This One Can’t Fight. Not every heroine has to be a girlboss with a sword. Full post: robincatling.com/this-one-ca… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist Robin Catling: fantasy author of epic, adult and young adult fiction.

Suddenly you're an Expert. The no. 2 search result on page one? Me! My own post on YA tropes from a year ago. Full post: robincatling.com/suddenly-yo… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

Took the Summer off social media The books don't write themselves. #author,#writing,#novel,#fiction,#fantasy,#publishing Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist The Escarri Series live on Amazon: robincatling.com/books

Five tasks for page one of your fantasy novel. Introduce MC Hook reader. Set scene and tone Hint at conflict, mystery or central question World-building. Full post: robincatling.com/five-tasks-… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

The First Quarter Debate. When the novel's protagonist resists engaging with the plot. Why won’t they engage with the plot? What’s holding them back? Full post: robincatling.com/first-quart… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

No New Stories Only New Twists After thousands of years of storytelling, all possible plots are written. What's an author to do? Full post: robincatling.com/no-new-stor… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

Magic Conjures a Plot Hole. In the fantasy genre, the reader's version of magic is better than the author's version with rules and limits. Nothing disappoints like bad magic. Full post: robincatling.com/magic-conju…

Six Essential Action-Genre Story Beats Without these, the novel lacks both genre and story. Full post: robincatling.com/six-essenti… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist Robin Catling: fantasy author of epic, adult and young adult fiction.

Not every protagonist needs to be sympathetic and likable. Just compelling enough that the reader will invest their precious time. Full post: robincatling.com/likable-sym… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

When YA Tropes Turn Toxic. They are the mandatory elements of the genre, but are we offering impressionable readers healthy goals, ambitions and role-models? robincatling.com/when-ya-tro… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

Fantasy Book Cover Cliches no.10: The Wolf in the Hood The dark rehash of a classic fairy tale. Refreshing twist or cynical cash-grab? Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

A Ten-Point Story Audit A few minutes here could save your novel in the early drafting stages. Full post: robincatling.com/ten-point-s… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

The Early/Late-Wide/Closeup Opening. Did I start my story in the wrong place? Full post: robincatling.com/early-late-… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

ProWritingAid’s Not Fit for Fiction. It's a bad LLM producing AI garbage. Full post: robincatling.com/prowritinga… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

Six Essential Elements of Story. A writer’s cheat sheet: six prompts to a satisfying story. Full post: robincatling.com/six-essenti… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

How Many Drafts? How many drafts does it take to finish a book? And what counts as a ‘completed’ draft? Full post: robincatling.com/how-many-dr… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

It’s All in the Edit Editing is a broad term for several stages of hard work. Full post: robincatling.com/its-all-in-… The Escarri Series, ebook and paperback live on Amazon: amazon.com/dp/B0F1X9CY8J?bin… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

The most valuable writing lesson I’ve learned: make every scene a story. Every scene has to be a complete story in itself. Full post: robincatling.com/every-scene… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist

Murphy’s Twenty-four Chapters Derek Murphy’s twenty-four chapter story structure holds all my novels together. Full post: robincatling.com/murphys-twe… Join the mailing list and get the latest short story FREE: robincatling.com/mailinglist