Worldbuilding On the Go
Writing is a time-consuming endeavor. Especially when you have limited time available for your writing, the last thing you need is to spend that limited time on non-writing tasks. Worldbuilding it not writing. It might be related, but it's just a background task. It's...
If You Could Have Magic
What kind of magic would you want to have, if you could have the magic from a famous novel or series? If you leave the choices too open ended, you'll never get any sort of groundswell behind just one; there are just too many magic systems out there. So for the...
War in Fantasy
War is a common topic in fantasy. Not every story is about a war, or contains one, but at least in epic fantasy, they are more common than not. There is something about the scope and the stakes involved in war that fit the typical epic fantasy mold. How those wars are...
Secret Project Revealed
Secret Project Command has given clearance to discuss the Secret Project. As it turns out, I'm a contributor to an upcoming short story anthology, called The Dark Beyond the Door, which will hopefully be available coming came out June 1. J.R. Karlsson has rounded up a...
Crazy Fandom
There is something admirable in taking something to its fullest extent, then saying to yourself, "no, that's still not quite far enough." I was reminded of this recently when a fan presented Brandon Sanderson with a homemade shardblade, a weapon from his Stormlight...
How to Write a Book Review
Are you a shy reviewer? Not sure how to write a book review? When someone tells me they've enjoyed one of my books, my general response is to first thank them, then ask if they've considered leaving a review. As a relatively new author, I still actively seek out...
2014 Reading Update (May)
Back at the end of 2013 I laid out a selection of books I intended to read in 2014. Having just finished the first books (I still have the sequels of Mistborn to go, as well as picking up sequels for the other series), I thought it would be a good time for another...
Worldbuilding Philosophy
I talk a lot about elements of worldbuilding, but rarely about what it is. To me, it all boils down to this: Worldbuilding is the art of creating a fictional world that a reader can accept as real. That's the core of what I look for in worldbuilding. Can I imagine...
Worldbuilding: Money in Your World
"Excuse me sir, I'd like to buy that sword, a shield, and I'll be needing salted meats and bread for a five-day journey." "That will be $343.49." Huh? Nothing jars a reader out of a scene like a bit of everyday life sneaking into the imagined world they are exploring....
Get the Earth Out of Your Fictional World
When you write secondary world fiction (anything set on a world you made up), people expect to it to be separated from Earth. To do this, you need to maintain a perspective on just what is specific to our world, and what are just things that any human culture might...