E-grāmata: Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers

If we as creative writing teachers can increase the relevance of our discipline by tackling the type of storytelling students are interested in, while simultaneously helping those students grapple with thorny cultural issues, why wouldnt we? Hergenraders book offers one way to deal with some of the challenges we face as a discipline, and does so in a clear, cogent, and unpretentious manner, that allows him to successfully appeal to the broad audience he aspires to. * Journal of Creative Writing Studies * Trent Hergenraders Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers is a welcome title. This book will be of most interest to educators, writers (especially within gaming industries), gamers, and academics. This is an accessible and practical guide written for groups interested in building a world together, or for educators who would like to guide students through this process. Academics may also find this title useful as a point of reference for game studies terminology -- Calvin Fung * Colloquy Journal * Hergenraders collaborative worldbuilding offers a broadening of scope, in-built critique at each stage of the process, but also all of the possible conflict that comes with any group exercise fuelled by a variety of personalities and motivations. -- Pablo Muslera * Text Journal * Beginning to read Trent Hergenraders book, Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers, I began by being interested and excited, having seen Hergenrader present on this project, long before the book came to fruition. My excitement was not misplaced. I am struck by how incredibly timely Hergenraders book is, and how important it may turn out to be to creative writing as a discipline within the academy, not just now, but in the future. This book enters a storytelling landscape in which large expansive transmedia storytelling worlds, such as that of Marvel, Harry Potter, or Star Wars, are omnipresent in popular culture. As such, many of our students will come to the classroom, now, and for several generations of students to come, profoundly influenced by fictional worlds that are the product not of one creator, but of many. While I personally am an avid consumer of the above worlds, many people are not, and Hergenraders book, intended as a guide for gamers, teachers, and writers, not just educatorshas the most profound implications for helping educators either lead collaborative worldbuilding classes, or at the very least, understand more about the vast expansive, multi-author and multi-platform stories that have influenced many of their students...The straightforward nature of the instructions, and the argument for relevance through examples, rather than standard expository argument, makes the text feel transparent and easy to use. Furthermore, the inclusion of a website with example syllabi, recommended programs, and other resources, makes this book a living guide. While I find myself feeling impressed (and a tiny bit intimidated) by the amount of time that Hergenrader, a professor at the Rochester Institute for Technology, clearly devotes to creating his collaborative worldbuilding course, I do feel that the book and the companion website are enough to equip any teacher who wants to lead a class that uses collaborative worldbuilding. * Jennifer Pullen, The Journal of Creative Writing Studies *