Why I Try Not To Create Likable Characters

Like with most writers, I started out writing from the point of view of semi-Mary Sues–characters who were essentially somewhat blank, passive, and no more than tools that the reader can use to project themselves into the world. I think I’ve always known not to create outright Mary Sues, so I ended up with a …

Raw Honesty, and Why Writers Who Want To Do This Right Have No Choice

At its core, writing is not an exhibition–not something you do to show people that you can, in fact, do it. I think that this is something a lot of people get wrong. I’ve seen writers who relish in their wordcraft, enjoying how they’ve, say, reduced a reader to tears. They throw out a cornucopia …

The Character-Driven Epic: The Hero’s Journey and the Drive to Succeed

Epic fantasy formulas are usually thus: An ordinary young person, (usually a boy, but also sometimes a girl), discovers something unique about him or herself: a hidden talent or a prophesy, or maybe they can swallow swords while juggling cats, I don’t know. And it turns out that this secret is what saves the world. …

When Everything You Write Is Shit: Why Young Writers Should Not Give Up

A while back, I posted a link to fanfiction I wrote when I was 14. I’m not going to do it again; I’d like to spare you from further eye-gouging opportunities, especially in the likely scenario that you’ve never read any of my stuff before. I’ve improved, I swear. I think people have this image …

Background: Birthplace

My upcoming novel, Birthplace, is the first book in a series about werebeasts from Filipino folklore: the aswang. It is also, incidentally, the first book I’ve written that isn’t in the epic fantasy genre…it is paranormal YA. A sort of long, kind of bloody, definitely M-rated paranormal YA. The working title of this book was “My Anti-Twilight.” I’ll leave …