This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Sharon Bayliss. Her most recent publication is The Charge. How to Rewrite History: A Guide for Novelists and Dictators Manipulating historical events, either for an alternate history novel or to deceive the masses, takes a lot of research. Personally, my experience in re-writing history comes from writing my alternate history fantasy, The Charge (not from being a ruthless overlord). In The Charge, the state of Texas never joins the United States and instead becomes an independent nation. I’ve complied a set a tips for how to […]
writing
47 posts
This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Daniel Sherrier, the author of RIP: Touch, a paranormal novella series, and Earths in Space vol. 1: Where Are the Little Green Men?. Making paranormal rules is fun! I’m writing a series about ghosts, but before I started, I had to figure something out: What on Earth can ghosts do? If I was writing a series about police officers, I’d need to research and learn about the laws governing their behavior on the job. If I was writing about tigers, I’d need to learn everything I […]
Some of you know that I’m a martial artist. I’ve been training in martial arts for over 19 years as of this writing. I started in taekwondo when I was 12 and earned my first black belt in the now-defunct International Taekwondo Council (ITC). I trained for about two years in a Japanese Karate Association (JKA) Shotokan karate school before heading to college at 17, where I trained for a year in judo. When I transferred colleges, I ended up in a Chidokwan karate (basically Shotokan + escrima sticks + street-style self-defense) university club, where I trained for two years […]
First, read this post on Writer’s Block and How to Defeat It. It outlines how writer’s block is generally a result of either fear or confusion, and how to address those issues. This post does NOT address those deeper issues. These tips and tricks work best for me when I’m only “sorta stuck”… I have some ideas, but the words aren’t flowing. These are ways to jog your creativity and exercise your mind. If you’re dealing with writer’s block, please look at the root causes first before relying on the tips and tricks below. Exercise and Think About Your Story […]
I’m writing this partly because I was inspired by this post at SF Signal, in which Zack Jernigan conducts the first part of a round-table interview focused on writing about race in science fiction and fantasy (SFF). I’ve also been asked about race and racial issues in my writing by some readers and thought I could shed some light on my perspective. Unlike Zack, I don’t have a varied and accomplished panel of interviewees to make excellent points, so I’m attempting to do this myself. I’m a white, Anglo-Saxon, middle-class American. I don’t have personal experience of being the outsider […]
In fantasy and other fiction, a lot of stories begin with the question “What if…?” Humans love to explore what might be and what might have been. It’s entertainment, but it’s also a way to learn about ourselves and about the world we live in. Today’s guest post is by chick lit / romance author Deb Nam-Krane. The Importance of Alternate Realities Even though my writing stays firmly in the world of Newtonian physics, it’s important for me to know that for all of my characters there’s an alternate reality or, as I call it one of my books, everyone’s unique […]
{EAV:e18fa93393e1d766} I wrote this post weeks ago, serenely confident in my wisdom. It just went live, but the post has been written for almost a month. And it’s good advice! Nothing has changed… what I wrote then is still true. But now, as I’m struggling with Book3 in the Erdemen Honor series, I’m reminded of how very frustrating writer’s block is. I’ve asked a few online writer buddies to help me with brainstorming. Once I know where my characters are going, I can write it. Sometimes I don’t need that… sometimes we’re all heading off toward crazy adventure together. I […]
Most writers deal with writer’s block at some point in their career. It can be incredibly discouraging, and it doesn’t always result from a lack of “inspiration” or discipline. Without dealing with the root causes, writer’s block can continue to be a problem. In my experience, writer’s block is a result of either fear or confusion. Fear (NOTE: I drafted this post quite a while ago and then I watched this video. Watch it! It’s less than five minutes long. Apparently, we’re on the same wavelength.) Fear of looking stupid. Fear of imperfection. Fear of emotions you don’t want to explore. Fear […]
This is a guest post by Carson Craig. Carson is a student and author with a steampunk novel coming out later this year. I invited him to write a post on tech tools for writers. Thank you, Carson! As a sidenote, I (C. J. Brightley) also use and love Scrivener. If you’re a writer and you ever write out of order, or write with multiple points of view, or write anything that requires lots of research (such as hard SF or historical fiction), Scrivener can be a lifesaver. Keeping track of multiple storylines, lots of characters, lots of research, or […]
Caveat: I don’t believe in rules for writing. This post isn’t meant to be a list of things you must do, or must not do. Fantasy can be as realistic, or as unrealistic, as you wish. Neither is necessarily better; they’re just different. This post is meant only to serve as a brainstorming exercise. It is meant to raise questions that might help you as you think about your story and your world. You are more than welcome to throw any or all of it out for any given story. As a fantasy writer, it can sometimes be tempting to […]