Oct 10, 2016 | Author-Reader interaction, Book four, Imagination & Creativity, Kingdom Blades |
I’ve been thinking about my responsibility to you as my readers, and that got me to thinking about universes. Not the kind that surround us but the kind we carry with us—worlds complete, comprising places imagined by others, populated with people not of our creation,...
Sep 4, 2015 | Allegory in fantasy, Artists, Character Development, fantasy, Imagination & Creativity, Inspiration, Kingdom Blades, Writer's Block, writing |
Inspiration is one of those elusive words, like “muse” and “success.” It evades us, confounds and confuses us, bewitches when it visits and devastates upon its departure. It’s that girl glimpsed across the subway terminal, or that place in a dream that you just can’t...
Jun 23, 2015 | Allegory in fantasy, Artists, Imagination & Creativity, Integrity, Philosophy, writing |
Most people think of the word integrity as ‘adherence to moral and ethical principles,’ but there is another definition equally important to understanding the word: ‘the state of being whole, entire or undiminished.’ The two meanings of integrity are integral to each...
Oct 6, 2014 | Book Three, Character Development, fantasy, Imagination & Creativity, Inspiration, Paths of Alir, Plot Development, World-Building |
“Two boys arrived yesterday with a pebble they said was the head of a dog until I pointed out that it was really a typewriter.” ~Pablo Picasso Inspiration comes in many forms. There are as many sources of inspiration as there are artists to be inspired. A...
Sep 15, 2014 | Character Development, Imagination & Creativity, Organic writing, Plot Development, Story Concepts, World-Building, writing |
Think of writing like sailing a massive ship. There are an enormous number of mechanical actions that synergistically combine to keep the ship plowing forward through the waves. It behooves you, as the captain of the vessel, to have an understanding of all of those...
Sep 8, 2014 | Character Development, fantasy, Imagination & Creativity, Organic writing, Philosophy, Plot Development, Story Concepts, World-Building, writing |
After my last blog post on the four things you must know before starting a novel, in which I suggested not inventing a character, kingdom or creature until the story calls for it, a number of readers wrote in to ask, should nothing be planned? My answer is absolutely...
