If a mountain: How tall? Shape? What surrounds it? What is it made of? What creatures lurk on the sides? Is there a path? Why or why not? What can you see from afar in the different stages of ascent?

If a city: How do the buildings look? Are there streets? Tunnels? What materials are common – glass, stone, brick, sand, etc? What is energy here? How do families dwell? Are there families? Use 5 senses to develop a list to draw from later when writing or revising.

Start with broad location. On Earth? Not on Earth? Space station? What kind of age? Does your story require a city? A mountain? A forest? A river? A tower? A volcano? A cave? Okay, cool. So take your required familiar element and see what you can do to make it different.

SFF worldbuilding has as many layers as the characters w/in it. You can’t sacrifice one for the other. It’s easy to duplicate a world that’s familiar in landscape &society, but coming up w/something original&immersive is another art altogether.

I was supposed to have a meeting this morning and tech issues are preventing that, so I thought I’d do a fun little #worldbuilding #thread on SCI FI FANTASY WORLD BUILDING, as inspired by @RaeLoverde Tweet about rivers!
#amwriting #querytip #writetip #askagent

A real winner of an opening line in my query box this AM: "I’m exploring literary agents to see if they are mentally equipped to understand and market my book." Sounds like I'm far too stupid for this one! #pubtip

Some #WednesdayWisdom from our agenting team: 'when submitting your work, use a clear and readable front to make your idea as accessible as possibe' (P.S. Arial and Times New Roman preferred) #WriteTip #MSWL #QueryTip #NationalWritingDay

It is very helpful to mention in a new query that you have queried that agent in the past. And it doesn’t count against you if the previous time wasn’t a match. NOT mentioning it is just weird...and we usually end up figuring it out anyways. #querytip

The elements that pushed me to request these 5 were: setting, magical realism element, pop culture references that resonated with me. #querytip #amagenting

#querystats 28 queries read: 8 YA, 7 WF, 5 Suspense, 5 Romance, 3 Get Fiction. 5 requested: 2 Gen Fiction, 2 WF, 1 YA. (2 of them intrigued me w/ titles first) #amagenting

A clue that it is summertime: Emails arrive every day from aspiring writers/illustrators who did not take the time to follow @AndreaBrownLit submission guidelines. Which are so easy to find! In fact, here you go: andreabrownlit.com/how-to-submit1… #querytip

Knowing when it's time to put a pin in your current MS, put it aside for now, and start working on something new has to be one of the hardest decisions an author can make. Sometimes your debut novel is the 4th or 5th (or 10th) one you write. #pubtip

I sometimes even suggest you consider rewriting the book to match the query. #querytip #amwriting

If you are having a difficult time writing a strong and cohesive query with a hook that makes it stand out and sound different, then maybe it's not the query, but the book itself. #querytip

IMHO the query should be seen as an extension of the manuscript revision process. #querytip #amwriting

How I Pitched Laura Bradford's Portrait of a Sister #querytip #amquerying bookendsliterary.com/2018/06/26/how…

Also, please always include your phone number. I am old school and love surprising an author with a call to offer representation. An email to warn you ruins the fun for me ;) #querytip #amquerying

I still want to see, "Dear...." and an introduction that includes title, genre, and word count. As I've said before, I don't care if you use comp titles or not. #querytip

5 Pit(ch)Falls to Avoid When Pitching on Twitter #querytip #amquerying thekatsmews.com/2018/06/26/5-p…

Less is almost better because your third cousin twice removed cannot be offended #pubtip