Thursday, 27 February 2025

Tuesday, 18 February 2025

How To Write Freakishly Good Fantasy Sentences

  • Active voice connects readers to action
  • Cut filtering words to deepen immersion
  • Vary sentence length for emotional impact
  • Keep characters in control of their bodies
  • Replace "was -ing" with immediate action
  • Use strategic vocabulary
  • Anchor actions in emotion
  • Thread sentences together
  • Building your sensory scaffold
  • Balance mundane and magical
  • Create rhythmic prose



Thursday, 6 February 2025

How To Write Freakishly Good Fantasy Dialogue

A guide on improving fantasy dialogue to make it more authentic and engaging. Here are the key points:

  1. Foundation of Dialogue: Understand how characters' professions and experiences shape their speech. Use realistic language that reflects their expertise and perspective, avoiding overly flowery or archaic expressions.
  2. Hidden Meanings: Recognize that dialogue is like an iceberg; what is said is only a small part of the conversation. The underlying intentions, emotions, and power dynamics should be woven into the dialogue to create depth and tension.
  3. Natural Flow: Ensure conversations mimic real-life speech patterns, including interruptions and unfinished thoughts. Characters should react to each other naturally, and their dialogue should feel spontaneous rather than scripted.
  4. Worldbuilding Through Dialogue: Use dialogue to reveal the world and its history without resorting to exposition. Characters should reference their environment and cultural context naturally, making the world feel lived-in.
  5. Emotional Core: Infuse dialogue with genuine emotions that resonate with readers. Characters should express feelings through their actions and perspectives rather than through direct statements about their emotions.
  6. High-Stakes Moments: In crucial scenes, maintain the established character voices and avoid melodrama. Use specific details and subtext to convey the weight of the moment, ensuring that characters remain true to themselves even under pressure.
Watch the video for examples and deeper explanation.