Fight Scenes Redux: Convocation
“In other words, I write about violence in order to feel more human.”
Category: Writing Tips
Unsympathetic Versus Unlikable Protagonists
Did you know, readers mine, that humans naturally feel an urge either to pick fights with or get away from people they do not like? Because, apparently, a statistically-significant percentage of writers are too dense to understand that. Both in my work as a script reviewer and elsewhere, I see the same problem appear far […]
Revivify: The Gothic Heroine
Hello, everyone! We’re between batches on a Friday again, so before I return to working on The Necromancer and the Reaping Spear, I wanted to try this new class of article out and see whether there’s demand for it. It’s like the Wheel of Archetypes which scholars say spun for a brief time during the Non-Sparkly Era, […]
Writing Female Characters, Take Two
Some time ago, I wrote this well-intentioned but, in retrospect, faulty post about female characters called A Manly Male Man’s Primer For Writing Female Characters, By a Man. I won’t lie to you all: while it had its good parts, I believe it’s one of my worst articles from recent years. I like to think by […]
Subversion: The Storyteller’s Great White Whale
Hello, readers mine! Here I sit, once more, with the chance to write something on the blog, and what better something to write about than subversion? It’s a topic creators of all stripes can stand to learn about, from musicians to artists, but most of all writers. Whether you’re a novelist or a tabletop Dungeon […]
The Cult of Heroism: Tolkien’s Mistakes
Hello, readers mine! My work this week has again fallen out such that I am blessed with the chance for a bit of writing here on the blog. The Lord of the Rings! You know I love it if you’ve been around long enough. I still believe it’s one of the most cohesive, satisfying fantasy […]
Regarding Gnomic Utterances
Hello, readers mine! Due to some submissions-related tomfoolery at work, I find myself with spare minutes this grey-skied morn. I thought this a good chance for a quick post about Gnomic Utterances. I suspect for many of you that’s presently an autological term, so allow me to clarify. While the mechanic predates the term, “Gnomic […]
Whiplash Writing Recommendations: the Underuse of Microcosm in Narratives
Hey folks, I’m still in recovery from Loremageddon–I may or may not pick up Fringe Elements again next week, might give myself ’til after next Saturday so as to fully recharge–but in the meantime I wanted to highlight a very simple writing principle that can do extraordinary amounts of work for you. I’d like to […]
High Fantasy Knights: Reviving the Classic
The year is 2020. Runaway corporate avarice is consuming Earth’s natural resources to the point of unsustainability, and not a single imposing dystopian metropolis has been built in the process. With each day, society’s rancid husk sags further upon its shattered metaphorical ribs, soon to collapse entirely. In a disappointingly functional, non-cyberpunk apartment rented at […]
The Lost Art of Tonal Continuity
Yes, yes, I know, it’s not actually lost, and I do think many of our current woes with it are just a phase, but this article will remain relevant long after that phase ends. Let’s get to it, eh? Shock and horror! Valiantly attempting to defend the elven prince from the Blacksickle Assassins, the shield-maiden […]
Ashenvein Gate: Stories & Dreams 
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