Category: For Writers: Builder’s Theory
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Writing Resources for Fantasy Authors
While I was working on my current project–which is a high fantasy piece–there were a lot of resources I found myself pulling from in order to make the story as realistic, consistent, and good as possible. It seemed like a good idea to me to put all, or at least the most important, of those…
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Let’s Talk Tropes: The Chosen One
Welcome to what I hope will be the first of a series of posts focused on tropes common in the fantasy genre. So if you enjoy the post, be sure to leave a like, and while you’re there, feel free to recommend what other tropes you think I should discuss. First, a definition is in…
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Choosing the Opacity of Your World-Building
Among the multitude of differences that separate the practice of reading from the art of writing, especially when it comes to the fantasy/science fiction genres, one of the hardest to reconcile is that of world-building. For a reader, the setting cannot take center stage. Even for someone like me, who loves to explore new settings…
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Five Types of Magic Systems
Although magic is not a requirement for fantasy settings, they are a staple of the genre. When it comes to how new and unique a novel’s magic system is, well, they can be just as varied as fantasy as a genre. Yet there are a few categories that most magic systems either fall into or…
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Setting Study: A Song Below Water
The novel A Song Below Water, by Bethany C. Morrow, is a YA urban fantasy story revolving around two young women living in Portland, Oregon. The novel creates lore that takes some liberties with real-world mythos to create a story about race and about being unashamed of one’s identity. The novel’s main allure in regards…
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Eight Character Archetypes, Then and Now
Four years ago, I wrote a blog post on my old Mad Chronicler site called “Who’s Who? The 8 Character Archetypes.” I’ve been thinking about it a lot, lately. Four years is a long time for any individual writer, and even in the bookish community, our understanding of tropes and archetypes can shift in that…
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Setting Study: Fennbirn from Three Dark Crowns
When it comes to conceptual world-building, Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake did well at integrating various core elements of the setting itself, with a few critical misfires that flubbed the ending. Still, the blend of various magics is unique enough, and its effects on the culture plausible enough, that it sets Fennbirn apart from…
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Setting Study: Gatlon City from Renegades
One doesn’t usually expect a rich world-building experience from a superhero novel, although one of the many reasons for it is that, most often, superhero novels are either based in real Earth-cities, or is at least situated in a sort of universe that is very Earth-like. In some capacity, it resembles that of an urban…
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Setting Study: The Harbor from The Starless Sea
The Harbor from Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea is an interesting place as far as Narnia-esque places go. Set beside the honey-filled titular Starless Sea, the Harbor isn’t exactly one place, but one of many. Set apart from the “real world” by magic doors, it is a place of wonder and beauty. As the years…
Katie Bachelder 