This is Part 3 of the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains. Characteristics of a Hero The characteristics that you give your character are entirely up to you. The hero archetype does have some characteristics that are synonymous with the role, however. While you are not required to use all of them (or any of … Read more
This is Part 2 of the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains. The Hero Archetype An archetype, in simplified terms, is essentially a defining quality or qualities that summarize a character into a label. One of these is “hero.” The hero is an archetype for a character, as is the anti-hero, the villain, the mentor, … Read more
This article is by M.S. Jenkins, and is presented by Worldbuilding Magazine. The world is a dangerous place, especially for Roman politicians, Hellenistic kings, and babies; ironically all for the same reason. It may be hard to believe, but poison and venom use is archaeologically about as old as human society. Research suggests that early … Read more
Lights, camera, action. It’s time. You’ve written your novel almost to the end. You’ve ramped up the tension and excitement, and the fate of the entire world is at stake. The audience is waiting with bated breath for what’s to come. All that remains is to write the final showdown where your heroes vanquish the … Read more
We welcome you again to the world of speculative fiction, where there are no limits for what an individual can accomplish—except in the mind of the writer. Often, while we can create entire worlds out of our imaginations, stories of adventure and daring do have been limited to male characters, based on the belief that … Read more
This is Part 1 of the Mythic Guide to Heroes & Villains. Heroes and villains are nothing short of cornerstones within the literary world. Their incarnations have appeared in nearly every literary work, with very little and debatable exception. Throughout this series, you will be given a detailed insight into the worlds of heroes and … Read more
This article is by Arianna Lemont. Constructed languages are complicated, especially if you’re just starting out with no guidelines and no direction. Throughout my years of writing and creating fantasy languages, I’ve compiled a list of some of my personal favorite online tools for creating your own language, for whether you’re a newbie with no … Read more
This article is by C.D. Waller. Writing strong characters is one of the biggest secrets to pulling readers into your story. Here are five myths that you should avoid when attempting to write compelling characters. Myth 1: Protagonists Must be “Good Guys” A lot of people think that the role of a protagonist is to … Read more
This article is by Arianna Lemont. Languages like Tolkien’s Sindarin can lend life, consistency, and credibility to your fantasy worlds, but for the writer with no experience in it, language construction can be a daunting task. However, if you start with small steps the trek up the language mountain becomes much easier. The most basic … Read more
When I imagine the world — our world or my worlds — I imagine it as a vast, almost incomprehensible network. It sprawls in a million directions, up, down, left, right, and is one big web of chaos on the surface. But when you zoom in, the network becomes manageable, the million lines are replaced by dozens. … Read more