Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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The worldbuilding panel including (from left to right) Edgar of Artifexian, David Peterson, Jessie Peterson, Biblaridion, Jake Penny, Nikolai Hersfeldt, and Madeline James

(the camera really struggled to focus at times, sorry!!!)

This is a live recording from the 2026 Speculative Worlds and Languages Conference held on June 6th at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland!

Visit speccon.org for more information on the conference, newsletter signups, information on our speakers, and merch.

Photo from the SpecCon panel shown on the thumbnail is by DJMapping!

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:46 How long have you been worldbuilding
00:07:43 Dealing with large projects
00:19:33 Balancing dullness and making sense
00:30:54 A writer's urge to info-dump
00:37:04 Does plot serve story or the reverse
00:46:14 Approaches to planning out cultures and societies
00:55:54 Planning local weather patterns
00:59:55 Using real culture inspiration respectfully
01:11:17 Project Hail Mary

--- Links ---
Patreon: patreon.com/c/MadelineJamesWordsAndWorlds
Website: madelinejameswrites.com
Worldbuilding Guide: madelinejameswrites.com/worldbuilding-guide
My Writing Channel: youtube.com/@madelinejameswrites