Category Archives: Thoughts

The Decoy/False Protagonist: Fooled You!

I kind of stumbled onto this concept while looking for something else.  I don’t actually remember what I was searching for because this was more interesting.  At first, I thought I did it with Beginning of a Hero when I introduced … Continue reading

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Preparing for a Journey: When a Story Hits the Road

In Crossing Bedlam and Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower, I had the heroes go on traveling adventures.  This meant deciding on locations, events for those locations, and how long they stayed in each place.  There’s a lot of organization here that … Continue reading

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Moving From the Spotlight to the Shadows and Back Again

I’ve mentioned a few times that I write ensemble cast stories for the most part.  Legends of Windemere is the easiest example since you can’t really say any of the champions are more important than the others.  This wasn’t any easy … Continue reading

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What’s Wrong With Being Odd?

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how people and society tend to declare what is normal.  Part of this has probably stemmed from my son being special needs and seeing how the world responds to him.  We seem to … Continue reading

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Military Casters: Fireballs Among the Swords and Arrows

Magic is an important part of fantasy writing.  Some would say it’s one of the defining traits of the genre.  Not every story has magic, but those that do might want to consider including it with their military forces.  This … Continue reading

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Fantasy Armies: Popular Tools of the Trade

This theme is probably going to be very similar to the City Guards week from December, but that isn’t surprising.  Guards and soldiers get used interchangeably in a lot of fiction because they are part of the setting.  The nameless … Continue reading

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Phases of a Story: The Churning Gas of . . . No Clean Way to Do This Title

I had to think long and hard about this one because I couldn’t really put my thoughts to words.  There was a moment of giving up and throwing the concept out to everyone for how they would do it.  Yet, … Continue reading

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Phases of a Story: The Flowing Liquid of Plot

This one might be easier than I expected because we’ve heard the comparison as much as the solid foundation phrase.  So, what is something that comes to mind when you think of a liquid?  Oceans, drinks, showers, baths, streams, rivers, … Continue reading

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Phases of a Story: The Solid Foundation

This week is going to be an experiment coming from an odd idea that I had.  Stories go through phases just like matter.  You have the idea, outlines, first drafts, final drafts, published versions, and other phases in the middle.  … Continue reading

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Should You Know Your Ending?

I’m pretty sure a lot of people are going to disagree with this sentiment.  The path of the pantser if fairly common.  Not the way I do things, but I’ve run into many who simply fly into a story to … Continue reading

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