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Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Writing bigger speculative fiction stories

In his 2017 best seller, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story, Houston Howard admonishes writers to create larger stories…
November 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How to Defeat the Dream-Stealers

I hadn’t been careful enough, and the creature had my scent. Fight or flight, but there’s nowhere to run.…
October 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How Genre Impacts Your Character Development

Sometimes it’s easy to think character development looks similar across genres. And for the reader, it usually does. Even…
September 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Your Protagonist: The Eyes to Your Story

Choosing a perspective character is one of the biggest choices when it comes to writing your novel. There are…
August 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How to Make Readers Feel At Home From Page 1

Have you ever walked into someone’s house as a first-time dinner guest and felt out of place? Ten other…
July 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How to Write Tactful Fantasy and Science Fiction During COVID-19

Writing during a global pandemic is probably not something you thought you’d be tackling. Writing is hard enough by…
June 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Tropes: How to Make Them Credible, Not Cliché

You could probably name tropes from your favorite books and movies without hardly thinking about it. There’s the Reluctant…
May 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
World Building: What publishers Want

There’s something immersive about opening a fantasy or sci-fi book and feeling like there were hundreds of pages of…
April 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Three Ways to Use History to Build Your Fantasy

Margaret Atwood is well-known for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian first published in 1985. Her novel covers…
March 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How Setting Can Be a Worthy Villain

It takes a spell-binding plot and evocative characters to create a memorable story. Some writers meticulously plan each plot…
February 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Stage for Your First Page

There’s a video floating around somewhere online (numerous, probably!) of J.K. Rowling reading her first pages to eager readers.…
January 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Tightrope We Must Walk

Your main character stands on the edge of a cliff, a five hundred foot drop to jagged rocks below.…
December 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How Writing Blind Will Take Your Fantasy to the Next Level

When it comes to writing, some of us like to picture it in our head and write what we…
November 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi, Uncategorized
Unlocking Science Fiction, the Secret You Need to Know

There’s something about a good sci-fi story that pulls me in and doesn’t let me go. In those moments,…
October 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Slow Build of Believability

Most of us have probably been told to “plunge your main character into terrible trouble as quickly as possible.”…
September 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Beginner’s Guide to Props – Using Them to Show Character

You know the phrase, all an actor needs is an empty room and a script? I’ve heard that idea…
August 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The One Story That Always Keeps Readers Turning Pages

It’s not every author that has a movie made in their honor. But when the author makes global impact,…
July 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Desires Behind Your Character’s Desires

When he reaches for the cookie his eyes aren’t on the cookie but on his mom in the other…
June 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Genre Mashing Or Genre Reinvention?

In the last few years, there have been lots of Science Fiction and Fantasy publications that also fit into…
May 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Fantasy Heroes? This Is How You Make Them Relatable.

One of my friends recently gifted me a book. She’d loved it so much she literally went out and…
April 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Why Disabled Characters Should Be Included in Your Spec Fic Novel

What does “disabled” mean? Generally, it covers everything from physical limitations, such as blindness or deafness or not possessing…
March 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Why Your Villain Demands Empathy

Hitler didn’t wake up one day and decide to become one of the most infamous murderers in history. He…
February 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How to Write Fantasy and Science Fiction

So, you’re a writer. And you’d like to write fantasy and science fiction. You have a great idea for…
January 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Perfect Blend of History and Fantasy

Historical fantasy is a genre growing in popularity. Many famous historical figures have earned themselves a retelling of their…
December 7, 2018
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Inspiration From the Renaissance

Most authors will hit a dry spell at some point in their career. Whether they consider it “writers block”…
November 7, 2018