The Ritual of Writing
Every fiction author works in a different way, even if the final output (at the broadest level) is the same… words on a page formed structurally into a story. I…
Is Combat Boring? Jordan’s High Lord Turok and Dumai’s Wells
Today marks the conclusion of this four-part revisiting of the theories of combat in literature. I had begun by positing that combat is boring for a myriad of reasons. The…
Is Combat Boring? Lloyd Alexander’s Taran Wanderer
After last article’s break to look at the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the future of fantasy, it is time to return to the current series on the potentially boring…
Is Combat Boring? Tolkien’s Pelennor Fields
Last article I revived the claim that combat in literature is boring. I talked about the tainting effect of movie special effects which have prompted authors to futilely chase after…
Combat is Boring – Revisited
In one of my first articles on this blog, I proclaimed that combat (in literature) is boring! Combat, in and of itself, often adds less value to a novel than…
Blocking a Novel
I’ve mentioned several times that I’m a discovery writer, but that doesn’t mean I write blindly. I have a basic plan before I begin. This gives me the basic plot,…
The Blessing that is Writer’s Block
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
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
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…
Characters and Description
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…