Writing Category
The Writer’s Guide to Royal Titles
Posted on January 14, 2022 7 Comments
Fantasy writers have a love affair with royalty, with kings, queens, and princes littered across the genre. Yet royals and nobles appear in other genres as well, such as science fiction. But unless you interact with a real royal court or a group playing one at your local Renaissance faire or SCA event, most writers […]
Writer’s Deep Dive: 18th Century Pockets
Posted on January 7, 2022 26 Comments
For the past 17 months I have been putting out Writer’s Guides in an attempt to provide writers with accurate information. However, I have received several requests to do a deeper dive into my topics. Starting this year, I will be putting out Writer’s Deep Dives every other week. However, I will continue to put […]
Book Update
Posted on December 29, 2021 1 Comment
I am excited to announce that the third and final round of self editing on my up-coming novel is complete! I have already sent the first two chapters to my beta readers and after the New Year will begin the search for a professional editor. Please stay tuned for more updates!
The Writer’s Guide to Castle Myths
Posted on December 17, 2021 6 Comments
Over the last five weeks, I’ve been providing information to give you a basic understanding of castles. Today, we are tackling the most common myths. Since castles are popular, they are depicted a lot in movies, TV shows, video games, and books. But there are several things that are often shown incorrectly. As always, magic […]
The Writer’s Guide to Siege Engines
Posted on December 10, 2021 7 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 Besieging a Castle
Posted on December 3, 2021 51 Comments
Even though castles could be easily avoided by an invading force, it was often a bad idea. Attacks could be launched from them, with the soldiers retreating to their safety. During much of medieval Europe, if you wanted to take territory you had to deal with the castle of its king or lord. This usually […]
The Writer’s Guide to Castle Construction
Posted on November 19, 2021 2 Comments
If you’ve read my previous posts, The Writer’s Guide to Castles and The Writer’s Guide to Castle Defenses, you have probably realized that there were many types of castles throughout European history. As a result, the cost and time involved in castle construction varied widely. If you are planning to have a castle under construction […]
The Writer’s Guide to Castle Defenses
Posted on November 12, 2021 5 Comments
Castles have been romanticized for centuries, to the point where we forget their use. First, they were a home. Second, they were a series of carefully designed kill zones. Today I will cover the features most seen in castles and their purpose. I will limit this article to medieval Europe since that is when and […]
The Writer’s Guide to Castles
Posted on November 5, 2021 6 Comments
From the Red Keep to Cair Paravel to Skyhold, castles have loomed large in fantasy and are a familiar part of the landscape of movies, TV shows, video games, and books. They are a favorite among writers and often grab the imagination of readers and viewers. However, unless you live in Europe, most writers don’t […]
The Writer’s Guide to Shields
Posted on October 29, 2021 114 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 […]
Rebecca Shedd - Author 