Three Big Questions

Three Big Questions

Author, editor, and publisher Jeff Duntemann poses the three questions that authors of speculative fiction must ask when designing magic systems. There are three Big Questions you need to ask yourself as you take on a task of designing a magical system: What is the source of magical power? Where…
May 21, 20185 Comments
Cat Pay Pig

Cat Pay Pig

A Twitter user's reaction to yesterday's post perfectly demonstrates the effectiveness of aiming for the emotions instead of the intellect. To the untrained eye, my interlocutor may look like a vaguely anthropomorphized cat, but its semi-literate tweeting soon reveals its true nature as a Disney paypig. Now, some might be…
April 25, 201819 Comments
Trad Pub Is Dead

Trad Pub Is Dead

AAA video game designer Mark Kern recently took to Twitter seeking publishing advice, and luckily for him Galaxy's Edge co-author Nick Cole answered. That was quite an enlightening barrage of truth bombs Nick dropped there. I'm also sure he's earned another satisfied customer. Sadly, a nasty case of tradpub Stockholm syndrome…
April 23, 201811 Comments
You Have to Commit

You Have to Commit

Commenter anonme offers a valuable addendum to the Culture War Field Manual. Going to agree with all the points, and chip in my two cents.  >1. Stop Giving Money to People Who Hate You You have to commit to this one. No you can't just ignore them and they'll go…
April 20, 201818 Comments
Culture War Field Manual

Culture War Field Manual

Reader Heian-kyo Dreams comments: I don't watch much tv, but probably end up using some of the products with distasteful ads. I don't buy many Trad pub books, but I do buy a ton of indie authors (like you.) I'm not sure how else to contribute to declowing the world other…
April 19, 201815 Comments
Heckling vs Criticism

Heckling vs Criticism

Jimfear138 shares his thoughts concerning a recent dustup within the Pulp Revolution. [Caution: NSFW language.] So what I'm talking about is this whole Groffin shit. For the uninitiated, and I only know the story so far back, apparently Groffin is an internet commentator who got into a slapfight with Jeffro…
March 20, 20189 Comments
How to Avoid the River Plot

How to Avoid the River Plot

Best selling author Jonathan Moeller offers his expert advice on how to write a long-running fantasy series without falling into any of the genre's common pitfalls. First, I figure out the overall arc for the entire series. What is the central conflict and the main antagonist? Then I decided on…
March 16, 20189 Comments
Casablanca’s Lessons for Writers

Casablanca’s Lessons for Writers

Over at Amatopia, the Daytime Renegade discovers the invaluable lessons that the classic film Casablanca has to teach writers. My wife and I watched the 1942 classic Casablanca few nights ago. It had been over a dozen years since I had seen it, and it was the first time for my wife.…
March 13, 20187 Comments
Reader Mail: Sith-Jedi Theology

Reader Mail: Sith-Jedi Theology

Reader Durandel writes: In conversations with my friends and family, many who are conservative and Catholic, whenever the topic of conversation comes up about fighting back against the Left, someone in the group gets very upset at the idea of being uncivil. And if you point out that it is…
March 9, 201820 Comments
Outlining for Pantsers

Outlining for Pantsers

In response to L. Jagi Lamplighter's advice against outlining novels, commenter roughcoat asks the following: Funny that she gave the advice about not outlining. Not over-outlining, really. I've been struggling with exactly that recently. I'm a very inconsistent writer (productivity-wise) and I've been trying to nail down a process that…
February 28, 201811 Comments