Writing Setting as Character
Inspired by Sanderson’s World Building class, we bring you writing Setting as Character. There are certain books where the setting is so key to the story, so rich and well defined, it becomes a character in itself.
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Genre
Write What You Know?
A common piece of writing advice is ‘write what you know.’ But what I know, I don’t want to write about. Much better to make it up.
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How Big a World Do You Need?
One important question when writing fantasy: how big a world do you need? Cast around for writing advice in the fantasy genre and you’re told of all the ‘essentials:’
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Conventions of the Comedy Genre
Because we all need more joy and more comic novels in the worlds, herewith, the conventions of the comedy genre in fiction. A funny thing happened on the way to the keyboard…
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Fantasy is no Different
For all the world-building and lore, I realise Fantasy is no different from any other story structure. All genres contain world-building and lore. Except in other genres we call it setting and history. All stories have it, even contemporary ‘real-world’ stories. Because they’re not real. ‘Real worlds’ in stories are edited and highlighted fictional versions. The author decides what to include and what to leave out. …
Conventions of the Fantasy Genre
No dragons, no elves; does that mean I’m ignoring the conventions of the fantasy genre?
Not necessarily. The fantasy genre is an increasingly broad ‘church.’
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Avoiding Prologues and Exposition
Can you write certain genres while avoiding prologues and exposition?
So many prologues, so little time… to get the reader to turn the page. For many, ‘prologue’ equals ‘put down.’
The Role of Speculative Fiction
With wide appeal and a long history, just what is the role of speculative fiction?
To use a definition from Masterclass:
Speculative fiction is a literary ‘super genre,’ …with speculative elements that are based on conjecture and do not exist in the real world.
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History, Historical Fiction and Fantasy: What Gives?
If history is stuff that happened, and fantasy is stuff somebody made up, then what’s historical fiction? History, historical fiction and fantasy: what gives?
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History, Historical Fiction and Fantasy: What Gives?Read More »
The Legacy of the Rings
What I call Tolkein’s Legacy of the Rings doesn’t kick-start the fantasy genre. It originates in the roots of story telling. …