Building Realities 002
with Jack Lhasa
Building Realities 002
July 10, 2025
Hello again, dear readers!
Thanks so much for subscribing to my newsletter!!
This is only the 2nd issue. Like the 1st newsletter, it's not as tightly focused as my later newsletters will be. I am keeping things in a wide view, so you all have a better understanding of who I am, what I do, and what I hope we'll do together.
The current flow of worldbuilding on the Moonshadow(this is currently a placeholder title) setting is very fast. I’ve finished outlining everything that is needed(well, actually Dave did most that bit).
We’ve been refining a lot of my older ideas, with Dave’s help. We are working on the system for Magic(types, learning, uses), as well as detailing the major cities this week. The focus of this setting is a completely alien(to humans) and unique moon, orbiting an ice giant. This setting has no connection, or awareness of humans, and vice versa.
In the time leading up to truly unveiling this absolutely massive project, I’ll be talking about writing. Sort of mini-classes.
Upcoming Topics
- Inspiration
- Flow (psychological state)
- when or if you need to use worldbuilding. (It’s not suitable for every project or everyone)
- mental health
- applications that make life as a writer easier
- Ethical AI use for writing and for art
- Supplemental Material: The Golden Goose of writing fiction online.
And a whole lot more.
Let’s finish this newsletter with a bit of practice. This is an assignment, but you’re under no obligation to complete or even to start. If you’d like feedback, post your answers in the chat. If you’re still a little shy, I welcome direct messages.
So, what I want you to do is share with us the setting of a current or previous project. Tell us about genre, goals, if those goals were completed, why they were or were not completed, how often you used genre tropes, and anything else you want to share. If you’ve never written fiction, share with us one of your favorite settings. This could be as simple as a genre name, or deeply nestled niche topics.
Dave introduced himself this week with a blog post. We are very old friends, and his help in getting and keeping me motivated, as well as his contributions, are all excellent. He describes on our site, Exoteric Live, how he fell in love with this idea after I let him read a small amount of text. Now we share mostly the same vision here. Here’s his self-written blurb:
Dave's bio
I've been staff for Charticon, TFcon, Joelanta/Toylanta, started The Audio Knights Theatre and The Carolina Sith. I love learning neat things and bringing awesome people together. Beekeeper. Firearm Instructor. Voice Actor. Podcaster. Trivia Host. Author. Dad.
—
Creative Work Day
I do recommend setting a ‘work day.’ This concept is used in a wide range of vocations. I find it to be most helpful when working on creative projects, or most types of freelancing. It’s very simple. Just decide on at least 1 day weekly(or monthly), in which you let your creative muscles rest. To me, this tiny action is the single best way to prevent burnout. I take 2 days. Choose the timeframe, and make yourself stick to it. You can still write on your off days, it’s the social part that makes us exhausted if we let it.
With that, I am out! Look for me in the Notes section, where I plan on being regularly. Although, I take Sunday and Monday off from creative projects and any type of social activity on those days, I often look in(I can’t help myself, lol).
Until next week,
- Jack Lhasa
All content here in is copyright Jack Lhasa 2024-2025, unless other wise noted. The brief biographical material is copyright David Cunningham. Art is also copyright Jack Lhasa 2020-2025, all right reserved. If for any reason you’d like to use any of the material found in these newsletters or websites, please contact Jack Lhasa. When asked, I can be very accommodating.