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Writing Techniques

Beyond the Five Senses: Six Powerful Tricks to Enhance a Sense of Place

In this article, author Jonelle Patrick shares her expertise on how to create settings that will bring your reader in and make your characters shine.

  • By Jonelle Patrick
    Nov 3, 2020
Richard_Shadowlands
Writing Techniques

Learn Better World-Building Strategies Through World of Warcraft and the New Shadowlands Expansion

WD editor and fantasy writer Moriah Richard shares five unique ways in which writers can use World of Warcraft to better build their worlds—without playing the game.

  • By Moriah Richard
    Oct 27, 2020
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Writing Techniques

The New Greek Mythology and Writing Retellings

Author Annie Sullivan delivers expert advice on how writers should handle making myth new and intriguing for readers.

  • By Annie Sullivan
    Oct 2, 2020
Michelle Cameron quote
Historical

Why I Write Jewish Historical Fiction

Novelist Michelle Cameron explain why she's driven to write Jewish historical fiction and why it's not about the Holocaust.

  • By Michelle Cameron
    Aug 5, 2020
Writing Strong Settings | Christine Meade
Settings

Writing Strong Settings: Writing Prompts for Socially-Isolated Authors

How are writers supposed to write settings when we're supposed to stay at home? Christine Meade offer writing prompts and tips fro writing strong settings during social isolation.

  • By Christine Meade
    Apr 15, 2020
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Settings

5 Thoughts on How to Use Place to Move Your Story Forward

Author Jane Bernstein shares five thoughts on how to use place to move your story forward by showing how setting affects characters and characters affect setting.

  • By Jane Bernstein
    Nov 1, 2019
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Settings

5 Tips for Building a House or Setting That Comes Alive for Readers

Author D.M. Pulley shares her five tips for building a house or setting that comes alive for readers based off her experience working as a structural engineer.

  • By D.M. Pulley
    Oct 21, 2019
Rogue Richard Kirshenbaum
Settings

Location, Location, Location: Discovering the Perfect Place for Writing Your Novel

Richard Kirshenbaum used his experience working in advertising to tell the story of two rival beauty industry icons in his novel Rouge (St. Martin's, June 2019). Here, he reveals how he also channeled inspiration from the places he's traveled to tell the story.

  • By Richard Kirshenbaum
    Jul 22, 2019
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Settings

World-Building Tips from the Masters

Five celebrated speculative fiction authors give their best world-building tips, demonstrating how different approaches can work.

  • By E.J. Wenstrom
    May 21, 2019
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Settings

Old and New: Merging Memory and Research in New Zealand

Call Me Evie author J.P. Pomare shares how his research trips to the town where his suspense novel takes place influenced his writing.

  • By Guest Column
    Apr 1, 2019
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Settings

7 Research and Writing Tips for Setting a Book in Another Country

If you're setting a book in another country from your own, it's critical to learn as much as you can about the culture, climate, architecture, and other aspects to make your story more believable. Here, author Sejal Badani offers tips for researching and writing about foreign countries.

  • By Guest Column
    Nov 23, 2018
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Settings

Maximize Your Setting: Bringing Locations, Eras and Worlds to Life on the Page

When the reader can feel as if they are physically in your story's setting, they will be more inclined to let themselves experience what the characters are seeing and hearing. Here, author Curt Eriksen offers considerations for bringing the locations and eras in your fiction to life.

  • By Guest Column
    Jun 14, 2018
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Settings

Beloved Settings: Considerations for Fictionalizing a Favorite Place

Laura Oles discusses her considerations for transforming her favorite weekend getaway, Port Aransas, Tex., into a setting for her mystery novel.

  • By Guest Column
    Jan 19, 2018
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Settings

The Importance of Story Setting For Writers

A simple setting, but one that pulls readers in, makes them want to be part of your story and actually resonates in their soul. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

  • By Guest Column
    Jul 27, 2016
Leigh Russell Credit Marte Lundby Rekaa-featured
Settings

How to Set a Novel in an Unfamiliar Location

For a fiction writer, weaving a real historical incident into my narrative posed an interesting challenge. Here's what you should know.

  • By Brian A. Klems
    Feb 26, 2016
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What's New

How to Write Vivid Descriptions

Author Eli K.P. William offers advice on how to write vivid descriptions while still being mindful of pacing and plot in a novel by using examples of the balance between the two.

  • By Eli K.P. William
    Aug 22, 2015
Kathie Shoop 2
Settings

How to Use Setting to Challenge Your Characters (& Make a Better Story)

Here are some ways to infuse your manuscript with meaningful and unexpected details that keep the reader turning pages.

  • By Guest Column
    Jul 21, 2015
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Settings

How to Write Novels About Faraway Lands

  • By Brian A. Klems
    Dec 16, 2014
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Settings

How To Make Your Setting a Character

Powerfully portrayed settings seem to have a life of their own, but how is that effect achieved? Here are five keys to teach you how to make your setting a character in your story or novel that goes beyond invoking the five senses in description.

  • By Donald Maass
    Nov 19, 2013
david-morrell-thrillerfest
Settings

David Morrell On the Key to Settings

In his CraftFest session at ThrillerFest, “Setting: How to Make Your Novel Go Places,” David Morrell (author of First Blood) riffed on how to produce fantastic settings that become characters in their own right.

  • By Zachary Petit
    Jul 12, 2013
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