History Study Materials
Books to Read Examples Devil in the White City—Erik Larson Erik Larson is one of my favorite history authors. In his best (in my opinion) …
History Guide
With the entire history of humankind to draw from, history is obviously a gigantic genre. And it’s not just the different time periods. Histories can …
Some Random Writing Tips
Not everything deserves an entire article. Here are a few things I’ve learned from my time in the trade that have helped me. Develop Your …
Crazy Few Months
Been pounding away on the site for a while now, and we’re finally ready to show it to a select few people. No public showing …
Why Writing is Different
Good art—of any kind—contains three things at a high level: concept, composition and technique. Writing is unique in all the creative arts in that there …
Worldbuilding: How Much is too Much?
There is no such thing as too much worldbuilding. The greater the depth of the author’s knowledge of the setting of their book, the better. …
Em Dashes, Semicolons, and Other Less Used Punctuation
Once you get past the basics, punctuation starts to get weird. That’s because a lot of the less used punctuation are more about personal preference …
Should I Write Paranormal Fantasy?
If you like your urban fantasy with a side of romance; if you like Twilight or True Blood; if you think werewolves are underrepresented in modern fantasy; then paranormal might be a good fit for you.
The real thing to figure out is do you like romance? Because most of what is referred to as paranormal is actually paranormal romance.
The Hero’s Journey
The Hero’s Journey is a story structure based on Joseph Campbell’s seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, where he lays out the commonalities …
Crafting a Magic System
If you ask a thousand fantasy authors what makes a good magic system, you’ll get a thousand different answers. I am not going to give …