…in my humble opinion, one cannot go past Steering The Craft by the great Ursula Le Guin.

The subtitle promises “exercises and discussions on story writing”…(hooray!)…“for the lone navigator”…(that’s me!)…“or the mutinous crew.” (I’m pretty sure that’s the muses, in my case: O-o.)

My current theme is worldbuilding and while Steering The Craft is not specifically about that topic, I don’t believe anyone could read Le Guin’s passages on language, or how to make point-of-view work for the story, without coming away with a wonderful feeling for worldbuilding as well.

Le Guin’s world of Earthsea

BUT, for matters germane to the art and craft of worldbuilding, the most useful chapter may be “Indirect Narration, Or What Tells”: i.e. how to provide information in the narrative.

Here’s what Le Guin has to say about SFF in this context:

“This is a skill science fiction and fantasy writers are keenly aware of, because they often have a great deal of information to convey that the reader has no way of knowing unless told…The world of the story must be created and explained in the story…But it’s a tricky business.”

“I hear you!” many aspiring worldbuilders may cry, which is why I’m giving the book a shoutout as part of my current worldbuilding focus.

The subsequent chapter, “Crowding and Leaping”—about what stays in the book and what must be left out—is also useful reading from a worldbuilding (as well as a general writing) perspective.

Le Guin’s world of Gethen, aka Winter

The thing I most like about Steering The Craft, though, is the sheer joy and love of writing, in all its permutations and guises, that quickens to life and breathes out of every line.

In fact, it may just be time for a reread…