Recent content by Banespawn

How much of this does the FMC already know? How much does the guy who survives already know? It seems like the FMC, at least, should be able to put enough clues together to guess most of it by this point. The reader as well should be able to piece some things together. It's hard to judge...

I'd focus more on what he says than how he says it. Maybe he doesn't speak up out of fear. Or maybe he makes suggestions that he thinks will keep them away from danger. Maybe he lies to her to get her to choose the safer option.

My advice is to not write him one way all the time. People are complex. They react in different ways in different situations. Making him always afraid is going to make the reader hate him pretty quick. While he might be afraid of getting caught by the crime family, that shouldn't be something...

I've always maintained that we should hook the reader with the information we give them, rather than the information we don't. Simply withholding information isn't enough. The information that is provided has to pique the reader's interest so that they'll be compelled to learn the rest. That...

I'm somewhere in the middle. I plan, but the amount of planning varies by project. With my latest project, I have ideas for the story going forward, but nothing very specific. Nothing I'm married to. The story is currently progressing along two different timelines. My plan, once I get past the...

I think the fundamental question to be answered is why all these stories are being grouped into a single collection. Collections very often include stories all within the same setting, or all having a similar theme. What is it that ties all of these stories together? Whatever it is, that...

I'm sure there are epic fantasy novels that don't have maps, but maps are often an integral part of the story. Epic fantasies tend to take place across a large area of the world, if not the entire world, and we're talking about worlds that are completely different than the world we know...

What about using the word "brood" as part of it? Brood-husband. Brood-wife. If that sounds too harsh, maybe you can use the word "gentle" instead. In the Wheel of Time, men of the Aiel take multiple wives, called sister-wives, as they consider themselves to be sisters in marriage.

I did this twice in scene 3 of my "Arch on the Hill" story. The first bit was meant as a contrast to the storm the character encountered last time. From there, I listed other things that were absent to heighten the anticipation. Of course, nothing happened. Not until later, after the character...

I don't think about tropes much unless it's to intentionally subvert them. There are some tropes I avoid, like the ones you mentioned, because they bore me. I look for ideas that interest me and let them go where they will. If they end up adhering to common tropes, that's fine as long as they...

The value is in understanding where you can improve. If someone else does something better than I do, I can learn from what they are doing. If I want to achieve a certain status as a writer, it helps to compare my writing to those who have already achieved that status. I wouldn't try to...

Underwriting is a thing, just as overwriting is a thing. Falling short of your word-count expectations isn't necessarily a sign of underwriting, though. It could be that there just isn't enough story to support a longer word count. It could be that you overestimated how big the story would be...

Patriarchies exist because men are physically stronger than women. In most societies, a matriarchy can only exist if the men allow it, say for religious or ideological reasons. I suppose it's possible to have a matriarchy if women significantly outnumber men, but there would need to be story...

That's a lot to take in. Bay, ocean, cliffs and verdant landscape. What is his vantage point?

You want to match these things up so that they sound similar. Something like: ...those running toward something and those running from something. Also, if you are going to lead with this idea, then it should be a fundamental question Johnny is asking himself. It could be that he is both. Maybe...