Browsing all articles in Writing.
As I Learn: Or Why I Stopped Calling Myself A Pantser
Do you already know what type of writer you are? You may call yourself a discovery writer, an outliner or a mixture of both. We traditionally think of discovery writers, gardeners, and pantsers as writers who make up their stories as they go, and outliners, architects, and plotters as writers who pre-construct their plots before […]
Taking Comedy Seriously
From Geoffrey Chaucer to Raymond Chandler—and a lot of people in between—all kinds of writers have used comedy to entertain and inform in their writing. Comedy can form a useful distraction from a darker story, or can take the form of a sly comment on the main action—or it can be the backbone of a […]
Character Development: Writing Realistic Personalities & Flaws
This is the second article in our Character Development series. Click here to read the first article: Character Death and the Ultimate Sacrifice. In writing a novel, many authors are concerned about their characters’ likability. Characters are often their creator’s darlings, and the last thing authors want is for the audience to dislike what they, […]
Editing Your Writing
Editing is, in a way, the less fun counterpart to writing a novel. However, in writing fiction, the devil often is in the details, and a good edit can make the difference between a reasonable book and a brilliant one. Of course, a traditionally-published book will be edited by the publisher, and many self-published writers […]
Terry Pratchett and the Fantastical Power of Similes
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is celebrated by fantasy readers around the world for its wit, humour, and worldbuilding. Those who enjoy the series, myself included, cannot deny the vividness of Pratchett’s imaginary world, so magically crafted with words and so carefully balanced on the back of a turtle in space. An entire essay could be […]
Character Development: Character Death and the Ultimate Sacrifice
Killing a character in your novel is a tried and true method for advancing your plot. Allegiances are torn, revenge is sought, kingdoms fall apart. Character death feels as essential to the fantasy genre as magic—perhaps more-so. But in a narrative sense, is death really the “ultimate” sacrifice? The most effective character deaths are those […]
Weaving A Narrative
A story is more than its central plot tenants. It is more than the broad strokes of its grand events and dramatic moments. It is a woven tapestry of differing narrative threads and layers that weave together to create a cohesive whole. Yes there will be the macro arc of the greater plot that directs […]
A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: Weapons and Warfare
YouTube is an app, a website, and a cultural phenomenon. It’s also a vast and barely-explored wilderness full of content that ranges from dynamic to dire. Whatever your interests are, there’s probably at least one channel out there for you. Still, managing to dig out the channels that cater to your own SFF needs can […]
Crafting A Fall: Turning Heroes to the Dark Side
Who doesn’t love to see a character go bad? A man pushed too far pushing back? A loyal but ambitious servant helping themselves for a change? A noble hero broken down into the blackest villain? To watch a character fall into darkness is a fascinating journey, seeing a character’s values crumble and twist, watching their […]
Creating a Magic System
The naming of a thing gives you power over it. Sorcery is the will and the word. Cast fireball now and you won’t be able to again until tomorrow and have finished your revision. Magic systems exist in scores of fantasy novels. Diverse in their rules, varying in complexity, they instruct us in how the […]
Knocking People Out: Easier In Fiction Than In Real Life
It’s a common scenario in many kinds of fiction, including fantasy: a character passes out, either because they’ve been knocked on the head or injured or drugged, and the world “goes black” or they “fall into darkness”. The unfortunate character usually wakes up several hours or days later in a new place, disoriented and sometimes […]
Blurring The Lines
So I started reading the Dragon Prince trilogy by Melanie Rawn. It’s part of the classical fantasy cannon, and the books have been on my TBR pile for ages. While I am enjoying the books, one aspect that stands out to me is the obvious tone implicit in the “sides” of the story and their […]
