Category: Writing
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Learn to Spell Your Character Names
If you want your readers to have an easy time pronouncing the names in your story, then this is the article for you. In my experience, the best way to spell a character name you’ve invented is this: to spell the name so that it the reader understands how they should pronounce it. This article will…
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – The Voice of Saruman
Welcome back to my series of posts about how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings differs from its film adaptations. Today, it’s time to look at one of the novel’s greatest dialogues, but also at how Saruman died in the movie, because despite some similarities, the fallen wizard’s fate is markedly different in…
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – The Mercy of Samwise Gamgee
Welcome back to my series of posts exploring how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings is vastly superior to its film adaptations. This one is perhaps the most significant thematic change in all of Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy. Today we’ll take a look at something the films neglected: the culmination of the chief…
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – Reinforcements at Helm’s Deep
Welcome back to my series of posts detailing the differences between J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings and its film adaptations. Remember that scene in the film where a host of elves led by Haldir arrives at the Hornburg to fight alongside the Rohirrim? Well, that never happened in the book. Reinforcements do…
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – Six Books
Welcome back to my series of posts about how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings is more complex than its film adaptations. Today, we’ll look at the general structure of the book compared to the movies. In the films, we experience the story in a mostly chronological order, frequently switching between different plotlines.…
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – King Dáin’s Messenger
Welcome back to my series of posts exploring how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings differs from its film adaptations. In the film, we learn very little of why Glóin and his son Gimli were at the Council of Elrond in the first place. This is a shame, because we do in the…
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Learn to Make Parchment in GIMP
For those of you interested in taking your finished map to the next level, I’ve written a detailed tutorial on how I make things look like parchment. This is the technique I used to make my website banner, among other things. I hope it proves useful to you.
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – The Mirror of Galadriel
Welcome back to my series detailing how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings is different from its film adaptations. Did you know that Frodo wasn’t the only hobbit to look into the Mirror of Galadriel? Get ready to learn about that, as well as some hints as to what would have happened if…
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Resources for Fantasy Writers
I’ve made a page with links to many of the resources I’ve created for other fantasy writers. Among these, you’ll find books and articles on some aspects of fantasy writing that I once struggled with, including ways you can design maps or fictional languages for your world. I hope that these resources will help you…
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The Lord of the Rings Explained – Théoden and Denethor
Welcome back to my series of posts about how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings is deeper than its film adaptations. This time, we’ll see one of the most important ways in which Tolkien contrasts the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor. I speak, of course, of the characterizations of Théoden and Denethor. We’ve…