NaNoWriMo is a significant undertaking, and it can help a lot to have some resources to fall back on both during prep for November and during the event itself. Here are some of the resources I’ve found helpful in past years.
Category: Resources & Recommendations
5 Favorite Writing Reference Books
Full disclosure: I don’t read writing books as much as I maybe should. I tend to wing things, or read blog posts, or take courses (mostly wing things… I’m working on it). But I do have a pretty decent writing resource library, and I have actually read a few of the books in it, and they’re worth recommending, so here are five writing books that I’ve found helpful. Continue reading “5 Favorite Writing Reference Books”
My Top 3 Favorite Fairytale Retellings
I enjoy fairytale retellings, and I love seeing how authors twist and adapt existing stories and make them their own. I’ve read and watched a decent handful of retellings, but these three are tops on my list.
*Asterisked links are affiliate links, which means that if you buy through them I earn a commission at no extra cost to you
Discovering Your World: Organizing the Info
Due to a week of massive sleep deprivation and the realization that I’ve actually already written a decent post on developing wildlife that said everything I’d say now (see here), I’ve decided to replace my intended post on wildlife with a post on organizing your worldbuilding, to keep things on-schedule.
Worldbuilding is a massive undertaking, and there’s a ton of information to keep straight. Chances are you have info scattered everywhere–a sticky note with a handful of city names, a map tossed in a desk drawer, a binder that has some of your worldbuilding but not all the stuff that you wrote down in various notebooks. Fortunately, there’s a cure for this! Actually, multiple cures, depending on how you like to work. Continue reading “Discovering Your World: Organizing the Info”
Discovering Your World: Fantasy Map-Making
Some of you may remember the “Deep Worldbuild Project” that I did in January and February 2017, a blog post series which continues to consistently get traffic to this day. I thought it was time to revisit that series and update it with some of what I’ve learned in the past two years. I’m going to cover most of the same things I covered in the original series (map-making, how landscape affects culture, wildlife, technology and magic, religion, and history) but with some new additions. Instead of seven installments, the new series is going to have nine, including a guest post near the end by Kate Flournoy. And, obviously, I’m starting with fantasy map-making!
Before we get started, I feel obliged to mention that I’ll almost certainly be referencing World Anvil a lot in this series. At the time of writing this series I was not paid to promote the tool. I’ve since become a part of their affiliate program, but I promote it because I truly appreciate it and think it’s super helpful and recommend that y’all try it out for yourselves as well. (Also, there’s a free version that includes the core features and then some, so you can learn how it works, experience it in almost its full functionality, and fall in love with it before committing to pay for extra features.)
Additionally, I may include Amazon or BookShop affiliate links. These will always be marked with an asterisk, and a little note at the beginning or end of the post will give a brief explanation of affiliate links.
With all the technicalities and explanations out of the way, let’s get into the good stuff!
I usually like to start my worlds with a map, or at least Continue reading “Discovering Your World: Fantasy Map-Making”