The trope of the hidden lineage is very common in fantasy novels. I will prove to you with example that there is nothing inherently wrong...

The word trope can refer to any type of figure of speech, theme, image, character, or plot element that is used many times in particular...

The last step for any architectural writer is to begin to put even more meat into each scene. Like a painting, the scenes will be built...

To this point we have created scenes, characters, plots, outlines, and flow for our tale. The time has come to start adding the details....

A reader DM’ed me and said “a linear order is not as important to me as a 'meaningful order.'" My question is as follows: Since for most...

Before we keep going, we need to take a moment to remember where we are in the process. In the previous six sections where we learned the...

The time has come to kill your precious work. You have spent this time generating ideas for a world you want to write in. You have...

Theme or first cuts? I debated which order is considered “correct,” to talk about these in if we are trying to be formulaic. Theme, or...

Defined simply by Webster as “the plan or main story,” we will discuss today, plots and subplots. First let’s retread some ground that we...

Topics coming up: Keeping vs. back burner scenes. Plots threads. Rounding out the characters. Today: Building character(s). By starting...

In the last section we discussed the source of writing, which were ideas. Today we are going to give the second step in the architectural...

I am very excited to release to the website, The Fall, Part 2. If you haven't seen The Fall, Part 1 check it out here. Short stories will...

Before you can write a book, you need an idea. I tend to write inside of fantasy and science fiction to varying degrees. Adjacent fields...

TTRPG = Table Top Role-Playing Games. If you have never heard of them or have never tried one, the most popular one, though not my...

Garden writers. Scaffold builders. Unstructured writers. Discovery writers. Plotters. Pantsers. Architects. Designers. There are as many...

Dialogue can let time pass slowly, quickly, or in a manner which is indeterminate. In general, when we are trying to show, and not tell,...

Let’s express one idea five ways. 1) “I’m going to the store,” said Jane. 2) “I’m going to the store, Jane said. 3) Jane...

An unfortunate aspect of movies sharing a dominant space with literature is that the worst of the film industry has a tendency to bleed...

Dialogue must belong to the speaker. This can mean almost anything once the author has established a character, but it encompasses...

I think there is a balance in the creative act between creating what we as creators want to see, read, hear, experience versus what...