Category: Creative Writing
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My most memorable experience writing as a pantser
The reason I write without an outline is because, honestly, an outline would spoil all the fun for me. It would ruin the excitement, the joy, and the surprises of writing and turn it into work. The best memory I have that can show the joy and enjoyable chaos of writing as a panster comes…
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“Persuasion”: How Jane Austen hooked me despite comparatively low stakes
I like to read a variety of things, and I just finished a re-read of “Persuasion” by Jane Austen. I last read it some 18 or so years ago. Even knowing how it would end, I didn’t remember the plot very well. Even if I hadn’t read it before, it’s clear from the very beginning…
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The literary device that is your best bet to craft either COMEDY or SUSPENSE
You wouldn’t think there’s a tool in the writer’s handbook to help you to create either comedy or suspense. After all, laughter and fear are on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Yet, it’s true: there is a literary device that is a surefire way to lighten the tone with some great, unique comedy (just…
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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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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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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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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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Why I don’t like first person narration in fiction
First person seems to be ALL the rage these days. It almost feels like the default narration style for everything. Before I go into why I personally don’t like first person narration, I want to lay down a couple of caveats: That said, why do I not like first person? I think it comes down…
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What makes you root for a character?
Today, I wanted to explore the phenomenon of rooting for a character. As a writer, it’s important to understand what will distance your readers from a character or fail to inspire a connection with them. Readers root for characters they care about and are invested in. So how do we make that happen? What makes…
Creative Writing with the Crimson League 