World-Building With Eva Deverell

Today I’m sharing my thoughts on Eva Deverell’s How To Lose Yourself in a World of your Own Invention (affiliate) - a course that’s unlocked doors for my writing.

I draw endless inspiration from my immediate surroundings, but every so often I like to escape. Usually, I do this by reading a book. I’m sure you do, too. But what if you don’t have a book? Or the worlds therein aren’t to your liking? What if you could escape to a world of your own invention with just a piece of paper, a pencil and your imagination?

Let me introduce you to my creative writing fairy godmother, Eva Deverell. Eva doesn’t know she’s my writing fairy godmother but what else can I call her? With the unassuming tools mentioned above, she’s given me a whole new approach to storytelling – one that is joyful, speedy and satisfying.

I’ve always struggled with the ‘story’ part of storytelling. In other words, plot. I’ve no shortage of ideas but linking everything together into a coherent, satisfying tale is another matter. I’ve taken Eva’s One Page Novel, How To Be The Heroine of your Own Story and World Building courses. I can now say *touch wood* that my plot struggling days are behind me.

Here’s how.

Eva’s world-building course (all her courses, in fact) rely on a one-page framework. Prior to using the one-page method my ideas lived in various notebooks, a disjointed jumble of characters, scene ideas and symbolism. I had no method for drawing them together.

Seeing everything on one page revealed my story’s big picture. In the past I either got bogged down in detail, or missed out on depth by not adding enough. Sometimes I had interesting ideas but flat characters. The ‘World Building’ framework meant I could select the details and symbols most important to my world. Moreover, I learned which characters should populate my world, and who should be shown the door! Sometimes less is more.

If you like to spend hours world-building you might shudder at the thought of designing an entire world on one page. But is pedantically granular detail necessary for the reader? Tbh, I rarely read ‘high fantasy’ because I’m not prepared to wade through pages of feasts, magic systems and history.

And as a writer I want to write a book, not a legendarium!

As Eva explains, the illusion of depth goes a long way. A reader only needs to see the tip of the iceberg to know there’s more beneath.

I’ve been through Eva’s course a couple of times and found it delightfully versatile, using it to brainstorm novel two in my series and to plan a couple of short stories. ‘World-building’ often conjures a realm of wizards and dragons, but I used it to create a supernatural 1960s Edinburgh in my short story, The Muse. I think you could apply Eva’s method to any genre, though 😊

The more one-page worlds I create the more I learn to go with the flow. My favourite thing to do on a Saturday is to queue up Eva’s lessons and get creating. I’ve never taken any creative writing classes, and find Eva’s guidance enormously reassuring. I think most of us writers are in this boat, coming to stories from a love of reading but without any practical experience. Plus, her accent is so calming (if that isn’t weird to say). During the lessons, there’s always a point where my subconscious takes control and things click. I no longer feel anxious about beginning a new story.

Eva’s course is open for enrolment now, but you’ll need to be quick as it closes in a few days. If you’re still unsure you can watch a demonstration of how to create the ‘World Building’ framework here.

On top of the instructional audio, you also get printable templates, a course textbook, access to the Lady Writers League and other storytelling materials. As I’ve mentioned, the links in this post are affiliate but I’d never recommend writing resources here unless I’ve found personal success with them. I’m a long-time follower of Eva’s blog, her methods have changed how I write for the better. Getting lost in imaginary worlds is thrilling, but learning how to navigate them, well - that’s empowering!