Browsing all articles in Writers.
Archetypes vs Stereotypes
What is the difference between a great character and a placeholder? Why is one warrior or wizard better than the other? They might serve exactly the same purpose in the novel, but one is clearly superior. Your grey-bearded magic user with the impractical hat just can’t compare with the scarred conjuror addicted to demon blood. […]
Why Characters Play Their Parts: Human Identity in Storytelling
The exploration of human nature has been a writer’s responsibility since the dawn of the word. Storytellers are accountable, whether or not they aim to be, for a representation of their society and culture and producing a record of the time period they are writing in, as well as presenting a medium for mankind to […]
Procrastination (Or Why You Can’t Trust A Version Of You From The Future)
Procrastination – it is the bane of all writers, something we all struggle with. How many times have we sat there ready to write and then find ourselves distracted by social media or cat memes on the internet? How many times have we said we’ll start work on that new chapter right after we’ve baked […]
How To Create A Civilisation
You’ve listened to the pounding hooves of nomadic Dothraki as the Khalasar sweeps across the grass plains, you’ve looked out from the heights of Minas Tirith over the white city of Gondor, and you’ve baulked at the cutthroat world of the Drow. Now you’re going to create your own civilisation, where do you start? This […]
Five Common Mistakes Writing Fantasy Flash Fiction
During my time as a flash editor for various ezines, I’ve read a fair chunk of speculative flash fiction. Some excellent. Some good. Some bad. Some really, really bad. And as varied as the submissions tend to be, I’ve found that a common thread runs through the subs that lean toward being worthy of the […]
Cannon Fodder: Music
Today I will introduce a topic I hope to return to from time to time: Inspiration. This one word is incredibly important to writers of all stripes, and is the basis for my ongoing article series, “Cannon Fodder.” Through this series, I hope to share some of what is unique in our world in hopes […]
Authors, Reviews and Commenting
Most of the advice I’ve seen for authors is not to read reviews, although by no means all. I’m going to disagree and say it’s a useful practice but you’d be wise to put on your armour before you do and remember that a review is an opinion. One person’s opinion, and that person could […]
New Year’s Creativity Resolutions
Come January 1st, after the fireworks, champagne, and parties wind down, people focus on their New Year’s resolutions. For most of us, that means focusing on our bodies. We resolve to exercise more, eat better/less, or to finish the Couch to 5k program. Well, most of us do, anyway.* But how many of us make […]
Mapmaking for Fantasy Authors
A good map is, I’d venture to say, just as vital to you as it is to your characters; you need a map to know the size of the world they occupy, the length of their journey, its difficulty, and distance. Furthermore, a good map serves as an important tool for your readers as well. […]
NaNoWriMo Type Along with Stephen Deas – The Finish
Follow along as Stephen Daes shares his week by week experience doing NaNoWriMo. If you missed Stephen’s intro article, you can read it here. If you missed any of the previous weeks you can read them here: week one, week two, week three, and week four. November 30th Wordcount target: 100,000 Words written: 75,664 Completion anxiety […]
After NaNoWriMo
So, if everything goes to plan, in a few hours you will have written 50,000 words in the month of November. Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment, and you should be proud, especially if this was your first NaNoWriMo. Take a moment to take a breath and appreciate all you have accomplished in such a […]
NaNoWriMo Type Along with Stephen Deas – Week Four
Follow along as Stephen Daes shares his week by week experience doing NaNoWriMo. If you missed Stephen’s intro article, you can read it here. If you missed any of the previous weeks you can read them here: week one, week two, and week three. November 18th Wordcount target: 80000 Words written: 72934 The real world […]
