A Look At Points Of View
Aaron Miles
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…
writing advice
So What’s The Fuss About Writing Journal?
Adrian Faulkner
Many writers enjoy tracking their productivity. They’ll keep spreadsheets to see how well they’re writing, filled with rows of word counts, start and end times. This way they can calculate…
Worldbuilding: Creating Bestiaries and Fantastic Monsters
B. Pine
A well-defined bestiary is a must for every fantasy world, unless the creator plans to stick to mundane animals identical to realistic fauna, or there are no animals or creatures…
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…
Arsenic and Old Leaves: The Art of Poisoning Your Fantasy Characters – Part 1
Faith M. Boughan
So, you’re contemplating murder. Er, that is, your character is contemplating murder. Effective modes of death and all that. Bloodless versus bloodbath, public duel versus private confrontation, “accident” versus spontaneous…
Attending Your First Convention As An Unpublished Writer
So there comes a time early in every writer’s career when you make a very serious decision. You’ve been writing as a hobby for years, you enjoy it and your…
Writing Fight Scenes
Marc Davies
Writing fight scenes is often an important task for a fantasy author. Some writers find they come naturally. Others find them daunting, and can’t think of anything worse. Whichever category…
Rhythm and Time – Part 1: Give Your Writing a Beat of Its Own
Amy Rose Davis
I took seven years of piano lessons growing up. I have a terrible ear, and I never practiced enough to become technically adept, but I was always pretty good at…
So What’s The Fuss About Dropbox?
Being a writer is about facing fear daily. Whether it be trying to tackle scenes that seem a little challenging or dealing with the daily worries of trying to forge…
Reading Like A Writer: Why to do It, How to do It, and Why I Often Fail at It
Eric Christensen
In podcasts and interviews, I often hear authors lamenting the fact that due to deadlines and publicity efforts, they don’t get to read as much as they used to. Even…
Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells and Howard Taylor
Victoria Hooper
Shadows Beneath is both an anthology of short stories and a glimpse into the writing process, created by the Writing Excuses podcast team: Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells…
If It’s ‘Self-Promotion,’ You’re Doing It Wrong
Richard Bray
I recently wrote a letter to my grandfather in advance of his 90th birthday, and told him a bit about some of the books I’ve been reading lately. He’s never…