The Rulebreaker’s Guide to the Semicolon
Amy Rose Davis
When I started writing fiction again in November 2009, I just wrote. I didn’t care about what was okay, what was forbidden, and what was tolerable—I just purged my head…
Writing
Five Ways To Use NaNoWriMo As Your Writing R&D Department
Adrian Faulkner
November sees the arrival of NaNoWriMo, the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. In a couple of weeks many of you will be writing like…
Writing Food
Michael R. Underwood
Everybody eats. And in many cases, eating scenes can be a great way to liven up your fiction. It’s easy to write a conversation that becomes nothing more than a…
Dealing With Rejection
It can sometimes seem a little crazy. We live in a world governed by metrics. From end of year performance reviews to hospital waiting times, everything in our lives seems…
Accepting Rejection
Eric Christensen
“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.” – Ray Bradbury Like many writers, I’ve slaved over short stories. I’ve revised mercilessly, hacking away at excess verbiage,…
It’s All In The Name
Michael Everest
Time for another Creative Writing 101, but this time I’d like to focus on something a little different. I had thought to write an entry dedicated to Character Creation for…
Consider the Start of Your Story a.k.a. The Hook and The Arm It’s Attached To
Is the hare really faster than the tortoise? Did the chicken come before the egg? Green means go, red means stop, but yellow means something in the middle – so…
Rules? Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Rules
Ryan Howse
There’s a strong tendency in critique groups, whether online or in person, or in writing guides, or even just in casual conversation between writers, to talk about The Rules of…
Creative Writing: Writer’s Block aka The Dead End
So for an opening article to get me into the swing of things here, I thought I’d tackle something that every writer can relate to. No, not overpriced fuel or…
Pretend to be a Dungeon Master and Level Up Your Storytelling
I think it’s a safe bet that many Fantasy-Faction readers have at some point played Dungeons & Dragons. I’m also willing to bet that many readers, myself included, have packed…
The Art of Conflict
Sandra Norval
It was raining. Not just ordinary rain but the horizontal type where the wind just drives it into your face and your eyes sting with the salty grittiness of it.…
Writing Rules and Fantasy: Mary Sues
Victoria Hooper
This is the last in a series of articles about common writing rules and how they apply to fantasy writing. Earlier articles in the series: – Show, Don’t Tell –…