Historical Writing Category
The Writer’s Guide to Arrows: Part 1
Posted on November 20, 2020 4 Comments
Types & Construction I’ve been spending a lot of time discussing bows but of course the bow is pretty worthless without arrows, which we will be diving into today. Just like bows, modern arrows differ significantly from historical arrows. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Arrow Terminology Shaft – The […]
The Writer’s Guide to Bows: Part 5
Posted on November 13, 2020 4 Comments
Miscellaneous This is the last in my series on bows before we move on to arrows. Today we are busting myths! There is so much misinformation being spread by books, television, and movies. Some of it’s completely false while the rest is true of modern bows but not traditional or historical bows. As always, magic […]
The Writer’s Guide to Bows: Part 4
Posted on November 6, 2020 46 Comments
Use in Battle & Construction Today I will be covering the use of bows in battle as well as maintenance and construction. There is a lot more to using archers in battle then lining them up and having them shoot. Also, the tactics used in an open field battle are different from the siege of […]
The Writer’s Guide to Bows: Part 3
Posted on October 30, 2020 1 Comment
Poundage, Range, Rate of Fire & Training In the third part of my five-part series on bows, I will be covering some more bits of critical information if you are writing an archer, especially if you’re doing a battle scene. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Poundage Probably one of […]
The Writer’s Guide to Bows: Part 2
Posted on October 23, 2020 1 Comment
Stringing & Shooting Today is my second part in my five-part series on bows. I will be covering more of the basics of shooting so that you are better equipped to write about them in your fiction. If you have the chance, I highly encourage you to try archery out for yourself. Experience is really […]
The Writer’s Guide to Bows: Part 1
Posted on October 16, 2020 4 Comments
Terms & Types The bow has almost as much mythology surrounding it as the sword. There are several high profile literary and cinematic archers including Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games,” Legolas from “The Lord of the Rings,” and Hawkeye from the Marvel Universe. This, of course, is not getting into the many retellings and […]
The Writer’s Guide to Brigandine Armor
Posted on October 9, 2020 8 Comments
This week is my fourth and final installment in my series on common medieval armor. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Writer’s Tip: Even though brigandine armor was common in medieval Europe it is rarely depicted in literary. Including “brig” into your book would be an interesting way to stand […]
The Writer’s Guide to Plate Armor
Posted on October 2, 2020 99 Comments
This week is the third part in my series about common types of medieval armor. As in my previous posts, I will be pointing out misconceptions. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Introduction Plate is probably the most iconic type of armor from medieval Europe, conjuring up images of the […]
The Writer’s Guide to Chainmail
Posted on September 25, 2020 11 Comments
This week is the second part in my series about common types of medieval armor. As in my first post, I will be pointing out misconceptions with each type. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Introduction Chainmail is a type of armor made up of small metal rings linked together […]
The Writer’s Guide to Gambesons
Posted on September 18, 2020 111 Comments
As promised this week I will be covering types of armor that were common in medieval Europe, starting with gambesons and continuing over the next three weeks with chainmail, plate armor and brigantine. I will also be doing some myth busting with each type of armor. I want to point out that just because I’m […]
Rebecca Shedd - Author 