So, I’m a planner and an outliner. I’ve made this pretty clear. Without plotting out a clear path of where I’m going to go in a story, I’m going to […]
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Everything You Wanted To Know About Worldbuilding
Some time ago, I posted links to my various Worldbuilding posts. I’ve written quite a lot more of them since then, so it was high time to reorganize. It occurs […]
Read moreWorldbuilding: Art and Culture in the Fantasy World
The most fundamental way to define a culture is through its art. Geography, food, religion, technology and government are critical as well, of course, but none of those quite get […]
Read moreA Deep Bench of Tertiary Characters
I have to confess, there’s a small part of me that cringes whenever I realize I need another character. Or characters. Especially a character with a name. Because I know, […]
Read moreSpace Opera Worldbuilding: Building the Non-Humanocentric Universe
You are probably familiar with the Bechdel Test*- while not a test of quality or even feminist credential, it is at least an interesting gauge to be aware of as […]
Read moreThe Failure of Book Trailers, and the Rare Exception
As I’ve mentioned before, book trailers are something I’m of two minds about. As a novelist with a film degree, I really like the idea of them. But, also, as […]
Read moreWorldbuilding: Great Forces of History
We present the following not as a matter of law, to be debated by a council of lords or ignored by a monarch, but as a matter of truth: the […]
Read moreWorldbuilding: Complexity in the Political Landscapes
As part of Way of the Shield, I’ve been delving deeper into the politics of Druthal. In doing so, I’m taking into account the same thing I said about strawmen […]
Read morePerils of the Writer: Villains Made of Straw
One of the easiest traps a writer can fall into is making their villains just be wrong. Especially if your story has some kind of political slant to it. I […]
Read moreWorldbuilding: Space Opera and the Future of Food
I take the food aspect of worldbuilding pretty seriously, as you can tell. This is just as true in Sci-fi and Space Opera as it is in Fantasy. On some […]
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