Character Agency

Character Agency

"What if my characters want to do things  that  sabotage my plot?" That question will baffle outliners. "Your characters are just extensions of your own will," they'll say. "How can they 'want' anything that you don't want?" This misunderstanding stems from the technical differences between authors who construct meticulous outlines…
sentence

Writing Tips: The Sentence Level

Working as a professional writer and editor these past years has not only taught me a lot about writing; it's shown me much that I didn't even suspect I didn't know. Since I always try to have one hand reaching down the ladder to help folks below me up while…
scruples

A Question of Scruples

Being a theologian who travels in circles that take their faith seriously, one of the subjects people ask me about most often is scrupulosity. In case you don't know what scruples are, the term comes from the Latin idiom for a pebble in one's shoe. It's a nagging irritant that…
Three-Act Structure

Should You Outline?

Writers come in two broad types: architects who draw up thorough plot outlines before they start writing, and gardeners, or discovery writers, who just dive in and play it by ear. Some writers are natural outliners. Others are natural gardeners. A common complaint of the latter is that they lose…
The Pillcoaster

The Pillcoaster

A vicious cycle that tends to afflict dissidents is the white pill-black pill rollercoaster. You see this phenomenon when some news story seems to signal a reversal of--or at least a pause in--the West's long cultural decline. The white-piller gets a dopamine rush that puts him on cloud nine. When…
mentor

The Charity Principle

One of the first things you learn from working around creatives is that we're passionate folk. We kind of have to be, since the main demand of our job is maintaining the conviction that our artistic vision is worth charging people money for. That is to say we tend to…
Writer Ideas

Writer Ideas

"I've got this great idea for a book. You write it, and we'll split the profits 50/50." Writers get that pitch a lot. And when we do, it's hard not to bust out laughing. Because it immediately gives away that the guy making the pitch has never made art for…
butter

How to Butter

Dead Internet search algorithms have reportedly made my post on how to make popcorn hard to find. Re-sharing it on Twitter kicked off a series of cooking discussions, which led to the subject of butter itself. Note: I do not use, nor do I recommend you use, butter on popcorn.…
modern_art

Not for Beauty

It's all too evident that Millennials and Zoomers suffer from general aesthetic destitution. Unlike past generations, many of them seem unable to engage with artistic works on anything but a subjective level. A Big Brand X viewer from Generation Y or earlier would say: "I want to be devoted like…
Charity First Rule

The First Rule in a Crisis Situation

Maintain your charity. The redoubtable Fr. Chad Ripperger explains how in this reader-suggested video. Watch it here:   Happy, hopeful, and practical. Read now: