Every good SF or Fantasy story needs its monsters or aliens, but it is not enough to simply slap together something ugly and then drop it in front of the characters. To make your story believable in any setting, the monsters must feel as real as everything else. First off, the creature has to make …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/746
Writing Tip: Weather in Your World
If you are writing an epic that spans the globe of whatever fantasy or SF world you have created, sooner or later the subject of weather will come up. And if you do indeed have an entire world to deal with (or most enough of one) then it is not just enough to start sprinkling …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/737
Writing Tips: How to Write Fight Scenes
Fight scenes can be a two-edged sword. On the one hand they look great and exciting… visually on thew movie screen. But trying to put that on paper can very quickly end up as something like “parry, parry, thrust, oh parry” for a couple of pages. I learned very quickly tat you have to get …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/712
Writing Tips: 3 Secrets to Writing Long Novels
There are a lot of tips and strategies that people suggest and use for doing what it takes to write an epic novel, but no matter what fine point or strategy one chooses, no matter what preference one tells you or secret one has for writing that book, it really comes down to three simply …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/687
Races of Maldene
Maldene is a world of many races. Even just with the Human races the list is quite long. I shall not list all the races running around, but simply a few highlights and save the rest for revelation within the books of Maldene. So herein I list just a few of the Human races to …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/plot-talk/680
Writing Tips: Plotting Multi-Volume Epics
There’s something to be said about a good epic, the kind that spans several volumes. But for the writer, that involves a lot of planning ahead. For myself, I have written a fantasy ep;ic that spans 13 novels, 5.2 million words, and about 250 characters, as well as a smaller Sci-Fi epic at 5 novels, …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/661
Characters of Maldene: The King
Of course every fantasy world has its kings, but this is one in particular. Known only as “The King”, his given name as unknown as his past, it is said he was found as a young child wandering in the woods then raised by the peasants who found him. He rose to become King of …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/plot-talk/645
Writing Tips: Messages In A Story
A lot of writers have a certain message they would like to put into a story. That is all fine and well, but it is important to remember that the story must come first. No matter how strong or important a message you may have, it will not be heard if the reader doesn’t finish …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/603
Characters of Maldene: Miro
Every good epic has its villain, and for Maldene this is Miro (pronounced MY-RO). His origins unknown, his power undeniable, he is the most evil, most feared being on Maldene… or perhaps any other world. Power enough to conquer the world, and yet he has not, though his appearances throughout History have demonstrated his desire …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/plot-talk/568
Guest Post: Epic Fantasy And Modern Mythmaking by Jeff Shanley
As part of a virtual fantasy writer tour, author Jeff Shanley has written up a guest post for my blog. He voices a few thoughts similar to the process behind my own creation of Maldene. So read on, then afterwards go to his site and read some more. Jeff’s Blog site: The Mavonduri Trilogy Official …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.maldene.com/writing-tips/566
