Navigate the pitfalls of writing with a keen eye on accuracy and realism. This section is dedicated to helping authors avoid common mistakes through proper research and knowledge. Learn how to enrich your writing with precision and care for the finer details that bring your story to life and resonate with readers. Whether you're crafting a historically accurate novel or a detailed fantasy world, ensure every element is as believable and well-constructed as possible.
How and why to put equine misconceptions out to pasture Few things transcend genres quite like horses. Historical novels incorporate them to set scenes or develop characters. They can be favorite modes of transportation on quests. Even their alien or hybrid cousins appear in Sci-Fi stories. Horses can be a...
Types of Firearms First on the menu is handguns. This is exactly what it sounds like: guns that can be shot with one hand, most commonly a revolver or a pistol. For revolvers, picture the guns used in the Wild West. At the center of these guns is a set...
You’ve written a rollicking good story set in eighteenth-century France, and now you want to add some killer details. It’s time to immerse yourself in research. Turn back time All historical novels begin with the promise that the author will subtly connect the “Then” to the “Now” so...
A guide to determining travel time in your stories An old scene ends. A new scene begins. And if the characters now find themselves in a different place, readers will usually just assume that time has passed and distances have been traversed. But how far apart are places in the...
When a movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches was released in October 2020, viewers weren’t just upset by a change to the story; they were offended. In the film, the Grand High Witch, whose fingernails resembled cat claws in the book, had hands with only two fingers...
Alfred Hitchcock famously said, "I think everyone enjoys a nice murder, provided he is not the victim." In reality, there is no such thing as a nice murder or a perfect murder but, in writing, there can be the “right” murder. The death that best suits the victim&...
