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Do You Strive for Mastery, or Simply to Write?
What is one piece of advice that just doesn’t work for me? That it’s okay not to write every day. I experienced unfinished work, plummeted productivity and even quality. Robert A. Heinlein wrote constantly. Robert Heinlein was arguably one of the biggest names in science fiction of the 20th century. Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 […]
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Which Fantasy my Genre? High Fantasy? Epic Fantasy?
Is it even fantasy at all? For me writing fantasy was by complete accident. Judging by what I read predominantly when I was growing up, I should be a science fiction writer. Especially the more speculative, contemporary sort of Science Fiction like Stargate and Jurassic Park. What happened instead was that I got into Terry […]
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What do I do about Editing and Revision regarding Creative Writing?
I have been consistently writing creatively since 2017, so as of writing this it’s been 6 years. The helpful answer is that I find that once I’m already editing I actually enjoy it, even if I resist starting. So the answer is to just start, and worry about liking it after. The more difficult answer […]
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Recurrance in Storytelling
Here we go,From The Solune Prince, Draft 3. Chapter 1 Chloe jumped as the metal latch behind her clanged then stopped, dropping back into place. Whoever it was at the door paused and thought better than to walk in. Then a knock rang out through the heavy wood. “Speak,” She said, almost failing to hide […]
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Doing a Full Novel Rewrite
The novel I’m currently working on, The Solune Prince, has been in the works for over four years now. And so this summer, when I started getting a good hold of the ropes of publishing and self-publishing, I truly and finally realized how far the current state of the novel was from being clean and […]
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Review of Lifelong Writing Habit (Book on Writing)
Welcome to the new year! Hopefully this review is in time for anyone whose resolution involves writing. I will keep this review short, just like the book itself. It didn’t take me long to realize that in Chris Fox’s Lifelong Writing Habit I had found something that I could grab a hold of and use. […]
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Drafting: Attempting a New First Chapter of TSP
Recently, I began working more seriously with my novels. At present, I am revising and preparing The Solune Prince for indie publication. This is taking me a bit more work than I expected, and the reason is that the first draft of Book 1 of The Solune Prince had some issues. Don’t get me wrong, […]
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Small Steps
Many people in my generation have likely heard of Holes, either the book by Louis Sachar, or the film adaptation. What few people are aware of is that it had a somewhat strange spinoff-sequel. This book was called Small Steps. Now, this post is a blog update, not a book review, but I want to […]
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How to Write From the Middle
Of all the books on writing I’ve encountered, Write Your Novel from the Middle, by James Scott Bell is one of the best. Let’s discuss it, and check out some of the writing ideas it gave me. There are some books that should be short but are stretched out to fill some sort of page […]
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Seeding in Storytelling
The concept of “seeding” is fairly universal in narratives. Seeding is when an author inserts clear hints of something that will be coming. I’m not sure if this exact term is used outside of video games, but the relationship to foreshadowing is clear. In the game Arknights, for example, five portraits were given for upcoming […]
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How to Manage a Mass of Ideas and Goals
What if you have a lot of ideas? Too many ideas? Oh, but some of them are so good! Ah…well, here is some of the ideas I’ve personally used to wade through and manage ideas and projects. I am no expert, and perhaps one of the many productivity-focussed blogs could cover this better, but at […]
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The Senses -Writing Tips #001
Many books and blogs on writing urge us to engage the five physical senses. Touch, taste, sound, etc. Yet none speak to the higher senses; emotion, conscience, intelligence, spirit. Aren’t the greatest scenes in literature the ones that pull on the heart, rather than the skin? Daniel Triumph.
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The Developed State of The Solune Prince
I have developed my own new writng method which includes both planning and a lot of spontaneity, and even integrates a third element, editing, into the mix without getting hung up on it.
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Closing the Schedule
Creativity thrives under all sorts of constraints, but time needn’t be one of them.
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Should We Really “Keep Dialogue Short” ?
(Republish, Second Edition) Across blog posts, forums, and subreddits, there seems to be an almost universal rule in the online writing community. That notion that dialogue should be kept short, or even avoided. It isn’t as common as advice like “show don’t tell” or “don’t use the passive voice.” All three rules of thumb are […]
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Musings on “Character vs Plot” and Mark Hamill vs New Storylines
In any narrative be it movies, video games, or writing, there is often this question of, “is it plot driven, or character driven?” You can ask this regarding any story and find that the narrative tilts one way or the other. In this blog, I’m going to explore some of the tensions that can arise, […]
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Tree of Life: An Analytic Review
The Light is Fantastic! “Fortunate is the man who has found wisdom and a man who gives forth discernment[…], It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and those who draw near it are fortunate” (Mishlei/Proverbs 3:13, 18). The writing Tree of Life is an adventure in style as much as it […]
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The Solune Prince: [Workshop I]
A couple things before the piece starts. You can skip ahead if you just want to get to the narrative. First: This is a lightly edited sort of experiment. This piece projects itself into a much later chapter of The Solune Prince. Short background, the general concept is sort of a “coming of age” story […]