The Fantasy Writing Show with Jed Herne

There’s one simple change that will make your fantasy prose 10x more immersive and engaging for readers. This change follows something I call The Anchor Principle.Today, I’ll show you how I applied this principle to edit a scene for one of my writing students. Then I’ll show you the same passage in his final published book, so that you can see how he implemented this simple change to massively improve his prose. Once you learn how to use this Anchor Principle I’m about to show you, it’s going to make your writing so much stronger moving forward.Want me to personally help you write a great fantasy novel? Join my 12-Week Fantasy Writing Bootcamp.Read Michael Johnson's book, Children of Ziwei. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last 14 years of writing, I’ve found that there are really only four causes of writers block. Today, I want to help you understand what these four causes are (and how to fix them) so that you never get stuck when you’re writing a story. For a bit of context, over the past 14 years I’ve written 9 fantasy books, 4 of which are currently published. I’ve also released an interactive fiction novel, and I’ve also published a nonfiction book, Plotting Your Fantasy Novel, which was a #1 Amazon Best Seller during launch week. So while I’m certainly not the most prolific writer in the world, I think I’ve generally done a good job of avoiding writers’ block, and I want to share that experience with you today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode, I'm interviewed by Joe Sidery as part of ProWritingAid's Novel November challenge. We discuss my early days as a writer (including the most miserable 3-month period of my life, which served as my catalyst to pursue writing full-time), how I grew my author platform, and what I've learned from coaching 200+ writers. We also discuss many aspects of the craft: choosing the right POV, writing battle/fight scenes, overcoming writer's block, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Flaws are the secret to making your fantasy characters relatable and interesting. Yet most new fantasy writers approach flaws the wrong way. I certainly made this mistake when I started out! However, after publishing four books and teaching over 200 writers in my programs, I’ve realised there’s a much better way to build meaningful flaws for your characters.Once you see this, you won’t be able to ever unsee it — and you’ll realise that this approach has created some of the absolute best characters you’ve ever read.Want to learn more about writing great fantasy characters? Click here to join my free 5-day character development course. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So, you’ve finished the first draft of your fantasy novel, and now you’re thinking, “how do I turn this messy pile of words into a story someone actually wants to read?” When I finished my first fantasy novel 12 years ago, I had no idea what to do next. I spent four years trying to fix that book, and a lot of the time, it felt like I was making zero progress.But since then, I’ve developed an editing system that has helped me publish four fantasy novels and get some lovely reviews.I’ve taught this process to many of the 200+ writers I’ve worked with, and today I’m going to walk you through my entire editing system to help you craft excellent stories.Get ProWritingAid (my favourite editing software) with a 20% discount on Yearly Premium and Premium Pro licenses: https://prowritingaid.com/pp/jed-herne?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=partner-influencer&utm_campaign=Jed-Herne-2025&utm_content=guide-to-editing-your-fantasy-novel-video&utm_term=⏲️ TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Introduction00:35 - The 2 golden rules of editing03:20 - What to do when you finish your 1st draft08:59 - 2nd draft: big structural changes14:54 - 3rd draft: improve characters20:34 - Find early readers27:22 - 4th draft: process reader feedback29:16 - 5th draft: prose polishing35:48 - 6th draft: proofreading and grammar Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Abercrombie (author of The Blade Itself and many other brilliant stories) joins me to discuss the opening chapters from his new book, The Devils. This is an in-depth deep dive into the techniques Joe uses to hook readers, introduce characters, and develop an interesting fantasy world. Click here to get my free 5-day character course.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction01:23 - Writing a great opening hook10:59 - Does Joe read aloud during editing?  12:05 - What makes 'good prose'?  13:34 - Deep dive into Diaz’s character  22:53 - Chapter transitions and pacing  25:01 - Introduction of Alex 30:03 - Using familiar tropes in fresh ways  34:45 - Making metaphors multilayered  41:00 - Worldbuilding through POV  46:40 - Deductive vs inductive worldbuilding  49:55 - Abercrombie’s anti-worldbuilding approach  54:17 - How to introduce several characters at once01:02:33 - Jed's favourite character from The Devils1:04:55 - What is Joe trying to improve with his writing? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.