First drafts are fickle creatures. They are hastily thrown together (especially if you are a “gardener” writer like myself) and need work to form the story that you see in your mind’s eye. Editing your first draft can feel like climbing a mountain without a guidebook – there is simply so much to fix, and … More Editing a First Draft – Top Tips
Food and drink is a vital part of any society. What we eat and drink depends on the land around us, the trade we have with other countries (or lack of), access to certain ingredients and cooking tools. If we have food from a street vendor or food from a five start Michelin restaurant, then … More How to write food and drink into your fantasy world
When I talk about a minor character, I’m talking about those characters who doesn’t really have a purpose beyond adding colour to a particular Point of View character’s story. Perhaps it’s the person serving coffee to our Main Character in the morning, or a fleeting mention of someone they once met. So, if our minor … More Using Minor Characters in your Writing
For me, a Sub-Plot is anything that takes the characters away from the main thread of the story on a merry little jaunt of their own, and then weaves its way back towards the main thread. They’re the plots that as a Gardener writer, there is a pause between coming up with the idea and … More Using Sub-Plots in your Fantasy Story
You know you’re reading a fantasy book when the first two (or sometimes multiple) pages are of maps of the world. These help give your reader a visual context (and help remind them where places are in relation to others). Maps aren’t essential for writing a fantasy book, but I’ve always found having one (however … More How to create a map of your fantasy world
Every character needs a strong, clear voice to help bring the reader into their world. Whether it’s an accent or turn of phrase, every person has a unique way of communicating – the way a person talks can project their internal world to the world at large. A character’s “voice” is their way of interacting … More Giving your Character a unique voice
At some point, you’re going to have to tell your reader the image you see in your mind. You’ll need to try and capture that image, to the best you can, in your words so that when your reader reads those words, they come up with the same image. At least that is what you … More How to use description in your fantasy novel
If you’ve read anything about character building, you’ve probably heard about the term “antagonist” before. You might even know who in your book is going to be set up to be the antagonist, but you might not know where to start with building them. This is where understanding the purpose of an antagonist in your … More The Purpose of an Antagonist
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
Alex.J.Cobalt 