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Characters And Their Development: From The Writers’ Tool Chest

Characters make the story, even in speculative fiction. For all our intriguing Other Places, readers still read because they care about the characters. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Against the Tragic Villain Backstory

I’m mostly against the tragic villain backstory as a storytelling device. Let me tell you why. · Travis Perry

A Vulnerable Technique

Flashbacks possess a special nature, generally inclined to be awkward. · Shannon McDermott

How Science Fiction Portrays the Future of Christianity

Science fiction tends to write Christianity out of its view of the future. How can Christian sci fi writers respond? · Travis Perry

Two Kinds of Heroes

Would you be surprised to discover that heroes have been studied–and have been found to come in two distinct types? · Travis Perry

Dreams of Other Worlds

Why do we have dreams of other worlds? Do fictional visions point to a reality beyond our own? · Travis Perry

Where are the Hard Science Fiction Writers who are Christians?

Hard science fiction is the subset of sci-fi that tries to be as scientifically realistic as possible. Why do so few overtly Christian authors write in this genre? · Travis Perry

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 20: Transportation: Beastly Power

What are the limits of what a man or beast can transport, even fantasy beasts? How far beastly power can move an army and its supplies is an important consideration in speculative fiction world building. · Travis Perry

Books Have Themes?

Using the vehicle of theme, writers say something. Whether that something is trivial and mundane or significant and profound depends on how unafraid they are. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Why Not More Biblical Speculative Fiction?

Why isn’t there more speculative fiction set in Bible times or featuring Biblical characters? We have reasons why not–but we should work past them. · Travis Perry

Speculative Fiction Writer’s Guide to War Special: How do War Injuries Feel?

How do war injuries feel? What’s realistic and what’s not? What hurts most and least? · Travis Perry

Speculative Fiction Writer’s Guide to War, part 19: War Costs: Soldiers’ Pay

Pay has always been important to warriors. Whether via looting or standardized pay systems, soldiers have usually expected payment in exchange for risking their lives. · Travis Chapman

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 18: War Costs Exercise 1–Food for the Army

Ready to calculate some war costs? This exercise breaks down how much it would take to feed fantasy troops based on a late medieval army–and how much it would cost in relevant currency. · Travis Chapman

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 17: War Costs: Food per Fighter

If you ever wanted to calculate how many supplies your fictional army needs, your numbers start with how much food per single war fighter per day. We’ve got the numbers here–for both humans and non-humans! · Travis Perry

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 16: The Costs of War

No war can every be fought without considering its costs. These may include various types of capital costs but also always include the cost to human lives and welfare. · Travis Chapman

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 15: Combat Support Training

A modern military provides special training for those in uniform who support warriors in action. Understanding combat support will add depth to the war stories you create. · Travis Perry

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 14: Combat Arms Training

Militaries by their nature develop specialized branches of combat arms and train their warriors to master particular war-fighting specialties. · Travis Chapman

On the Third Day of Christmas…

December 27th is the Third Day of Christmas–which means a few things in the history of Christianity in our world. But perhaps could be much more meaningful in worlds yet to be imagined… · Travis Perry

Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 13: Training for High-End Capabilities

The high-end capabilities of advanced military systems can be vastly different from what they achieve at the low-end. Highly advanced weapons systems, whether technical or magical, require specialized training. · Travis Perry

The Saving Mystery

This is the cardinal rule for writers who wish to tread into the next world: Leave the mystery. · Shannon McDermott
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