8 Easy Ways To Improve Your Writing Skills
Reading Time: 7 minutes I’ve learned many harsh lessons since I began writing fiction, all of which have helped me improve as a writer. In this article I thought I’d share how I came to learn those lessons.
The Writer’s Toolshed
How To Create A Fantasy Castle, Keep And Fortress
Reading Time: 17 minutes We’ve lost more than we know, but what we have retained has inspired some, if not all, of the greatest fantasy stories in one way or another. Taking the time to do a bit of research on what you’re writing about will empower your storytelling and, hopefully, enthral your readers. Today we’re besieging the fortifications which dominated the Middle Ages, and of course which feature in our beloved fantasy genre.
Medieval Cannons: The Essential Guide
Reading Time: 8 minutes For Fantasy Friday this week, I thought we’d return to medieval warfare and to something I don’t come across all too often in the fantasy stories I read: the cannon. This article covers the development of European cannons, how they were made, the gunpowder used, and how they fared in battle. Hopefully, it’ll give you a few ideas for your own tales!
Creating A Fantasy Map – The Only Guide You Need
Reading Time: 15 minutes This two-part article looks at the nature of things and how they’re formed. Part one will examine oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, and deserts. Part two will look at forests, mountains, hills, swamps, snow, ice, and volcanoes.
Killer Diseases of the Middle Ages
Reading Time: 9 minutes Diseases ravaged the lives of millions of people throughout the Middle Ages. A combination of bad diet, poor hygiene, inadequate sanitation and an ill-informed understanding of medicine left many people vulnerable to fatal infections.
Given many fantasy stories have a medieval setting, similar circumstances would give rise to diseases in a secondary world. As we’ll see, this presents interesting opportunities for the fantasy writer.
The Complete Guide To The Development Of A Character
Reading Time: 11 minutes Everything in this world of ours changes. Mountains crumble into the sea. Islands disappear. Forests become icecaps. Change is eternal. It is one of life’s only constants. For some of us, we welcome it, embrace it. Others resist.
How To Write A Flashback | Essential Tips
Reading Time: 9 minutes Why the hostility toward flashbacks? If done well, they work. But done badly, they break the reader’s experience, preventing them from discovering what happens next in the story. To quote editor, Sol Stein, “If we are enthralled, we don’t want to be interrupted.” The trick, therefore, if you feel compelled to use one, is to use the flashback in as little a disruptive way as possible. Here are a few techniques to help you do that.
Men Writing Women Characters – Never Make These Mistakes!
Reading Time: 11 minutes Today I’m delighted to introduce Savannah Cordova, a talented writer with Reedsy. Savannah has tackled a topic I follow both with interest and despair.
How To Create Your Very Own Living Breathing Fantasy World
Reading Time: 7 minutes Today I’m thrilled to introduce the immensely creative John Tarrow, a talented author and next-level, real-life builder of fantasy worlds. John has kindly put together
Religion In Fantasy
Reading Time: 8 minutes Religion and belief systems feature a great deal in the fantasy genre, and it’s unsurprising why. Religion, faiths and beliefs shape our own lives in a multitude of ways, providing purpose, meaning and structure.
