Author RSSFantasy and Healthy Escape
One curse of the modern world is to always keep us busy. Playtime is generally the priviledge of children. So are flights of fancy. Adults are supposed to be productive, and the products of the imagination aren't concrete enough to hold much weight in our...
Art Needs Time to Flower - Even in Cyberspace
The speed of the internet has profoundly changed many (or most) people's perceptions of writing and publishing. It has affected our sense of TIME.
Everything is accelerated. If we can copy and paste a story or article and submit it via e-mail within a ...
Realize Your Book's Potential: Join (or Form) a Writer's Group
It's a long road we writers travel between our initial ideas and a fully realized novel or even a short story. Few of us possess the genius to fully flesh out every aspect – from character development and plot weaving down to the gritty details of setting...
Massive Exposure for New Authors
By now most of you are probably aware of the current buzz across the internet: writing articles about your area of expertise is one of the best ways to build name recognition and web presence. If you can communicate your ideas and information well in a sh...
Man Born with Two Heads Amazes Cat: a Lesson in World-Building
No, the above title was not taken from a tabloid headline (though I wouldn't be too surprised if there WAS one). Rather I'm making a nod to a time-honored technique of good fantasy fiction: playing with the mind's normal associations, in the hope that rea...
Fantasy and the Sense of Wonder
Eras come and go, and fantasy tales continue to be spun. New authors continue from the horizons where others have retired; it reminds me of the passing of a torch. Sometimes its been a raging firebrand and at other times a barely-smoking wick.
Slowly, ...
Writing Without an Outline
Writing without an Outline
The very notion of beginning a novel - and setting down those first few paragraphs out of a projected thousand or so – can be intimidating enough to deter many people from ever making the attempt. The time and energy required...
Weaving the Plot Web
I've seen more than a few intended, hopeful novels abandoned before they'd had a chance at life. In most cases the writers floundered at the planning stage without even setting pen to paper. They'd worried that there wasn't enough substance to the story; ...
Preserve Your Artistic Vision
When people create with their eyes on the market, their artistry suffers. Writers should realize that popularity trends are constantly changing anyway, and stay focused upon their vision – trusting that what inspires them will be of interest to others als...
Sustaining Tension in Fiction
Take a cue from the popularity of exposés and tabloids: the best way for readers to escape the problems and concerns of their own lives is to delve into the messy dramas surrounding others. This sort of fixation is not unique to modern culture, either. Th...