Writing Roots

Every character has skills. Every character learns new skills. The question is, how do we – as authors – show that? The reader needs to know that this character knows other languages, or can fight, or...

16 Jun 202210min

When you’ve spent time and effort creating a magic system for your story, you naturally want people to know just how awesome it really is. The magic is, after all, one of the major elements that draws...

13 Jun 202210min

It would be impossible to show every aspect of a culture within a story. Whether you’re representing a real culture or creating a fictional one, there are too many facets to fully display. You may be ...

9 Jun 202211min

The history of a world, especially when you’re writing science fiction and fantasy, tends to play a large part in the story overall. It is, after all, the history of the world that put the characters ...

6 Jun 202211min

Exposition – also known as information dumping – can drag a story down more effectively than any other form of bad writing. When you spend too much time explaining a detail to the reader, they are pul...

2 Jun 202211min

Misunderstandings happen. Sometimes it’s the reader skimming too fast and missing a detail. Sometimes it’s the author who named two characters too similarly. There’s not much you can do about the firs...

30 Mai 202211min

Emotions are complicated, difficult things that tie humanity together or break them apart. Emotions are what keep readers invested in stories. Readers will care about the characters and what they expe...

28 Mai 202248min

Content and trigger warnings are becoming increasingly obvious throughout our daily lives. Warnings in the form of ratings have been around for a while on movies, shows, and video games. They’re becom...

26 Mai 202211min