How to Write a Sentence

How to Write a Sentence

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…
December 10, 202013 Comments
Art Lasts

Art Lasts

Hang out around science fiction authors long enough, and you get the sense that they're all crazy. John Scalzi claims that Donald Trump and the weather conspired to give him writer's block. Patrick Rothfuss and George R. R. Martin have cited similarly temperamental reasons for not finishing their popular series.…
October 28, 20209 Comments
Secondary World Religions

Secondary World Religions

World building is the one element that sets speculative fiction apart from every other category of writing. When designing a secondary world, it’s crucial to establish a foundation of internally consistent principles to help readers suspend their disbelief. Religion in general has been a constant of human existence. Writing a…
August 19, 202012 Comments
How Does Your Magic Work?

How Does Your Magic Work?

A speculative element is what sets the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror apart from literary fiction. There's no element more speculative than magic, and it's become a common term of art to speak of an SFF universe's "magic system". By reader request, here is my philosophy of magic…
August 17, 202028 Comments

Virtues of the Awakened Saxon

Kipling's famous--some might say infamous--poem "The Wrath of the Awakened Saxon" has gained a great deal of traction in dissident circles. I maintain that a major reason why this poem has resonated with the current generations of young men on the right is that it highlights the masculine virtues they…
August 11, 202024 Comments

Art Lasts

Hang out around science fiction authors long enough, and you get the sense that they're all crazy. John Scalzi claims that Donald Trump and the weather conspired to give him writer's block. Patrick Rothfuss and George R. R. Martin have cited similarly temperamental reasons for not finishing their popular series.…
August 6, 202016 Comments
The River Plot

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…
June 16, 202018 Comments
A Mark of Midwittery

A Mark of Midwittery

A word of caution I frequently give my editing clients is that excess repetition quickly exhausts readers' patience. Most authors quickly get the concept. Continued reliance on repeating the same old saws ad nauseam is a mark of midwittery and creative bankruptcy. Whether former Disney author propagandist Chuck Wendig never…
June 15, 202024 Comments
The Necessity of Editing

The Necessity of Editing

The most eye-opening part of being a professional editor has been the fascinating look it offers into other writers' creative process. There's a lot of talent out there that oldpub would never give the time of day. These authors are finding audiences thanks to newpub. At the same time, you…
February 6, 20206 Comments
Books Are Not Head Movies

Books Are Not Head Movies

A number of readers have asked me to explain my frequent editing advice against writing by playing a movie in your head and transcribing what you see. To complement the inherent advantages the novel has over film as a storytelling form, here are a few proscriptive reasons to avoid approaching novel…
November 27, 201920 Comments