My New Worlds patrons having voted for a set of military topics this month, we’re taking a look at the logistical side of warfare! Not to the depth that an officer or military historian would study it, of course, but we can at least manage a top-level overview of how worldbuilding factors shape the way armies get fed. Comment over there!

In obedience to long-standing tradition, in a month with five Fridays, the New Worlds Patreon turns its attention to matters of theory and craft! This time, we’re taking a look at the worldbuilding on-ramp — which is to say, the vital questions of how much to explain at the start of your story, and how choosing the right entry point can ease the reader’s way in. Comment over there!

This week, the New Worlds Patreon pivots slightly from human migration and cultural contact to the question of how societies respond to crisis — a question whose list of possible answers unfortunately includes “turn on any perceived outsiders” among its historical and present-day options. Comment over there . . .

The New Worlds Patreon can’t do more than touch on the incredibly complex topic of how cultures influence each other and hybridize — but even that brief touch is worth taking a moment for! Comment over there . . .

The New Worlds Patreon has covered the reasons people migrate; now it’s time to look at what happens after they do. Comment over there!

Migration, either as individuals or as populations moving wholesale, has always been part of the human story. The reasons why are the subject of this week’s New Worlds Patreon essay — comment over there!

Two moons? Two suns? Planetary rings, whether on your own ball of rock or the one nearby? The New Worlds Patreon is happy to wander away from planets like our own and consider alternative setups. Comment over there!

I do like using the New Worlds Patreon to talk about the occasional really arcane topic — in this case, how languages and cultures approach the question of directions, spatial relationships, and how time relates to both these things. Comment over there!

Relatively few stories are going to get into the nitty-gritty of how paintings get made or clothes get dyed . . . but quite a lot of them are going to mention colors along the way! Thus the New Worlds Patreon is taking a look at the symbolism assigned to different colors — comment over there!

Here on this Fourth of July, the New Worlds Patreon is pivoting to talk about how we make colors. It’s more complicated than you may think! Comment over there . . .

The New Worlds Patreon loops back this week to deliver on the second installment of what I originally thought was going to be a single essay, with the darker vision of dystopias. Comment over there!

Every so often, a topic for the New Worlds Patreon grows beyond the scope of a single essay. So it is with what was supposed to be a post on utopias and dystopias — but let’s start on the nicer end! Comment over there . . .

Second time’s the charm? I thought a while ago that the New Worlds Patreon was done with legal topics, but then I thought up a couple more, of which this is the last. We’re looking at the different types of courts and what they’re for — comment over there!

Do we really need lawyers? Yes, yes we do — but also, it’s not hard to see why they’ve wound up with such a negative reputation. Yep, the New Worlds Patreon is taking a look at the legal profession . . . comment over there!

At Chez New Worlds Patreon, five Fridays in one month means an additional essay focused on some aspect of craft or theory. This time around, it’s the notion of worldbuilding that is “easy” for the reader vs. “hard” — comment over there!

The topic for this week’s New Worlds Patreon essay is just as vital to today’s society as it was to those thousands of years ago: how to get water to where we need it, and keep it out of where we don’t want it. Comment over there!

From nomadic peoples burning the terrain for better hunting to empires digging out transport canals for global trade, the reshaping of the landscape is the topic of this week’s New Worlds Patreon essay. Comment over there!

I do love me a good forest in fiction. That’s what the New Worlds Patreon is looking at this week — comment over there!

A new month means a new theme for the New Worlds Patreon! This time around it’s some topics covering our relationship with the natural environment, and we’re starting in a very primal place: underground. Cavemen, religious sites, and Hollow Earths, oh my! Comment over there . . .