Category: Creative Writing

• November 13, 2023

  The trouble with adverbs

  As I’m editing book two of my trilogy right now for adverbs, trying to cut or rewrite a good number of those, I’m reflecting on the trouble with adverbs. They are absolutely fine in first drafts, and there is nothing wrong with them per se. So why does Stephen King say “the road to hell…
• November 8, 2023

  The truth of fiction is deeper than “fact”

  Fiction uses stories that aren’t factually or historically true to teach us deep, eternal, lasting truths about the world and human nature. This is why fiction is so powerful, so meaningful, and so necessary to human life. History and historical fact are also, of course, critical, and must be recognized for what they are. History,…
• November 7, 2023

  What a GREAT first person narrator (in fiction) always has . . .

  What does a great first person narrator in fiction always have? There may be a small number of exceptions to this, but in general, the answer is: AN AGENDA. The great first person narrators have an agenda. They have a good reason to be telling their story, that agenda will influence what they tell and…
• November 3, 2023

  Flashback Friday-the awful soap opera of my first novel

  I’m thinking today of my first book, which is so bad I have never even considered publishing it after writing my Herezoth trilogy. It’s a complete melodrama, which, granted, was the point. It’s basically a clean soap opera–not much of an audience for that, and that’s the best way to describe it. It’s also poorly…
• October 23, 2023

  My to do list for today is actually an update: here it is!!!

  I took today off work because I worked a mini-retreat of sorts this weekend with the Alpha course at my Church parish. I always take Monday off after an Alpha weekend. So, here’s what is on my to-do list for today: And there we go! Book two is almost ready for my editor. I’m excited…
• October 16, 2023

  On first lines

  Before I send book two to my editor, I have three things to do: It doesn’t help that I have a very brief prologue now as well as the start of chapter one. So, basically two first lines. First lines are rough. You want them to be catchy without feeling gimmicky. You want them to…
• October 14, 2023

  The key to a hard magic system

  I LOVE a good hard magic system–one with explicitly outlines rules about magic, what working magic requires, and who can do it. The Harry Potter books are probably the most explicitly detailed hard magic system that a VAST number of people would be familiar with. The magic system in my own novels is more hard…
• October 13, 2023

  What makes a soft magic system work

  A soft magic system is one in which the mechanics of magic and how it works are not explained. It’s a bit intuitive to say that a soft magic system works best when magic is not truly a main focus of the story. But that’s indeed the case. “The Lord of the Rings” is the…
• October 12, 2023

  Thankful Thursday: thankful for Amazon “ratings”

  

  Any indie author could tell you that reviews and ratings are different things on Amazon. Amazon will allow you to leave a 1-5 star rating for a product or book without leaving a review along with it. Well, since the free promotion I ran for my birthday, I’ve had two new ratings without review populate.…
• October 11, 2023

  How much world building is worth it?

  As a writer of fantasy, this is an important question to ask. The answer will vary from series to series and writer to writer. The answer, I think, largely depends upon what your focus is. Tolkien wanted to create a large, lasting mythology. As a result, his entire corpus is world building in a very…