Fiction Craft Blog

It's very common for newer fantasy writers to focus heavily on worldbuilding and much less on developing their characters. After all, worldbuilding is the main draw of fantasy and speculative fiction more widely, and novels in all genres have characters. Older fantasy novels often had quite flat, undeveloped characters. The current Anglo-American market for fantasy fiction has moved on, though. The popularity of Romantasy links to the increased importance of strong emotional

“Write what you know” is popular advice often given to writers. That’s because it’s easier to imagine a setting you know well and write about it in a way that reflects what it really is like there. You’re less likely to make big errors that will make the story sound unbelievable or unconvincing to readers. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to do any research, and memory is fallible too, but it’s an easier option than writing beyond your experience. Setting and perspective offe