Author: Kyla Bagnall
Understanding your fiction genre, and its subgenres, lets you alter and conform with confidence. You want a book that works well with marketing and cover design, and you want your readers to feel, at the least, satisfied. Of course, adding your own unique flair is all part of the fun. …
In our visual world of cinema and photography, setting often takes a back seat in novels. But even when constructed through words, visuals are a powerful story element. Whether creating a fantasy world from scratch or using the current world as your backdrop, it is important to work your setting …
So you've created a fantastical world full of unique cultures and ideas, and a diverse cast of characters to reflect that. And to add even more depth to your characters and setting, you want to weave in different languages. As a fantasy writer, using multiple languages has probably crossed your mind. …
Names are powerful. And naming a character is not a decision to be taken lightly. It can even be more important than a character's carefully-crafted appearance. It helps create round characters. Good names help both writers and readers move through a story smoothly." — Dan Schmidt But it's no easy task …
Books are often judged by their cover. And with all the work you've put into your story, you deserve a winning book cover – one that will pique the reader's interest to glance at the blurb on the back, and crack open the pages. So how can you ensure your book …
You've been working away at your novel, lovingly crafting each word, and the thought occurs to you: should I split this into another book or two? Often this thought comes up when you glance at your word length, steadily increasing beyond your expectations. Splitting or expanding your novel into a series …
How do you show how much time has passed in a short story or in a novel? Events happen, characters develop, and so time flows. But as your story stretches across days, weeks and years, it's impossible to write every moment. So how do you skip or gloss over all …
'Write with all five senses' is a brilliant rule for working on description; but how familiar are you with each? Sight, sound, smell, touch and taste are five simple details that help make your fictional world come to life. The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human …
