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 …
Read more “Writing Milestones: When I Stopped Giving a Fuck and Started Enjoying My Craft”
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 …
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 …
Read more “Raw Honesty, and Why Writers Who Want To Do This Right Have No Choice”
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. …
Read more “The Character-Driven Epic: The Hero’s Journey and the Drive to Succeed”
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 …
Read more “When Everything You Write Is Shit: Why Young Writers Should Not Give Up”
