What Makes A Good Protagonist?
Aaron Miles
From the humble page all kinds of fantastic characters can spring to life: dashing heroes, devious villains and everything in between. But only a few of these creations will reach…
Aaron Miles
Sinking Into The World
In the fantasy genre, many writers love to indulge in worldbuilding, they may have produced stacks of files, papers and (of course) maps before they’ve written the first chapter. While…
When The Dust Settles
While attending this year’s Nine Worlds convention I went to a session titled “How To Win The 21st Century,” which talked about games as a dominant cultural medium. This and…
How To Liven Up Your Story
Character A goes to location B, takes action C, and achieves event D. This sentence might have the minimal elements of a plot but it’s not a story. A story…
Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell
Knight’s Shadow is the second book in The Greatcoats series; this review will contain spoilers for Traitor’s Blade. Read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book.…
A Look At Points Of View
What point of view to write from is one of the most significant decisions a writer can make about their work, yet with so many aspects of writing craft to…
10 Reasons to Workshop
People learn to write in many different ways, some by reading masterpieces, some by going to classes, some just pick up a pen and get on with it. You can…
The Genre Divide
As long as there have been books there have been categories for them, Fantasy-Faction itself is a site dedicated to a particular form of literature. But in recent years more…
Story Openings
The blank page faces you, whether it’s the page in your hand or the one on the screen, the question is always the same – how do you begin? Do…
H. P. Lovecraft Omnibus 1: At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
You probably think you’re safe as you’re reading this. You might be sat in the comfort of your home, or with a tablet on the morning commute. You might be…
On The Trail Of Evil – A Look At Villainous Main Characters
The skies have darkened and night has come to the world. Thieves and assassins skulk in every shadow, waiting for their chance to strike. Ruthless politicians claw their way up…
Character Immersion And The Narrative Voice
The protagonists in a story are the reader’s window into the world, and getting the narrative voice of your character right is one of the hardest techniques to master. If…