The Cambias Digression

This is where we figure out the details that actually determine what it's like on the planet. Some of these can be figured pretty precisely, others are up to the creator. (For gamers I've included random generators.) Size: We know the mass (in Earths), and we've determined the density relative to Earth. Mass divided by…

From here on out I'm going to concentrate on solid planets which might be home to life we can interact with. These are bodies with a mass in the range of 0.1 Earth to 10 Earths, though I will include occasional nods to "Mega-Earth" type worlds even bigger than that. My plan is to work…

The two defining features for a planet are its mass and its temperature. Those data can pretty much predict its likely size, composition, and how suitable it is for life. Temperature is a function of the world's distance from its primary star, and how bright that star is. By "bright" I mean the star's luminosity,…

Until the boom in exoplanet studies, we really knew nothing about how planetary systems form. In the old days, with only the Solar System as our guide, it looked simple: small rocky worlds near the Sun, big giants in the outer regions. But then we began to observe things like "hot Jupiters" orbiting almost close…

Now we're going to get into the real nuts-and-bolts part, creating worlds and aliens. Note that you can start this process at either end: begin with the star and work your way through the planet to its life forms and their society, or start with what you need for the story and work backward. Either…

Fictional worlds which differ from our own because of some scientific or pseudo-scientific rationale are basically the definition of science fiction. After all, SF stories have all kinds of plots, all kinds of characters, all kinds of themes, but they all take place in a "science fiction world." Sometimes that's as simple as "the modern…

From here on, science fiction is going to be the primary focus, so when I say "worldbuilding" just assume it's SF. And, yes, I'm eventually getting to the nuts and bolts, but I think it's important to understand what we're doing and why, before we get to the how. Why? The first thing to keep…

A couple of years ago I taught a class via Zoom for the Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop, on science fiction worldbuilding. Now I've decided to write up and expand my notes for that course and post that all here in a series of blog posts. My ultimate goal is to keep adding to this series…