Yeah, I know, who wants to hear about ‘how to write romance‘? There are some fantasy of sci-fi books/media that forego this type of writing altogether. But I’m a sucker for a hint of romanticism in these epic tales, so here we go. So how to write a romantic sub-plot? Well, the best place to […]
For every heroic quest, there’s always an Obi-Wan Kenobi or a Gandalf there to guide the protagonist on the journey. They’re such integral parts of the story that most times they become legends in our own minds. But, what makes the mentor figure so great? To start off, the term “mentor” originates from Homer’s epic […]
So I’ve been wanting to do a post about this for a while now, so without further ado, let’s begin. When developing magic for your fantasy story, what’s something that sets it apart from others in media? Are there spells and incantations? Do the wizards use wands, staffs, or other weapons? What effects does the […]
How do you determine your character’s background? Backstory is probably one of the most important and most difficult aspects to sort out regarding your characters. Getting their personalities and quirks can come easy based upon our own interpersonal experiences. But us authors only have one truly personal backstory to draw from: our own. So how […]
On writing action scenes. Fight scenes are both really tricky and fun to write. How much detail needs to go into it? How is it choreographed? What’s going on inside the character’s head? There’s weirdly a lot to consider when writing action scenes in a book, but there are three concepts that I think can […]
I did give fair warning that a review for some of Brandon Sanderson’s work was coming. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into me fanboying. If it does, please scold me. “Mistborn: The Final Empire” is the first installment in the “Mistborn” series and, as many will agree, is a great introduction into Sanderson’s universe of the […]
What’s an aspect of the world you want to exaggerate? When worldbuilding or trying to find a setting for your work, something that can help you out is determining what the world itself would be like. Are there two suns? Are there emotion spirits? Are plants or animals sentient? Can music animate objects? There’s an […]
With production moving steadily on Book 2, I thought it’d be fun to start a little weekly post with some behind the scenes stuff regarding this series. Character inspirations, worldbuilding, and other things will be covered unless there are any requests. For those of you that have read “The Maven Knight”, some of this history […]
Keeping my word, I decided it was time to start writing a few personal reviews for books and films here on Roil Blogs. Bear in mind that these reviews won’t be terribly factual, they’re more my opinions on the subject matter. My days of trying to be a professional critic are long gone. So, let’s […]
As you’ve probably guessed, “D&D” is making its way into this blog post. Well… not just “D&D”, but role-playing in general and how it can seriously help with character creation. For me, there are two primary aspects in drafting characters that assists in fleshing out a personality. The first is a flaw and the second […]
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