Building a Better Story World

Some story worlds have sprawling, millennia-long mythologies. Others take place between last Tuesday and next Friday. In all cases, understanding the past, present, and future of your story world will help you craft compelling narratives that feel lived in. Join Steele Filipek as he jumps in a DeLorean to show you how to build such a chronology for your own work!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Mr. Filipek has guided you on many paths that have led you to understand story worlds, and now he's going to share with you the keys to creating compelling worlds themselves... literally, in the form of locales! Join in for this episode as we travel through the planets and nations of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to exemplify how good locale design exemplifies characters, plot, and theme.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

You've got a world, but it feels a little empty. How are you going to build the numerous allies, enemies, and passersby who will give your narrative universe a heartbeat? Let Steele Tyler Filipek take you on a tour of Springfield, where the cast of the Simpsons will showcase how you can create complex characters out of a few key ingredients--external and internal--that will help your vision stand the test of time.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Ever struggled with how to introduce your story world to your audience! Producer and writer extraordinaire Steele Tyler Filipek is here to help you  out! With the aid of the films of Hayao Miyazaki, your favorite transmedia guru is going to help you showcase your narrative universe efficiently and wondrously!

And if you're interested in more information on Miyazaki, please check with the New York Public Library, where Steele hosts lectures on the works of that legendary animator!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

It's time for another episode of prompts! We've just covered a whole host of advanced story world creation lessons, and so if you'd like to delve back in without having to listen to multiple episodes, you can find all of those prompts here! The lie, the fun, archetypes, rules, and the mists: a step-by-step guide to work on your own world to craft something that will inspire audiences' imaginations!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

How do you build a story world that feels real? That's just the thing; you don't build it, you let it grow! Join Steele Filipek, transmedia producer extraordinaire, as he details how to leave purposeful gaps in your world that will give your audiences and collaborators the room to let their imaginations grow, seeding content that will build out your world in organic, fun ways!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Some people focus on magic, science, languages, or politics when building out the rules of their story universes, but there's so much more to the building blocks your world than that! Join Steele Filipek as he (with the aid of a younger Clark Kent) show how you can build out numerous elements that anchor narrative universes for fans and collaborators while also allowing them to expand!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

We're back with more archetypes that could help inform your story world. Listen in as Steele Filipek takes you through six morecharacters that appear throughout human narratives, across time and culture, so that you can follow in their footsteps, bend the rules, or forge your own path successfully. Haven't downloaded the prior episode? No problem! You can listen in any order!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Worried about how your story world may connect with audiences? Consider how classic storytelling figures can help create a bridge between you and fans by showcasing traditional structures that excite all sorts of people. Listen in to the first entry of a two-part episode as Steele Filipek takes you through six particular characters that appear throughout human narratives, across time and culture, so that you can follow in their footsteps, bend the rules, or forge your own path successfully!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

We've covered how to differentiate your content, so now it's time to find out what your fans will love about those differences. Join Steele Filipek as he examines three dishes of so-called "fun" that will build your narrative universe's unique "fun" that will entice audiences to re-engage with your world, over and over again. Plus, there's a whole lotta analysis of Psych for all of you Shawn and Gus fans out there!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

The basics have been covered, so now we're into the deeper story world design elements! This week, we talk about the key differentiators between your story world and our real one! Using superheroes, friends in New York, and podcasts, we showcase how specifying this content makes for strong narrative universes. It's the first part of our advanced class, so make sure you've got a helmet on!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

In a special episode of Building a Better Story World, Steele Tyler Filipek takes you through each of the prompts from the previous five episodes so that any story world designer can craft a foundational narrative universe from the ground up.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Listen in as Steele Filipek finishes up our five-part series on story world creation basics, fittingly enough, with an episode on resolutions! Click play or download to hear how a famous British secret agent with a license to kill epitomizes how creators can craft satisfying conclusions for their stories in scenes, entries, arcs, and entire narrative universes.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Sound Effects - freesound.org

Steele Tyler Filipek--producer, writer, story world designer--will take you on a tour of choices, or those pieces of action that propel characters on their journeys through narratives. Using a popular chef and entertainment icon, your host will detail how to better reach your audience by making willful determinations that reflect the universe you're creating.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Good obstacles make for good stories! That's why this episode is going to delve into what makes a good antagonist, how they can be themed to dramatic struggles in your work, and the basic challenges that characters face in their journeys! Join Steele Tyler Filipek, transmedia producer extraordinaire, as he charts this course with the help of a familiar, bullwhip-wielding adventurer.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

This episode of Building a Better Story World is all about needs: the needs of your characters, and how those tie into your broader story world. Listen in as Steele Tyler Filipek uses a quartet of popular sit-com characters to showcase how basic human desires can help tie your audience to your work, giving your story world a strong foundation from which you can build out via any number of entries or platforms.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Sound Effects - freesound.org

A popular teenage wizard is the guiding case study this week as writer, producer, and professor Steele Tyler Filipek begins a five-part series on each element of classical structure. Join in to learn how to create a compelling main character that can center an entire story world!

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org

Steele Tyler Filipek, transmedia producer and professor, introduces the concepts of story world building, how it differs from standard storytelling, and how to build a very basic narrative to help spur your imagination.

Music - icons8.com, specifically https://icons8.com/music/author/ilya-marfin

Audio Effects - freesound.org