What do you do when you’re struggling to name something in your fantasy or sci-fi novel? Use fantasy name generators. I’m running out of names. I have a fantasy name list in Evernote but I’ve used most of them. Some of the ways I created names in the past don’t Read more…
I talked about plants in the post Creating Fantasy Plants. Now, let talk about creating fantasy animals. Darkness has taken. Its power torments people. Animals and plants slowly evolve to thrive in this dangerous world. In Book 1 of my Merging World series, you learned about glowing plants. You discovered mutated Read more…
While editing my work in progress, I’m noticing I don’t describe most of my settings, at least not well enough for readers to get a good sense of place. You want readers to become so lost in your world that they feel like they’re traveling with your characters. They have Read more…
I used to say I hated all that mushy stuff while inhaling fantasy and horror stories with some romance in them. My stories are heavy on the relationship theme. Often, that relationship turns romantic. It’s strange. Adding romance to my stories was almost unconscious. I don’t know why I was Read more…
While researching why most fantasy novels don’t have modern technology, I found one reason was that people believed it’s tricky balancing magic and technology. One would disprove the other. I’m not talking about Urban Fantasy. I mean fictitious worlds with magic and technology. I understand why most fantasy authors write Read more…
You have an idea for your awesomely new power system. Now we’re going to discuss writing magical beings. In the last post, Fantasy Powers: How Ideas Are Born, I touched on determining who would be using the power. Diving deeper into this will help make your new power system more Read more…
What happened to the power? Fantasy stories today have a lot less magic. That’s fine. But, I like giving my characters special powers. I like that those powers have a key role in the story. Give me memorable characters with awesome abilities. How does someone come up with a power Read more…
Along the lines of multiple perspectives- how do you keep several distinct voices in your head? How can one author manage to write a story with multiple voices? Even if you have only 3 or 4 POV characters, you’re novel could still have a large cast. Each of those characters needs Read more…
I’ve said this before, I love atmospheric horror. I prefer stories that use setting to enhance the chills. I looked upon the scene before me- upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain…with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation Read more…
As if naming our characters wasn’t hard enough. On top of that, we have to name lands, buildings, foods, cultures, mountains even treaties and wars. The list goes on and on. Here’s your guide on how to name a fantasy world. 1. Pay attention to everything around you. You may come across Read more…
