Fantasy stories of all shapes and sizes always have some kind of magical element to them. It’s what ties together the genre across all flavours of fantasy. Magic systems are deeply integral to the story, but they should also be tied into the world of your story. Think of it like electricity – you could … More Worldbuilding with Magic
There are lots of different ways you can define the concept of a main character. They’re the ones with the Points of View (POVs), they’re the ones with the most chapters, or they’re the ones that the story revolves around. A main character, for me, is a little bit of all of those three. Importantly, … More What makes a Main Character?
It’s November, which means its Nanowrimo month for many people. Good luck to those who are tackling the mammoth 50,000 words in a month, and also good luck to those who might be doing their own variation of Nanowrimo with a different word count. If you’re new to writing, or new to using word counts … More How To: Smash 50k words in a month
As a fantasy reader and writer, I’m most comfortable in the world of 3rd person POV. However, if you’re writing a fantasy epic, how do you manage multiple POVs in your novel? Here are my top three tips: 1) be picky with your POVs2) write a unique character voice for each POV3) use your POVs … More Top 3 tips for writing Multiple POVs
Sub-Plots are a key part of any story, especially a fantasy one. You have to keep a careful eye on how many you have and what purpose they are serving in order to keep a handle on your story. This month in my newsletter Writing on Caffeine, I’ll be looking at why Sub-Plots are … More How To: Writing Sub-Plots
Got multiple WIPs on the go? Struggling to get anywhere with any one project? Here’s my top three reasons why you need to pick a “focus” project – a WIP that you work on exclusively until you hit your next writing goal. … More Why you need a “Focus” Project
Consider how you would talk to your partner, your sibling, or someone at work. You might have different jokes that Having a unique world starts with the geography of that world. The geography of your world will dictate the climate of your world, your character’s homes and cities, and aspects of the way they interact … More How To: Creating your world’s geography
Endings of a story have a special place in my writerly heart. Finding the right ending to a story, especially a longer project that I’ve been working on for a while, is a large reason why I write. So, how do you write a good ending? I’ve got some top three tips to consider when … More How To: Endings
In one of my blogs last month, one of the reasons I said why writing is a Good Hobby is because you don’t need all the time in the world to sit down and write. Today, I want to talk about how to write when you’re busy, and my top tips on how you can … More How To: Write when you’re busy
Having a distinctive character voice for each character can help your reader understand their secret inner words. Not just through dialect, but the type of words they use and who they use those words too. Consider how you would talk to your partner, your sibling, or someone at work. You might have different jokes that … More How To: A Character’s Voice
Alex.J.Cobalt 