A. Medlin

I want to premise this by saying that world building if one of the hardest fucking things to do – how much is too much? How little is too little? Where’s the sweet spot between story and exposition? These are questions I consider frequently, regardless of the genre I’m writing in – yes, some genres take more world-building like fantasy and science fiction, but that doesn’t mean there’s no world-building in romance, historical, horror, mystery, etc. The settings may be familiar, may take place in our world, but that doesn’t absolve a writer or author from IMMERSING us, the audience, in that story. So, how is this accomplished? How does one begin to world build? There’sa million techniques, questions, workshops, theories, etc about how to world-build appropriately. And at the end of the day, you should be using at least one or two of these tactics to flesh out the world you’re writing about. But at the end of the day, only YOU as the author or creator will know what’s enough and what isn...

H i folks! Please enjoy this excerpt from my newest short story ✨️ if you'd like to read an even longer excerpt, click here ✨️✨️ CW: religion, Catholicism, demons, the bible . . . . . It was raining the Sunday we came back to church. I trailed up the glossy, wet marble steps that led to the multi-doored entrance, my parents walking just ahead of me with their heads bowed as we ushered past other churchgoers who had also arrived. On the ride over, I’d been expecting laughter, music to be playing from the organ upstairs as people took their seats and greeted one another after nearly five months away. But I was met by a wall of silent parishioners, each curled into their heavy raincoats as something dark and dim now coiled within the high rafters of the church. We went through the motions, kneeling, singing, repeating “Amen” and mouthing through I confess. The psalms felt hollow and no one looked at one another the entire mass. But more than anything else, I watched the sunken cheekb...