Ideas Are Cheap

"I've got a great story idea. You write it, and we'll split the profits 50/50!" If you're a working writer, chances are you've been approached with an offer like this. Usually it's an earnest and well-meaning layman who makes the pitch. What ordinary folks don't understand is that ideas are…
May 20, 2021

Should Discovery Writers Outline?

Fiction writers can be divided into 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…
May 20, 2021
Get off the Bench

Get off the Bench

Accurate information is required to engage in any kind of conflict, be it social, spiritual, or--and this is best avoided--physical. To paraphrase Sun Tzu, if we lack a realistic understanding of ourselves and our enemy, we can't expect victory. Time to face reality. The enemy spent the last hundred years…
March 23, 202120 Comments
Chasing the Puck

Chasing the Puck

Trying to jump on the latest big trend, what folks in showbiz call chasing the puck, is a misguided business strategy that all-too-many authors fall for. And not necessarily for the reasons you think.The conventional oldpub wisdom held that an author simply couldn't get a book to market fast enough…
March 15, 202113 Comments
The eDrama Egg Timer

The eDrama Egg Timer

The total conquest of all cultural institutions by the Death Cult has given rise to a robust counterculture, even as it presents dissenting artists with serious challenges. Chief among those challenges is the problem of discoverability. If you're a talented creator whose personal convictions make you anathema to the fanatics…
March 12, 20216 Comments
Pacing Lessons from Fury Road

Pacing Lessons from Fury Road

Many writers labor under a common misconception about what makes a book feel fast-paced. Slamming chapters together with no space in-between doesn't necessarily give readers a sense of speed. In fact, it can do the opposite by bringing on action fatigue. Pacing has less to do with keeping lots of…
March 10, 20216 Comments
How to Popcorn

How to Popcorn

Regular readers will be aware that I worked for a local movie theater chain in my dissolute youth. During my time there, I learned how to make professional-grade popcorn whose addictiveness one friend equated to crack. At least I think that's what he said. His mouth was full of popcorn…
March 2, 202113 Comments
The Long Lent

The Long Lent

It's hard to believe that Lent is here, mostly because the past year felt like one long Lent. During this time of preparation for Easter, Christians are encouraged to renew and deepen our vigilance in prayer, fasting, and penance. Before His glorious Resurrection, Our Lord first had to pass through…
February 24, 20213 Comments
Find Your Sword

Find Your Sword

A famous game mechanic in certain adventure games of the eight and sixteen-bit eras involved starting the main character off sans the main tool he needed to win. The Legend of Zelda set this trend by throwing the main protagonist Link into the wilds of Hyrule completely unarmed. The story goes…
February 22, 2021
Not Visual Media

Not Visual Media

There's an old saying in comics that writers can't draw, and artists can't write. That's an overgeneralization. Sometimes you do get a John Byrne or a Frank Miller, but there is a kernel of truth to the cliche. Because an artist is trained to think in terms of visuals, he…
February 15, 20219 Comments