Today, we are discussing Orcs. Stock fantasy species get a bad rap lately. It can be the first thing you want to do when you start a new fantasy world: Reinvent the wheel. Or in this case, reinvent the elf. But these races have an interesting history that makes them a useful writing tool. The … Continue reading How To Make Orcs Interesting and Unique
The second season of She-Ra has just dropped! As with the past season, we got a great set of LGBTQ+ characters to give us some hope.
Ever since cyberpunk took off, people have loved adding the word punk to genres. I'm planning to write a post on the why, and should we? of this phenomenon. But first, for the confused layman, I'm going to lay out the different types of punk genre you can find around! Links provided in this blog … Continue reading Different punk: A to Z of punk genres
Introducing your world, and writing that elevator pitch, is a really hard step to take. You know your world better than anyone, but sometimes that can make it even harder. Which parts are important? How do you sum up all the things you've made quickly and without overwhelming readers? Even if you're writing for fun, … Continue reading Introducing Your World and Writing Elevator Pitches
There are a lot of movies with really underappreciated worldbuilding. I could probably write an essay about the topic. Sometimes, the projects that have been crafted with the most care just don't see the success they deserve. But I'm going to shine the spotlight on five of my favourites today, and do it with no … Continue reading 5 Movies with Underappreciated Worldbuilding
When I started creating my high fantasy world, I stumbled onto a serious issue very early. I went into things with the intention of creating a classic medieval world (spoiler: it didn't happen). But I'd created a magic system that rendered the classic staples of a medieval world defunct. Plate armor, knights on horseback, stone … Continue reading Castles Don’t Make Sense In High Fantasy (a lot of the time)
If you write much fantasy, you know the feeling of trying to come up with terms for your magicians, mages or witches. I put together this resource ages ago for my personal reference. I was just sick of using mage. Sometimes it doesn't fit the feel you're going for, and sometimes you just want to … Continue reading 60 Alternative Words For Mage and Magician
I have serious mixed feelings about the Victorians and the Victorian era. On one hand, the Victorian era set a lot of aesthetic standards that remain today. They created a terrible amount of beauty. The setting of the Victorian era just bleeds colour and style. It was also an amazing period of scientific advancement. On … Continue reading I have a problem with writing the Victorian era
Where do you draw the line between white and black magic? You probably thought of necromancy and curses when black magic was mentioned. But mechanically is a curse any different to a blessing spell? We've talked about developing your magic system but black magic deserves its own blog post. When creating your own magic system, … Continue reading What is Black Magic?
This week I read Point Pleasant by Jen Archer Wood. A thrilling horror/spec fic novel with a gay romance side plot. Ahead is a spoiler free review of the book, so enjoy. Links provided in this blog are affiliate links. We will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking one of … Continue reading Review: Point Pleasant by Jen Archer Wood