Little things can throw kinks in your day. A speeding ticket throws you ten minutes behind (and a minor headache to deal with). Ten minutes behind means you’re now in […]
Read moreCategory: process of writing
Worldbuilding: Origins of Herbs and Spices
Food is a crucial part of worldbuilding. This is a point you can be certain that I will keep coming back to. And all foodstuffs, while helping define a culture, […]
Read moreHeroes, anti-heroes, and misaligned moral compasses
A degree or two off course doesn’t lead you wrong at first. At least, not too wrong that you can’t self-correct. But eventually that wrong course, that misaligned compass, leads […]
Read moreFantasy Worldbuilding: Drinks and Weapons
All right folks, here’s where I lift up the hood and show you the cheat codes… Er, that metaphor is rather mangled. The point is, I’m going to show you […]
Read morePerils of the Writer: Heroic Support and Infrastructure
Most of what I write essentially involves one or two key characters who, through choice or circumstance, have to go out and do hard, heroic things. Of course, sometimes these […]
Read morePerils of the Writer: Writing on Shuffle
I am not a NaNoWriMo person. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to do, per se, but I do think it sets an artificial ideal of breakneck pace over, […]
Read moreHeinlein’s Fifth Rule
Final installment in our Heinlein Rules. To backtrack: First, Second, Third and Fourth. Heinlein gives his Fifth Rule as such: RULE #5: YOU MUST KEEP THE WORK ON THE MARKET […]
Read moreHeinlein’s Fourth Rule
Continuing the discussion of Heinlein’s Rules of Successful writing (First, Second and Third rules.) So, now you’ve written something, you’ve finished it, and you’ve stopped fiddling with it. This can […]
Read moreHeinlein’s Third Rule
Continuing from the previous posts (Heinlein’s First and Second Rules), let’s move on to Heinlein’s Third– and to some, the most controversial– Rule to succeed at writing. RULE #3: YOU […]
Read moreHeinlein’s Second Rule
Continuing from the last post on the Heinlein rules writers need to follow for success, let’s move on to his second rule: RULE #2: YOU MUST FINISH WHAT YOU WRITE. […]
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