Writing Milestones: When I Stopped Giving a Fuck and Started Enjoying My Craft

In retrospect, being old(er) is kind of fun. You get to discuss boring shit like politics and actually understand them. You don’t feel obliged to stay out until 3 am getting shitfaced with strangers (okay, so I did this just the one time…). I am not ashamed to say that 10 pm is a legitimate …

The World of the Agartes Epilogues: Worldbuilding

Not a very well-kept secret, but The Agartes Epilogues was supposed to be a JRPG that I co-wrote with my husband (then boyfriend) way back when I was just 16 years old. Some of my readers have since commented on the JRPG feel of the series–big tentacled monsters, angst, fantastic hairstyles (actually, not really–I’ve toned it …

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. …