Tag Archives: setting

Reality Isn’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be

September 7, 2011 – 6:07 am

Writers who set their stories in the real world, whether modern or historical, have a double advantage over those of us who alter reality/history to suit our own ends, or who make up our own versions from whole cloth. The first advantage is that they can look up whatever details they need - architecture, dress, [...]

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Rewriting the past

June 19, 2011 – 6:30 am

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there” - L.P. Hartley
 One of the tricky aspects of writing books set in any vaguely recognizable version of history is the inevitable clash between now and then, on pretty much every level. There are an enormous number of things that most people know or believe in the [...]

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Big three redux

May 25, 2011 – 6:23 am

I’ve talked more than once about the Big Three - plot, characterization, and setting. They started off as the earliest writing advice I recall getting (and I wish I could remember the name of the writer who told me that, so I could credit him properly), as the three things one can do in a [...]

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Where Are We?

September 26, 2010 – 11:02 am

Every story, short or long, takes place somewhere. Every scene takes place somewhere. And every place has features about it that are unique, whether it is the collection of overly cute fairy-figurines on the mantelpiece in the parlor, the cracked and faded mural across the back wall of the bar, or the odd kink in the third-level [...]

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Fantasy vs. Reality

November 17, 2009 – 11:45 am

Every so often, I get asked what the difference is between writing fantasy and writing realistic fiction. It’s a pretty good question, though since I’ve never written anything that wasn’t science fiction or fantasy, I’m not sure why anyone expects me to know. (Of course, I have opinions on just about everything, but that’s another [...]

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The Devil’s in the Details

November 5, 2009 – 6:33 am

In the comments on our last exciting episode, accio_aqualung asked:
So pretend you’ve spent so much time on something that you’ve got gobs and gobs of backstory and little trivial details, like the MC is  terminally left handed or her brother has to organize his pens in a very specific way or their uncle won the [...]

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