"Stay away from screens - they rot your brain!" everyone cries. And this is certainly true - getting too much screen time day after day brings a slew of terrible side effects for both mental and physical health. But, just like most activities, watching TV isn't inherently bad (unless, well, what you're watching is inherently … Continue reading Why Writers Should Watch TV
fiction writing
Have I Discovered the Perfect Plotting Method for Pantsers?
Pantsers, where are you? Hooray for having no idea what we're doing! That's what I always thought being a pantser meant. When I penned books in my younger years, I never even touched an outline. I thought I simply didn't need one - I could write a book from beginning to end flawlessly. But I've … Continue reading Have I Discovered the Perfect Plotting Method for Pantsers?
What We Learn from a Character’s First Scenes in The Force Awakens
May the Fourth be with you! It's no secret that I'm a Star Wars nerd. As I talked about last month, Star Wars shaped me both as a person and a writer as I was growing up. Love or hate certain parts of it, there's no doubt that Star Wars has, in all likelihood, the … Continue reading What We Learn from a Character’s First Scenes in The Force Awakens
Elantris: Do’s and Don’ts at the Beginning of a Book
If you've been keeping up with stuff for the past year or two, you might have heard of Brandon Sanderson (you know, the guy who broke Kickstarter?). You might have even read some of my posts about his books, as I've been reading through them for the past year or so. Sanderson is a fantastic … Continue reading Elantris: Do’s and Don’ts at the Beginning of a Book
The Floating Festival – A fantasy short story
Participating in the Writer's Games last year taught me so much about my writing habits in the short span of a month and gave me tons of great material to work with - even though I was only able to submit one practice story. Since most of the stories I wrote were really close to … Continue reading The Floating Festival – A fantasy short story
Do You Really Know Your Book’s Genre?
After working with authors from all over the world on many kinds of different story projects, I've seen a common theme. Many times, they present me with their masterpiece and I can instantly tell that the writing is good - but something is missing from the story. Something very important. Maybe there's no character development, a … Continue reading Do You Really Know Your Book’s Genre?
You’re Going to Hate Writing Your Book – But Here’s How You Keep Going
The slump is coming, but you can get past it. Nearly every writer faces the same hurdle when penning a brand new shiny book. Somewhere in the middle of the process, we lose motivation. We get stuck. The words won't come. We get writer's block. We get bored. Whatever you want to call it, it's … Continue reading You’re Going to Hate Writing Your Book – But Here’s How You Keep Going
A World of Horrors
Drud Yuloill, First Scout of Salore, knew he was out of his depth the moment he stepped foot on the new planet. It was night, of course, according to Kichter II regulations—this was an inhabited, intelligent planet after all. But that didn't stop the ground from melting. Drud yelped and scurried away from the ocean, … Continue reading A World of Horrors
The Stories that Shaped Me: Star Wars
How do you like Tuesdays? Specifically, what do you think of my Tuesday blog posts? I think it's beneficial to talk about good (and bad) stories so that we can learn from what others have done. Let me know your opinion in the comments! For now, I'm starting yet another new series about the stories … Continue reading The Stories that Shaped Me: Star Wars
Why Does It Matter to Tell Stories that Matter?
Why do we tell stories? You could probably give me at least a million different reasons. We tell stories to entertain, distract, raise awareness, help others, even just to make money. Everyone has their own reason. But really, every storyteller has something in common. Deep down—so deep down, in some cases, that the person doesn't … Continue reading Why Does It Matter to Tell Stories that Matter?
The Story Canvas 