In this course, you will learn how to create fresh and engaging worlds for your stories. Through a combination of discussion, exercises, and prompts, you’ll get tips on how to kickstart the worldbuilding process, where to focus your efforts, and how to take everything you’ve outlined and weave it organically into a compelling narrative. While the primary focus is on science fiction and fantasy worldbuilding, the concepts discussed will be applicable to all fiction that asks "What if...?" You will only be limited by your own imagination (which is say, there is no limit at all)!
• In-Class Writing Lift: Medium
• Homework: Required
• Workshopping Drafts: Optional
Thomas J. Griffin is a life-long fiction lover and sumo wrestling enthusiast who lives in Nashville, Tennessee and works out of an attic that could use more natural light. He is the co-founder of Flash Point SF, and his own short stories have appeared in publications such as Daily Science Fiction, 100-Foot Crow, Black Hare Press, and elsewhere.
M.A. Dosser is the co-founder and editor of Flash Point SF and a senior lecturer of communication studies at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Nostalgic Futures: The Reactionary Fantasies of Speculative Fiction Fandoms (Rutgers University Press, 2026). You can read about his creative and scholarly work at maxdosser.com.
Thomas and M.A. are new to The Porch. Welcome!
