Summer isn’t always a great time for heavy four-hour writing sessions. The good news is that worldbuilding doesn’t have to happen in huge chunks. Ten minutes is enough to build something meaningful.
Here are five ways to make the most of short creative sessions.
1. Give yourself one question to answer.
Instead of sitting down thinking, ‘I’m going to work on my world’, pick one specific question. How is food preserved? Who controls the ports? Why was the city built here? A single, focused question is much easier to answer than an entire world of them.
2. Work on one small area.
You don’t have to build a whole continent every time you open your notebook. One village, one family, one trade route, or one festival is enough. Small pieces soon connect together into a full kingdom.
3. Stop while you still know what comes next.
It’s tempting to completely finish a section before you stop, but leaving yourself halfway through an idea, or writing yourself a note about your next idea, makes it much easier to pick up again tomorrow.
4. Keep an idea capture system.
Your best ideas typically arrive when you’re driving, shopping, or in the shower. Whether it’s your phone, a notebook, or the back of a receipt, make sure you have somewhere to catch those brilliant ideas before they disappear.
5. Celebrate consistency, not word count.
A dozen fifteen-minute sessions will usually take you further than waiting for the mythical ‘free weekend’. Consistency often adds up to more progress than becoming a worldbuilding hermit every now and then.
At the end of the day, your world will still be there when life settles down again. Until then, don’t feel guilty, and don’t worry about building everything. Just build one small thing at a time.
If you’re looking for quick inspiration, fast builds, and fun games, my webstore is packed full of worksheets you can download and print instantly. From zines and games, to folklore prompts and guided builds. (Plus, you’ll get the Untangle Your World worksheet pack free with any purchase.)
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