‘As if it matters how a man falls down…when the fall is all that’s left, it matters very much.’ – A Lion in Winter, James Golden* Bear with me […]
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Digging into the Iceberg
As much as I talk about Worldbuilding, when it comes to the actual writing of books, I don’t put too much on the surface. Sometimes it’s out of fear of […]
Read moreLoading Up Chekhov’s Armory
“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not […]
Read moreLosing the Passion
Last night PBS aired the BBC Sherlock episode “The Reichenbach Fall”, which is a modernized variant of the original Doyle short story “The Final Problem”. The Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock […]
Read moreAnother Plug of ArmadilloCon Writers’ Workshop
The deadline for submissions for the ArmadilloCon Writers’ Workshop is a month away. High time to plug it again.—The ArmadilloCon Writers’ Workshop has become a major event for aspiring SF/F […]
Read moreAvengers and Twelve-Part Structure
I had been thinking about movies and the studio-system’s somewhat slavish devotion to “three act structure”, which more and more I’m seeing as a big problem in modern cinema, and […]
Read moreWriting the Other: You’ll Probably Screw This Up
“Kids, you tried your best, and failed miserably. The lesson to learn is: never try.”-Homer Simpson In case I’ve not made this clear: I am a straight, white, upper-middle-class, non-religious*, […]
Read moreAvengers Assemble: But more women next time, hmm?
This past weekend The Avengers went down in comic-book movie history. It broke box-office records, making over $200 million in just one weekend. More importantly, it was a success in […]
Read moreReading Report: Kingdoms of Dust by Amanda Downum
Disclaimer: Amanda Downum is a friend and a critique partner. So this won’t be an “objective” review. It’s probably not even really a review.— Kingdoms of Dust by Amanda Downum […]
Read moreAction, Agency, Passivity, Pacifism
There is a tactic some writers (and screenwriters) use to put their characters in the “hero” column. It’s a tactic that is most recently used in “The Hunger Games” (with […]
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