Fiction Craft Blog

It's common for newer fantasy writers to focus heavily on worldbuilding while neglecting character development. After all, worldbuilding is a major draw in fantasy and speculative fiction. However, characters are equally important across all genres. Older fantasy novels often featured flat, undeveloped characters. Thankfully, the current Anglo-American market has evolved. The rise of Romantasy highlights the need for strong emotional storytelling in fantasy fiction. When done

This trope often appears in film, and in popular culture and novels too. It features a woman who has typically experienced some kind of trauma, is quirky with a different appearance (e.g. colored hair) to “normal” women, and who jolts a male protagonist into recognising a deeper life purpose. The character often later needs "rescuing" and the male protag plays a heroic role in doing so. This character is rooted in misogynistic representations of women. The trope is comparable