I won’t lie: as a science-fiction writer, I love living in the future. Not just because of the pure gadgetry of it, though that is cool*, but how much easier […]
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Worldbuilding: Skip the Travelogue Plot. Just Write the Honest Travelogue.
In my worldbuilding efforts, I’m often trying to think of new ways to present the information about different places in dynamic and interesting ways. I’ve considered the wiki route, writing […]
Read morePerils of the Writer: The Creative Freedom of Deleted Scenes
Of late, I’ve been a bit blocked, creatively. Not exactly writers’ block– but more a sense that the flow isn’t what it should be. Even writing this is taking more […]
Read moreThe Plotless Meander
“Celeste And Jesse’s script… is shapeless and witless, aiming for an offhandedness in the interactions that instead comes off as contrived, or sometimes just bland” – AV Club review of […]
Read moreVillains with Clear Motives
This weekend I watched last year’s premaquel* of The Thing. It was… fine. That’s really all I can say about it. It achieved its goals, given that its goal was […]
Read moreVisual Influences and the Failure of Words
Every writer has their weak points. Visual descriptions is definitely one of mine, I’ll own that. I can muddle my way through describing people and clothing all right. In those […]
Read moreEvolving from a Fandom of One
Back at the ArmadilloCon Workshop, the fantastic Mark Finn talked a bit about that moment that many writers dread: when someone approaches you with “the idea”. Now, in this case, […]
Read moreFuture Worldbuilding: Pop Culture and the Fourth Estate
For the last bit of Future Worldbuilding, lets talk about culture. Specifically, Pop Culture. This is a hard thing to do at all, let alone get right: predict where music, […]
Read moreFuture Worldbuilding: Aliens, Form follows Function
Alien life can take all sorts of shapes and sizes. When it comes to the various flora and fauna of other worlds, there’s no limit to where your imagination can […]
Read moreFuture Worldbuilding: Stellar Map Time
I’m under a bit of a hammer today, so: SPACE MAPS. Now, I don’t have a good way to display the full scope of the 100-light year radius of space […]
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