On By Nate SmithIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Fantastic article on archers by Shorty Monster. If you intend to have archers in your world then this article is well worth a read for some little tips and tricks of what it means to be an archer. Visit Shorty Monster and take a read 🙂

shortymonster

After watching the British Archery team go out in the first round of the Olympics, it made me realise just how much we have fallen in the world rankings in the last seven hundred years. So, presented here are my thoughts on the bowman in a role playing game. Enjoy.

The following tips and advice are all based on widely perceived historical fact, so feel free to use them, whilst I take some pleasure in using my History& Heritage degree for the first time since graduating over a year ago. The aim of this blog is to make being a ranged combatant in any medieval like setting a bit more interesting than standing at the back loosing arrows while staying out of trouble.

First let us consider one of the finest examples of a bowman from the medieval period, the English warbow user. This isn’t idle speculation, or a sense of…

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Quidditch To Be Made An Olympic Sport?

On By Nate SmithIn News, Story, World Building, Writing TipsLeave a comment

Quidditch should be made an Olympic Sport.

As we all know Harry Potter is the biggest story franchise of all time. However what you may not know is that the famous wizard sport is also fastly becoming a popular sport for muggles.

Come Rio 2016 it would be amazing to see such a new sport played in the Olympics. For those of you who are a little unsure on what the sport entails here’s a quick rundown.

Read The Rest Of The Article Here

Landscaping Your World Map

On By Nate SmithIn World Building, worldbuilding schoolLeave a comment

“Continuing on from last week’s tutorial on Tectonic plates we’re looking at how the plates affect the landscape of your world and so the environment your characters will see and experience.

If you’re following the tutorial and drawing your own map then you will have the main islands drawn along with the tectonic plates of your world and the directions that they move. As a reminder here are the 3 different movements of a tectonic plates and what they do to the landscape around them.”

Read the rest of the article on The World Building School Here.

The World Building School Is Live

On By Nate SmithIn World Building, worldbuilding schoolLeave a comment

If you haven’t seen already then The World Building School Is Live!!

In the 3 days The School has been live we have had around 100 unique visits and the number of email subscribers is growing. It’s easy to join the other writers, world builders and artists who have subscribed to The World Building School and its also completely free. All you need to do is visit the email subscription page and enter your email into the box. You’ll then receive an email every time The School is updated with new articles. Join Here.

I’m quite excited about the initial success of The World Building School and looking forward to serving the world building community through it. Suggestions, ideas and comments are always welcome.

Visit The World Building School here.

The World Building School Goes Live Wednesday 11th July!

On By Nate SmithIn Fantasy, World Building, worldbuilding school, Writing TipsLeave a comment

I’m really proud to announce that the long awaited re-design of The World Building School will be put live tomorrow (that’s Wednesday 11th)

Here’s what you can expect from The World Building School:

  • A new world building article posted every Friday.
  • A free email subscription – so you can keep informed every time a new article is posted up on the school.
  • A growing library of World Building resources and guides.
  • Artwork featured from members of the DeviantART World Builders Guild.
  • Guest posts from other world builders and writers.

I will be sending out a special launch email to everyone who has requested notification of the new World Building School launch. If you’d like to be included on this email then please visit the website and add your email address to the box.

After I’ve sent out the launch email I will be deleting that email list so you can be sure that your email address is safe with me.

I will post another journal as soon as The World Building School goes live. If you’re an artist interested in featuring your artwork on the school to gain more exposure then please let me know, similarly if you would like to write an article for the school then that is also welcome.

E.g. if you’re a creature artists then maybe describe one technique you use to create realistic creatures. Or an armour designer may want to write about the different types of armour.

I look forward to the launch of The World Building School and hope it adds another dimension to the inspiration being collected over at The World Builders Guild on DeviantART.

Visit the World Building School.

What would you like to see from The World Building School?

SELF PUBLISHING BASIC TRAINING

On By Nate SmithIn Writing Tips2 Comments

A great article on common mistakes made by self published authors. If you are self publish or plan on self publishing then head over to The Fantasy Author’s Handbook and have a read. In fact if you consider yourself a writer then it’s worth a read full stop.

Fantasy Author's Handbook

I’ve been reading a large number of self-published books lately, acting as a judge for a contest. I’m happy to report that many of them have been quite good, most are at least mediocre, and very few are truly awful. The fact is, the same can be said of the output of any major publishing house. We live in a bell curve, one way or another.

But there are a few things I keep seeing in these passionate, even exuberant labors of love, and so this week let’s get down to brass tacks and tackle some really basic writing mistakes that tend to plague all of us at one point or another, but that we should all be on the lookout for in everything we write.

In no particular order, I give you:

REDUNDANCY

Galen wondered why there were no lights coming from the castle windows. “I wonder why there…

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Mouse & Golem: The Sewers Are No Place For A Mouse

On By Nate SmithIn StoryLeave a comment

Synopsis

Mouse is determined to be the first rodent in the whole village to build a flying machine and escape the competition and mundane life of the other rodents. He is accompanied by Golem, a creature he created in a previous experiment who wants nothing more than to sleep and eat food , and Baron Baticus, the aristocratic Baron of the village who is already blessed with the gift of flight. Mouse is on the verge of a breakthrough which makes Golem a little nervous as he will be the one in the pilot seat.

Teaser – Chapter 1: The Sewers Are No Place For A Mouse

“Golem, this is your lunch.” Mouse handed a small paper bag to the large fellow sat beside him.

“Oh raspberries! I do love berries Mouse.” With a swift plop Golem had plucked a berry from the bag and squeezed it through his rather minute mouth. Juice bubbled down his face when the raspberry popped but he didn’t care. Golem was simply happy that he had berries.

Mouse opened his bag to reveal a large green apple that had started to go soft and mushy.

“Well, I’ve got to keep my strength up I suppose…” Mouse shut his eyes and reluctantly chewed on the mushy apple.

Golem was still merrily scoffing his face with berries and humming to himself as he squeezed yet another raspberry into his tiny mouth.

“Once you’ve finished those we need to get back to work. We only have another two carts to fill and we’ll be out of here for the day.”

“But I want to go now. We’ve already been here for hours, I need to sleep… oooo… check this out Mouse.” Golem griped a large elastic band in his hand “Weren’t you always saying we could do with more of these stretchy things?”

“Well done Golem. That’s perfect, I think that will be the last piece we need in order to fix the flying machine.”

————

full story available soon… like and I’ll keep you updated.