Recent content by Erica

Third person can be either limited or omniscient or objective third (there are other terms for these that are sometimes used in writing books). There are different styles or approaches to each of these different styles of third person. One of the most common problems I see in writers who are...

I do think the importance of hard work and open mindedness (in the sense of being willing to approach a seemingly intractable problem from a fresh angle) is underestimated these days.

Sorry Caged. In hindsight, what I wrote sounded snippier than intended. My point was that moms are not all the same, and what their circumstances and past experiences as well as the particulars of the current one will temper what they consider threats and how they respond to them. Losing a...

Most people swear (sixteen year old girls certainly do. I know, since I was one once) and they always have and they most likely always will (even when they pretend that they don't), so most of my characters do too. When and how they swear is part of the character building as far as I'm...

Now (and with all respect for your opinion, which is shared by many others) this is where we get to one problem with the concept of greatness: it is very subjective. I enjoyed the Covenant books, but I did not particularly enjoy Donaldson's writing for its own sake, especially in his earlier...

If it's a situation where your pov character would be counting the minutes (like he's sitting in a waiting room, watching the clock hands), then being specific makes sense. But in general, we are not that precise in our internal measure of time, so I'd say a few minutes later would normally be a...

Some of the problem may be in that you are trying too hard to make her the emotional mom and nothing else. Very few (if any) people are all logos or all pathos, after all. Moms are as complex as other people, and they may find themselves in conflict with their "want to protect their kids at all...

There is no doubt that an ending where the protagonist sacrificed him or herself can be quite powerful. And of course "Fairytale" happy endings are not realistic, because every life has obstacles to overcome, and achieving one goal or resolving one conflict simply means that you are now free to...

That's rather a broad statement. I would have to say that most of the fantasy I read, and the fantasy I am writing is set in fantasy worlds that do not parallel any particular time or place in 'real life' history and where attitudes and norms about things like the role of women in society may be...

I tend to prefer a story to start with something that gives me a sense of the people and their situation, so it's helpful if they're doing something or interacting with someone in some way. It doesn't have to be a battle or a sword fight (it could even be something like a conversation at a...

I tend to take names from cultures (like celtic) that are similar in some ways to my fantasy culture that the character lives in or is descended from. I also take the Martin approach and use 'old fashioned' or 'less common' spellings of 'real world' names ... again trying to keep them in line...

-Humans and elves regard orcs and trolls etc. as ugly but orcs and trolls think elves and humans are beautiful and lust after their women. -Dwarves are always male (or maybe the females just look like males and don't mind being called 'he.') -Any race that spends all or most of its life...

I don't think I'll be naming my chapters in the novel I'm working on. Currently, I'm including the location, season and year, but that's more to help me keep track of the timing of things as I skip between characters and locations in different chapters. I'm still trying to decide how I'll handle...

Polytheistic cultures and religions exist still today, and they dominate in some countries, including one of the most populous countries on Earth. Some are very old and some are new or are reinterpretations of older religions that died out or were assimilated. The ways in which people from...

A lot of the fantasy novels I've read have complex worlds where some nations or cultures are polytheistic and some are monotheistic. Whether any or all of the gods are 'real' in the sense that they interact with the world regularly, whether they are 'real' but absentee landlords or simply social...