Medieval Weapons Category
The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Armies
Posted on April 29, 2022 2 Comments
When you ask a reader for their favorite scene in a book it is often a battle. From the despair and deliverance of Helm’s Deep to the brutality of the Battle of the Blackwater to the desperation of the Battle of Hogwarts, nothing has quite the power of a battle to get our hearts pounding […]
Writer’s Deep Dive: Boudica
Posted on March 4, 2022 1 Comment
One of the greatest tools and sources of inspiration that a writer has is history. The lives, actions, and motivations of historical people can be invaluable in shaping believable characters. As part of my series on female warriors, I will be sharing the stories of several formidable women. Today, we start with Boudica Now, let’s […]
The Writer’s Guide to Women in Combat
Posted on February 25, 2022 3 Comments
Writers have had a fascination with women warriors for centuries. The ancient Greeks wrote about the Amazons, a fierce tribe of female fighters. The main event in many Roman gladiatorial games were the gladiatrices, female gladiators. In our modern stories, we have quite the league of combat heroines, such as Eowyn, Arya, Katniss, and Wonder […]
Writer’s Deep Dive: Aiming a Bow
Posted on January 21, 2022 3 Comments
Bows show up a lot in books, from Robin Hood to Katniss Everdeen. Of course, one of the keys to being a good archer is hitting what you’re aiming at. Unfortunately, unless you have shot a traditional bow, most people do not know what that involves. Let’s dive in! The Basics There are two schools […]
The Writer’s Guide to Siege Engines
Posted on December 10, 2021 3 Comments
Besieging a castle or a city inherently has a great amount of built-in tension that a writer can use to fantastic effect. If you want to read besieging a castle, I recommend my last article, The Writer’s Guide to Besieging a Castle. Today, we are focusing on siege engines, a general term that includes catapults, […]
The Writer’s Guide to Shields
Posted on October 29, 2021 4 Comments
Today I will be covering some of the most common misconceptions of shields that I see in movies, TV shows, and books. Again, my focus is on medieval Europe since that is where most of my expertise is. If you want a guide to types of medieval shields, please visit my previous post here. As […]
The Writer’s Guide to Types of Shields
Posted on October 22, 2021 9 Comments
The shield is almost as iconic as the sword when it comes to fiction and legend. Just like the sword, since it is not a commonly encountered item, most modern writers are lacking in accurate information. There is unfortunately a lot of misinformation presented as fact. Today we will be looking at types of shields. […]
The Writer’s Guide to Arrows: Part 2
Posted on November 27, 2020 3 Comments
Today I’m going to be tackling two topics regarding arrows that are rife with misinformation but included repeatedly in books, TV and movies.
The Writer’s Guide to Arrows: Part 1
Posted on November 20, 2020 1 Comment
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 1 Comment
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 […]
Rebecca Shedd - Author 