Start here: On Writing Fantasy, Building Systems, and Understanding How People Think
New to my work? Read this first.
Finish the thing
Most people who start writing don't finish. It's not a lack of talent. It's not a lack of ideas. It's the sheer difficulty of pushing through when the initial…
Endings that satisfy (and how to write them)
The ending is the last thing readers experience. It colours everything that came before. A great ending elevates the whole book. A weak one can ruin it. So why…
Opening lines that grabbed us and wouldn't let go
A great opening line is a promise. It sets the tone, raises a question, creates a voice. It makes you need to read the next sentence. Here are some SFF openers…
Your villain is boring
Keeping the villain theme going, I find that the antagonist is often the weakest link in SFF stories. Writers lavish attention on their protagonist, craft…
Villains we love to hate (and what makes them unforgettable)
The great villains stay with us. Sometimes more than the heroes. What is it about certain antagonists that makes them unforgettable? ## The charming ones…
Trust your reader
One of the hardest lessons for science fiction and fantasy writers is learning to trust the reader. You've invented this incredible world. You understand its…
A guide to science fiction subgenres
Like fantasy, science fiction has fractured into countless subgenres. The spaceship adventures of the Golden Age are still here, but they've been joined by…
Films vs. Novels
I spent most of my writing life in screenwriting before transitioning to novels. I assumed the skills would transfer smoothly. They did not. The most important…
Do you actually want to write?
An uncomfortable question worth contemplating is, do you actually want to write, or have you absorbed that desire from somewhere else? The French thinker René…