There’s no way to introduce this week’s subject in a pithy way without coming across as someone who doesn’t take serious issues, well… seriously. And since my short story this week was sprinkled with racial epithets, I’m sure you can understand my approaching the delicate subject of race with just that: delicacy. So, here’s the … Continue reading
So, last week’s spiel was all about masking the plot purposes of cities behind a veneer of history and development. This week is, perhaps, an inversion of that: giving history and development to something that doesn’t have a purpose. I’m talking about races. As soon as you think of the fantasy genre, your mind jumps … Continue reading
When I was younger, I was utterly stoked for the release of a computer game called Rise of Nations. It was a sort of real time civilisation simulator that had you building your own personal empire, city by city, while amassing resources and either negotiating or warring with neighbouring empires. What had me really itching … Continue reading
Last week I dusted off my soapbox to talk about how, as writers (especially of fantasy), we make choices in creating our settings that logically limit the resources we can bring to bear in the writing process. I want to continue that discussion this week, but instead of the setting’s fundamental elements limiting our resources, … Continue reading
Writing is, when you get down to it, all about resource management. The blank page you see when you sit down to write a new story is indicative of the limitless resources you as a writer have at your fingertips. The problem is that those resources don’t stay limitless for long: each and every decision … Continue reading