Adrian Tchaikovsky's Advice on Writing: Worldbuilding, the One Big Lie, and Writing 60 Books

Adrian Tchaikovsky has written more than 60 books and novellas. He won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Children of Time. He writes science fiction, fantasy, and everything between. He is one of the most prolific serious authors working today.

His advice comes from David Perell's How I Write podcast, his FAQ, the Fantasy Review, and the BSFA interviews.

The Stone in the Pool

Drop a stone into a pool. You have ripples from where that stone impacts, and you follow them out.

Start with one "what if." Each ripple is a logical "therefore" that builds the world. For Children of Time, the stone was: what if a nanovirus accelerated spider evolution? Every detail of the world follows from that single premise.

The One Big Lie

You can get away with one big lie. But in order to support your one big lie, everything else needs to be true.

In science fiction, your impossible premise is the lie. Everything supporting it must be scientifically plausible. In fantasy, your magic system is the lie. Everything around it must be internally consistent. Readers grant you one impossibility. Earn the rest through rigor.

Why Magic Needs a Price

If you have magic with no price, then why does anyone have a problem?

Costless magic eliminates narrative tension. Prices create trade-offs. Trade-offs create decisions. Decisions reveal character. Without friction, stories have no drama.

Never Plan the Ending

Tchaikovsky plans chapter by chapter with detailed beat sheets. But he never plans the ending. "Let the motion of the book to that point" determine the final resolution. The ending should feel both surprising and inevitable. You cannot know what is inevitable until you have written everything before it.

Characters Emerge from Worlds

I will go out into the streets of Ilmar, this city, and I will see who I meet.

Characters grow from the friction and factions of the world you built. They are not designed in isolation and then placed into a setting. They are products of that setting. Pre-existing relationships create natural complications. The world generates the people.

Do Not Show Off Your Research

Once you have learned all these clever things...you need to learn how to put as little of that as possible on the page.

Research informs word choice subtly. It does not belong in exposition dumps. Pacing collapses with excessive technical detail. The reader should feel that the world is solid. They should not be lectured on why.

Reject Writing Dogma

Whenever I run into a dogmatic writing take, whether it is 'You should always do this' or 'You should never do this,' I can always think of a circumstance where you actually don't want to do it like that.

"Show, don't tell" can kill pacing. Children of Time is 60% exposition and it works brilliantly. The hero's journey is one structure, not the only structure. Hold all maxims lightly. This is Orwell's Rule 6 : break any rule rather than say anything outright barbarous.

Fight Scenes Need Emotion, Not Choreography

Have the narrative of the fight told as much through the emotions as through the footwork.

Know your weapons and armor. Know where the gaps are. But write the fear, the adrenaline, the confusion. Joe Abercrombie shows battle through a character's visor slot. The reader feels panic and claustrophobia. That is more powerful than precise choreography.

Getting Stuff Finished

Tchaikovsky took over a decade of writing and submitting before reaching publication quality. His early work "absolutely stank." His single piece of advice for aspiring authors: get stuff finished. "Knowing you can finish something provides an enormous psychological boost."

He loves the writing process itself. Most authors enjoy having written. He enjoys writing. That distinction explains the 60 books.

Every Writer Does It Differently

The most important thing that people need to know about writing is every writer does it differently.

There is no correct process. There is your process. Find it through practice. Refine it through repetition. Trust it through experience.

Key Takeaways

• Start with one "what if." Follow the ripples outward.
• You get one big lie. Make everything else true.
• Magic without cost kills tension.
• Plan chapters. Never plan the ending.
• Let characters emerge from worlds, not the reverse.
• Research deeply. Show almost none of it.
• Hold all writing dogma lightly.
• Write fight scenes through emotion, not choreography.
• Finish things. The psychological boost is real.
• Every writer works differently. Find your own way.

Tchaikovsky's worldbuilding rigor applies beyond fiction. Any complex document benefits from a solid foundation before drafting. And his "hide the research" principle is exactly what AI editing helps with: cutting the exposition that slows your reader down.

This post draws from Tchaikovsky's appearance on How I Write, his FAQ, and the Fantasy Review interview. Athens is an AI writing editor that helps you tighten prose while keeping your world intact.