L.D. Lapinski: Building a world

The marvellous L.D. Lapinski joins us on Authors Live to discuss their bestselling Artezans series. We delve into every day magic, the fun and freedom of writing, and how L.D. goes about creating rich, emotive worlds in their stories. This broadcast is perfect for aspiring young writers looking for a new way to think about worldbuilding.

If you only do one thing. . .

We know time is tight so here is just one activity you could do with your class before or after watching the event.

Create your own magical world (LIT 1-20a/2-20a, LIT 1-25a/2-25a, LIT 1-26a/2-26a)

L.D. Lapinski demonstrates a simple method they use to create their magical worlds – watch what they do then have a go at creating your own using their method. You could choose to create your own version of the Land of Nightmares or the Land of Dreams or create another magical world entirely. Divide a piece of paper into four sections with the headings: See, Touch, Hear, Smell/Taste. Under each heading write scary things (for the Land of Nightmares) or fun, dreamy things (for the Land of Dreams), or whatever you want to include in your own magical world. Once you have some ideas under each heading, take a different coloured pen and cross out the ones you don’t want to use, keeping your favourite ideas. Now you’re ready to put all your ideas into a fantastically descriptive paragraph, bringing your imaginary world to life.

To get more creative writing tips, see our creative writing activities resource below.