Blog – Page 4 – Jonathan Oldenburg

Writing is an Act of Faith

Post published:December 18, 2019
Post category:My Journey / On Writing

It has occurred to me this past week that writing fiction is an act of faith. Not being a detailed pre-plotter, I can’t say with absolute certainty that this is…

Quotes: The Birth of Empire

Post published:December 4, 2019
Post category:Lore / On Isfalinis

This is my third article on the quotes that begin each chapter of “Tears from Iron.” You can find the other two articles here: Concerning Chapter Quotes Quotes: Memories of…

Behind the Pages: Vitarria

Post published:November 20, 2019
Post category:Lore / On Isfalinis

It’s been a while since I last wrote a “Behind the Pages.” This stems, in part, from a desire for variety but also from my increased focus on the characters…

Families & Fantasy

Post published:November 5, 2019
Post category:On Fantasy / On Writing

There is a dearth of families in fantasy. There are, of course, exceptions, but most of these are where said families and/or children are important to plot, character, or theme. …

Individuals, Society, Change, and Story

Post published:October 24, 2019
Post category:My Journey / On Writing

This article centers on a combination of seemingly disparate thoughts, so I ask for your patience as I bring them all together. The conclusion, I think, will be interesting.So the…

The Blessing that is Writer’s Block

Post published:October 9, 2019
Post category:My Journey / On Writing

In the last article, I discussed writer’s block and started looking at three major varieties I’ve identified. The first is a slog where you have a segment that just isn’t…

Wrestling with Writer’s Block

Post published:September 25, 2019
Post category:My Journey / On Writing

Though it may not be self-evident, this article is a continuation of the last article’s discussion on the journey versus the destination of story writing. Along that vein, I’ve been…

Grappling with the Story – Journey vs. Destination

Post published:September 11, 2019
Post category:My Journey / On Writing

Writing is a strange beast. It doesn’t have any certain form, deriving its shape from the author and the nature of the specific story. I’m not talking about grammar or…

Cities of the Kayrstaran Empire

Post published:August 29, 2019
Post category:Lore / On Isfalinis

Having spent the past couple articles talking about general writing themes, I thought it might be time to return again to the world of “Tears from Iron” and the empire…

Characters and Description

Post published:August 15, 2019
Post category:On Fantasy / On Writing

Last time I began a discussion of description by talking about setting. I made the observation that the approach I think works best can be summed up as ‘less is…