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Creative writing as a Pantser: the good, the bad, and the ugly
I love writing as a pantser. I love not having an outline. I love not knowing what will happen. I love letting the characters guide me. Whether you’re a pantser, a planner, or something in between, there is no single right way to write fiction. I always say whatever works for an individual author is…
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The theme of providence in fiction
A lot of my favorite novels feature providence as a theme. Inserting providence as a noticeable theme in your work can be dicey, because if it’s done poorly, or overdone, it’ll just look like a poorly written piece of slop where unrealistic coincidences abound. It could also come across as preachy and saccharine and unengaging.…
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It hit me the other day that I have the life I left grad school for . . . and wow
It hit me the other day, a few days after my launch of The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope, that I pretty much have the life I left my doctoral program for. That was a full decade ago in 2013. I was disenchanted and burned out. God gave me enough wisdom to see that…
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Character Spotlight: Neslan the Scholar and True Friend
Neslan Dormenor is the Crimson League’s scholar. If I’m honest, he’s probably the character who most resembles me in temperament and interests. He’s twenty-five or so and loves history, literature, poetry, and myth. He’s extremely book smart, and I’d think he has a rich interior life. I feel really bad for him, because he finds…
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Excerpt: Reaching the Hall of Sorcery
Today’s excerpt involves a slight spoiler–nothing beyond a revelation that would necessarily be part of a trailer, however. That’s why I decided to use it. I did want to give a warning, though. If you don’t want a “spoiler” that would be in a trailer, I wouldn’t read further. Today’s excerpt is when Kora, the…
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Sunday Reflection 2: The Vine and the Branches
I always say that John 15 is my favorite chapter in all of Scripture, if I had to pick one. I just love the verse when Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me, you can do nothing.”…
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A Smeagol/Gollum conversation as they edit a troublesome scene in my WIP
GOLLUM: You see that line? It’s got to go. SMEAGOL* shakes head* : No, precious! No! It’s a good line! It’s good, it is! GOLLUM: It implies stupid things that might confuse stupid hobbitses when they read. Nobody likes it. Nobody likes YOU. SMEAGOL *pleading*: What if we move it down below? It could work…
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When empathy and creative writing collide
Has empathy ever made creative writing difficult for you? I had an interesting experience this afternoon, regarding revising a tough scene in book two. I was kind of dreading doing it. I’ve had two scenes make me cry revising them, one in book one of my trilogy (just released in a second edition) and one…
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Evangelizing the imagination through fiction
This isn’t a topic I wanted to discuss too openly, but since my publisher put my book under the “religious science fiction and fantasy” category, with reason, I figured I’d like to address it. I do love the idea of evangelizing the imagination, as I’ve heard the term used in reference to good Christian art.…
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What all the great stories have in common
One of my favorite quotes from G.K. Chesterton–and he just may be one of the most quotable men who ever lived–goes like this: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” This is a great introduction into what all…
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Creative Writing with the Crimson League 