Category: First Drafts
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I am beyond excited about my prequel
I am just so excited about my prequel. I love this story so much. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s recognizing how I’ve grown as a writer over the course of writing and getting feedback from editors on the original trilogy that came first. Maybe it’s the fun I’m having joining old characters…
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Thoughts on developmental editing
I honestly kind of enjoy developmental editing. Not as much as I enjoy line editing, where everything sitting there in front of me, ready to go, and the hard work–as I judge it–is already done. Still, I enjoy watching my stories truly come together and take shape during my developmental editing process. I write first…
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Guard your mind
The culture of the West today is utterly depraved. It makes my heart sad, but the collapse of the West is undeniable at this point. The art, books, and music being produced are flat at best, and at worst openly promote selfishness, self-aggrandizement, glorification of sin, and victim mentalities that help no one and only…
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The first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie is one of my favorites. Here’s how the series inspired Herezoth
The first Pirates movie came out when I was in college. I LOVED it. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched it over the years (though I haven’t watched it recently.) It has its issues, but it was just so fun, engaging, silly, funny, and adventurous. It was a fabulous summer blockbuster.…
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Rewrites versus Revisions
I’ve been shocked over the past year to learn that a fair number of writers choose to rewrite a first draft from scratch rather than revise it. That’s because to rewrite a first draft would never occur to me–not unless I’m trying to work with, say, the failed draft of my very first novel that…
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The fine line you have to walk when writing fiction
There is a fine line any author needs to walk. To a real extent, this applies to writers of nonfiction as well, but it’s true of fiction in a unique way. This “fine line” is one of the major reasons we all need beta readers and editors, because it’s hard, if not impossible, to tell…
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Sometimes you just have to wait and let the solution to a plot issue come to you
As I write this, I have FINALLY figured out how to close out a subplot I am trying to add to the prequel to my Herezoth trilogy. General Grombach, who features in The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope, has some serious plot armor in the prequel, and it was causing me issues. I couldn’t…
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Advice for beginning writers 5: hive mind compilation!
I recently asked on my Facebook page what advice my fellow writers have for beginners. I got some great responses! Paraphrased by me, with credit given to the author who contributed the idea, here is what people offered. I will put author names in quotes as their official Facebook page is named, so that you…
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Advice for beginning writers 4: the rules are more like guidelines, anyway
This fourth post giving advice to novice writers is this: know the rules. Know grammar–it is your RESPONSIBILITY to know grammar if you want to publish your writing, period. Know stylistic regularities, such as what isn’t a dialogue tag and what is (only words that imply speech. “Smiled,” “grinned,” and so on? NOT dialogue tags.)…
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Advice for beginning writers 3: focus on learning the craft (by doing)
When you’re writing your first novel or first few short stories, focus on learning, growing, and on the story you want to tell. Focus on discovering the process that works for you as a writer. Don’t worry about the market or what you think will or won’t sell. Don’t have expectations about how good it…
Creative Writing with the Crimson League 