S2E9 – Flipping the Script and Building Different Worlds with Clare Sager

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—interview Clare Sager about building different worlds in our fiction.

Listen to it here on Podbean or find us on your favourite podcast app.

Clare Sager is an office lackey turned full-time author. With both a bachelor of arts and a masters of arts in Creative Writing, she is now living her life-long dream of writing fantasy adventure stories of swoon-worthy, troublesome men and strong, sassy women who can handle them.

When she’s not writing or master planning her next book, she’s an editor, outline coach, and formatter. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, sewing, and lifting weights at the gym (she’s as shocked by the latter as anyone). Her stationery addiction knows no bounds, with a washi tape and fountain pen collection to rival that of a stationery store. She loves to spend time chilling out with her planner plotting world domination. She likes cats, coffee, and cocktails, and speaks fluent sarcasm.

What we talked about

• Why Clare felt compelled to build a different world for her fictional characters
• How consistently asking yourself “What if…?” will help you build better fictional worlds
• How to use a coin (or dice!) to populate your world with a wide set of characters
• That diverse characters are just like any other characters
• The importance of being curious about the world and remaining open to what there is to learn

(Re)sources mentioned on the show

• All about Clare: https://claresager.com
• Clare’s books: https://claresager.com/books
• Clare’s author services: https://services.claresager.com
• For any questions about Clare’s author services, don’t hesitate to email her at: clare@claresager.com
• The Decolonial Atlas: https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com
• Writing the Other Tumblr: https://writingtheother.tumblr.com
• Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice: https://annleckie.com
• Kalynn Bayron, author of Cinderella Is Dead: https://www.kalynnbayron.com/books
• Jessica M. Butler, author of Sweet Pear: https://www.jessicambutler.com
• May Sage: https://www.goodreads.com/maysage
• Bethany’s Editing Your Novel’s Structure: Tips, Tricks, and Checklists to Get You From Start to Finish: https://theartandscienceofwords.com/new-book-for-authors

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