Category: Character Development
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The danger of writing magic
I recently wrote about why writing and reading fantasy is so, well, magical. There are lots of opportunities and benefits that come with writing in the fantasy genre and adding magic to your story, but there is also a temptation to avoid. DON’T MAKE IT ALL ABOUT A MAGIC SHOW When we include sorcery or…
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Respecting your readers means respecting the characters they care about
(Cue Aretha, right? It’s all about that R-E-S-P-E-C-T!) It is easy enough to SAY that as fiction writers, we need to respect and acknowledge the attachments readers will form to our characters. It’s easy enough to SAY that we should acknowledge the reality that readers will like or admire this character but dislike that one.…
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What writing fiction taught me about how God works with us
My journey with God has certainly has its ups and downs, from a whirlwind conversion experience in 2014, to entering the monastery, to deciding to leave religious formation nine months later. Now, my fiction is NOT, in explicit terms, Christian fiction. I write sword and sorcery fantasy, most of the time in an action/adventure vein.…
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On evil: why it’s drab, and how to write a villain
I don’t find it surprising that there is something about J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sauron that has always gripped me, while the REAL “big baddie” of Middle Earth (named Melkor or Morgoth) has never intrigued me at all. I’ll begin this post with this contrast because it’s perfect (and if you’re not a fan of Tolkien, I’ll…
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Thoughts on “in media res” (and how “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” began)
I remember learning the term “in media res” in middle school, when we were learning about Homer, “The Iliad,” and “The Odyssey.” The teacher told us that “in media res” in a narrative technique in which a story starts in the middle of the action. I was much older when I started studying Latin and…
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On real feminine strength in fiction
I recently watched this You Tube video on Eowyn and feminine strength, and why her big moment against the Witch King of Angmar WORKS so well in Tolkien’s “The Return of the King.” I was hoping it might get me thinking about the craft of good, inspiring, believable fiction, especially seeing the first novel in…
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On the value of steady, quiet loyalty
As I revise my way through “The Crimson League” once again (this time after editor’s notes, yea!) I realize I have come this past year to a great appreciation for a particular minor character I never gave much thought to. His name is Hayden Grissner. He is barely of age, and he joins the resistance…
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Connecting with that minor character (lessons in charity)
Writing a prequel to my trilogy had some unexpected benefits for me as I am at the same time preparing my Herezoth trilogy for a second edition and re-release after I took it off Amazon years ago. Namely, I find myself relating to a couple of characters more than I ever did before. I understand…
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Let’s talk about theme
One of my favorite things–and one of the most important things to me–in fiction is theme. If the themes a story explores don’t interest me, I’m not interested. The book might be a classic work of literature, beautifully written, and I might read it on that account, and appreciate it on that account, and be…
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Creative writing teaches patience
Patience is definitely one of the virtues I need to work on, though I certainly hope I have developed some other virtues to a greater degree. (Courage, too. I need to work on courage. I am a melancholic). As I return to creative writing, though, I’ve realized just how much my fiction is doing to…
Creative Writing with the Crimson League 