The Writer's Guide to Archery: A Practical Guide to Bows and Arrows in Fiction

When writing about bows and arrows, authors often fling their arrows downrange and miss the mark.

If your characters shoot bows, The Writer’s Guide to Archery will help you make your characters shoot like pros.Bows and arrows enjoy leading roles in almost every genre of fiction—fantasy, historical, thriller, war, mystery, Western, dystopia, crime, science fiction, and more. Unfortunately, the depictions in fiction and film get things wrong more often than they get them right. Understanding the difference between a longbow and a compound and the strengths and weakness of a composite bow and a selfbow is essential to authentic world building that will win you popularity and respect among discerning readers.

Inside you will find:

• An in-depth examination of the history and development of archery.
• A discussion of how bows and arrows work, bow designs and styles, and the limits and promises of archery technology.
• Archery from around the world and how different cultures developed and deployed different archery technologies.
• Over 100 illustrations of bows and arrows and other archery equipment.
• The most egregious archery errors in fiction and film.•Archery tactics, arrows vs. armor, arrow injuries, and arrow poisons.
• A glossary and a bibliography for further research.
• A straight-shooting guide to matching a bow to your character.

The Writer’s Guide to Archery will be your go-to handbook for unraveling the complex world of archery so that you can incorporate bows and arrows into your fiction like a master archer.