeared in "Writer’s Digest" magazine. She serves as the Campaigns Manager for the Alliance of Independent Authors.

[moonman]

Great discussion! Love the idea that you can define two characters with one observing something about the other.

[winkletter]

This reminds me of a Sherlock Holmes exhibit I visited where they recreated his consulting room. It was chock full, and every piece came from the original stories. I agree that a lot of other stories I read reach for the same kind of details again and again.

[aryanchaudhary]

Will you invite me on your podcast, when I will publish my first debut novel? It's about to be released. Am excited.

[TheIndyAuthorPodcast]

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Timons! Which of his tips were your favorite? If you tried it out, I’d love to hear about the result!