The Name Crafter

In the opening pages of a story, a name is a gift. It grounds the reader and gives them a handle to hold onto. But what happens when you withhold that gift? What happens when a character is simply called "The Man in Black,"   "The Girl Who Lived,"  or "The Gunslinger" ? In literature, this is known as using an Epithet , a descriptive phrase used in place of, or alongside, a proper name. While it might seem like a simple placeholder, the epithet is a powerful tool for building

For decades, the literary world was dominated by two extremes: the cold, detached irony of Postmodernism and the brutal, "everything-is-terrible" grit of Grimdark . But as we move through 2026, a seismic shift has occurred. Readers are no longer looking for stories that simply tear things down; they are looking for stories that show how to build them back up. This shift is known as Metamodernism , and it has birthed two of the most influential "sub-movements" of our decade: N

If you’ve ever spent time in a writing workshop or a critique group, you’ve likely had these three words thrown at you like a mantra: “Show, don’t tell.” It is perhaps the most famous piece of writing advice in history, famously attributed to the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov , who purportedly said: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” But while the concept sounds simple, mastering it is what separates amateur prose from professi