So You’re Doing NaNoWriMo!
Rebekah Loper
And right about now, you might be wondering what exactly you’ve signed yourself up for. I won’t lie – November is going to be hard. Especially if this is your…
writing advice
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…
Genre of the Impossible
Victoria Hooper
For a while now there has been an emphasis on realism in our fantasy, which has created some exciting new stories and series, including some personal favourites. However, as the…
The NaNoWriMo Phenomenon
November is coming. The non-writer (or very, very new writer) may only associate this with the imminent holiday season. However, there is another event that happens every November that can…
Preparing For NaNoWriMo
Adrian Faulkner
How can it be less than a month until November? It seems like only yesterday that it was summer and yet November conjures images of cold nights, frosty mornings, fireworks…
Thinking About Food In Fantasy
Food is an essential part of life, but it’s also so much more than just sustenance – food is power and politics, culture and setting, pleasure and identity. Food will…
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…
9 Things I Wish I’d Known about Writing from the Beginning
The other day, I had a lovely conversation with a friend who is also a writer. We both have very similar writing styles, but arrived there from two completely different…
Does Size Matter In Epic Fantasy?
Dan Hanks
This year I decided to do something crazy—compete in an online writing contest called Pitch Wars. Run by the wonderful Brenda Drake, this is where unpublished writers query a selection…
Writing Fight Scenes – What an Editor Wants to See
Hierath
As an editor, something I’ve discovered when I’m editing books for other people is I’m making the same comments over and over again in relation to action scenes. I thought…
I Hate Info-Dumps
Geoff Matthews
You’ve all thought it, haven’t you? Come on, be honest. You’ve had that heart sinking moment when you are reading a book and a new character appears in the narrative…
Setting as a Character
Ryan Howse
One of the joys of writing second-world fantasy is the ability to create your own world. You can set up spectacular vistas, ancient empires, mysterious ruins, or whatever else you’d…