A Wizard’s Hat

Have you ever wondered where the pointy wizard hat stereotype stems from? Someone on Quora did and Wendy Carolan had the answer. Where Does the Idea of the Wizard’s Hat Come from? As you can well imagine, the question here refers to the stereotypical pointy blue...

Old Anglo-Saxon Character Names

As someone who knows how hard it can be to choose a character name for your fantasy novel, I came across some interesting discussions on Quora (here and here). They concerned the letter Æ and the evolution of old Anglo-Saxon names. I hope you find it as interesting as...

Where Are All the Missing Socks?

I had a good laugh when I read on Quora this brilliant answer by Jay Cashen, and just had to share! The question, of course, being what happens to all our missing socks… What happens to all our missing socks? Washers spin clothes at high revs. That generates...

Who Could Build a Castle in the Middle Ages?

In my last post, I explained how a Medieval army could assault a castle. But who built the castle in the first place, and how expensive were they, anyway? Luckily, Helena Schrader and Quora have the answer. Before we move on, though, let’s answer a different...

Medieval Castle Assaults

I came across some great answers by Jon Bourgetti, Patrick Ashby, Alexander Taylor, and Steve Blanchard on Quora on the subject of assaults on Medieval castles. Whether you write fantasy, historical fiction, or just love history as much as I do, I think you will enjoy...

How to Properly Capitalize Your Titles

One of the trickiest things about freelance copywriting work is confirming to each blog’s or publication’s standards. For example, how to capitalize your titles. I’m sharing here what I’ve learned so far in the hopes that some of you may find...

The Real Wild West

We all know of the Wild West. Or do we? There are so many misconceptions and myths surrounding it, and so many of these are repeated in cowboy fiction and Western movies alike. So, here are some common misconceptions about the cowboys, Native Americans, and the Wild...

Common Fiction Writing Mistakes

I came across a nice thread on Quora (here and here) about common mistakes in fiction. I am sharing here the ones that I agreed with. I found particularly interesting to see which mistakes different people mentioned, as many of them contradicted each other. This makes...

Well-crafted “Mary Sue”/”Gary Stu” Characters

There is a fascinating discussion right now on Quora on Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters. People argue in favor and against the possibility of writing a well-crafted, enjoyable character like that. For anyone not familiar with the Mary Sue term (Gary Stu or Lary Stu are...

What did Medieval People Really Wear?

Contrary to popular belief, people in the Middle Ages loved color – and could afford it. They also liked to be, well, naked. Which makes sense, considering how much Medieval people liked throwing rotten vegetables at each other. Some people take the term “Dark...