Category Archives: Writing

A Newbie’s Guide to World Building (Guest Post)

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World Building

The primary purpose of world building is to ground the story in a consistent setting in which your characters live and move. What I’ve tried to do is give some tips and pointers in how to go about the process of world building, starting with making decisions, basics for the process, inspiration, and what not to do. Examples are given from well-followed continuities to make things easier to understand.

Make Decisions

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Choose a type of world. Make this decision early and confidently, and don’t do a lot of other work until you have. Decide how far into that genre it will be. For instance, if you’re in a magical world, decide if it is Earth Magical (Harry Potter), medieval magical (Tamora Pierce’s Tortall and Emelyn books), or some other type of magical setting. You can combine genres as well, such as the TV show Firefly which is a space western.

Decide how you will make world building decisions. There are different methods and combinations for this. Some decisions are directed by the story’s plot or characters, while others will be made based on a particular species you’re working with. If you’re writing steampunk, it’s usually a good idea to set up a historically-based society, while a story about a starship will automatically put you in space. You can certainly change things about these settings, as Tortall and Emelyn are medieval based stories whose characters often challenge the patriarchal view one often finds there.

Do not dither back and forth when making decisions. Make a choice based on what you know and works for the story. While in some cases you’ll make changes later, most of the time you won’t. You don’t want to be changing every mention of something in an entire novel because you didn’t decide. Continue reading →

What’s Better? The Book or the Movie?

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A huge source of debate among avid readers is whether the book is better than the movie, or the movie is better than the book.

I didn’t start really engaging in these debates until I was finally able to read/watch Harry Potter. It wasn’t until 2010 that I got to finally sit down and read the series from start to finish. There were 6 movies out at the time I started reading them, and I vowed to read every single book before watching any of the movies.

I finished them all, and then we binged the first 6 movies JUST in time to hit up the midnight release of Deathly Hallows pt. 1.

Naturally, the book fresh in my memory still, I couldn’t help but compare the two against each other. And like most people, at first, this was how I felt.

Probably didn’t help that it was only part one, but eh

Continue reading →

When You Get an Idea You Don’t Know How to Write

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I encountered this problem a few weeks ago where I had this awesome dream that I felt needed to be a story, novel, movie, SOMETHING. I won’t divulge what it was (yet) because I’m still sitting on it pretty hard trying to figure out what to do.

This is only an issue because the the piece would be some pretty hard fantasy, and I do not write fantasy at all. I’ve only read it briefly. I struggled with the people in my creative writing classes who wrote really high fantasy pieces because it’s not my genre. I just don’t personally get it. I have a hard time reading it because I get lost in all the world building.

But I’m not here to talk about why fantasy isn’t my favorite genre, I’m here to talk about writing in genres that are uncomfortable to us. Continue reading →

Starbucks: My Second Office (Guest Post)

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by Brent Jackson

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“When that first sip of coffee … touches your soul.” I see memes with this saying all over the internet. I have a few pinned to my Coffee Shop Stuff board on Pinterest. I love coffee! I love coffee so much, all I have to do is walk two blocks to my local Starbucks. The moment I open the door, I’m at my second office.

Think about it. A coffee shop is a special place. The smell of fresh coffee greets me the moment I open the door. The sounds of busy coffee machines and steaming milk fill my ears. The look of bar tops, tables and comfortable chairs inviting me to make myself at home. All that’s left is to order my coffee.

Continue reading →

Making it Big as an Author

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At work today, my coworker made a jab about my lack of progress on any of my writing lately. Part of me needs to be jabbed on occasion.

Not with anything sharp or pointy though. Not the literal jabbing. Please.

We got to talking about how hard it was to really “make it big” as an author these days. The market is saturated with books, and unless you can land publication with a huge publishing house, the odds are definitely stacked against you.

(For the record, I am NOT bashing self-publishing by any means. So please don’t take it that way.) 

It is definitely possible to make it big in self-publishing. It’s just really, really hard. You have to do everything for yourself.

But for many, it’s our only option when it becomes obvious that the big publishing houses aren’t willing to take many chances on new authors.

The chances that your debut novel will make it big time are slim to none. Continue reading →

Snow Weekend

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Today I got a snow day from work! Yay!

This is not a surprise. I work at a college where most of the students are commuting from as far as 2 hours away, so closing when we need to is no surprise.

Between Friday and Saturday, they’re predicting 18-24 inches of snow. Now, to some of you crazy northerners, that may not sound like a ridiculous amount of snow. However, I live in the south. I am in the 6 bottles section in the map below (though right on the cusp of 12 bottles, so…). And yes, when I’m not drinking coffee, I am definitely a wine-o. (A cheap wine-o though. Like no more than $15 a bottle.)

My fingers are crossed that I also get Monday off, but I won’t be getting my hopes up on that one. It just depends on how well the city/county does with getting it cleared out. (For what it’s worth, in the past, they’ve been pretty terrible about it.)

I’ve made myself a game plan, and it involves a mixture of catching up on my DVR shows, drinking coffee, drinking wine (I have 3 bottles, not 6. But I’m also not trying to get drunk like that one Saturday…..), playing in the snow, making a snow margarita, begging my dog to please go pee outside, and more than all of that combined, WRITING.

Because what better motivation than the beautiful, serene tranquility of a snow day. Not to mention, the view from my patio is AH-MAZING with the mountains in the background. I’ll share some pictures later! 🙂

So, short post today. Will update a little later with word counts, wine glass counts, and pictures of the snow. Gah. I LOVE snow days!

Happy writing!

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A Writer’s Writing Tools

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Everybody has their favorite method of writing. Some have a couple. Your preference is not the same as everyone else’s, and that’s okay! We all have our method of doing things. Do what works for you!

There’s desktop computers; laptops; iPads; smartphones; pen and paper; hammer, chisel, and stone. (Did I miss yours? Comment below!)

I think every option has its pros and cons. Let me highlight a few below. Continue reading →

WIP Wednesday: Where I Belong #1

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So the first evening of NaNoWriMo this past year, I started to write Where I Belong from scratch, but realized I was too invested in the story, so I chucked that idea out the window and pantsed a new novel (read about that decision here).

I finally reopened the draft of Where I Belong that I started, and have decided to share the first chapter with you all, uncut and unedited.

It’s a little long, so I posted it on my Wattpad account. But upon realizing that you must have an account to view, I also decided to publish my G-docs document. The formatting is wonky on G-docs to me, but maybe that’s just my large computer screen making me feel that way.

Here’s a taste, and if you want to continue reading, follow one of the links at the bottom. If you have Wattpad (or want to create an account), select Wattpad. If not, select Google Docs. 🙂 Continue reading →

How (Not) to Write the Next NY Times Bestseller

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  1. Don’t watch Food Network as “research” That Thursday-night marathon of Chopped will most likely not help you. (If you’re writing Food Network fanfiction, disregard this tip)
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  2. Also, do not do dangerous stunts as “research” For real, just because you’re planning on being a bestseller and making moolah, medical bills suck. I’m sure someone else has made that mistake. Watch endless Youtube videos of them doing it instead. (If you live in a country where ER visits are not hundreds of thousands of dollars, disregard this tip)
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  3. Don’t try typing the entire novel with your eyes closed. Sure, it may sound like a great idea to write as you envision the story in your head. But I guarantee that at some point, your fingers will end up on the wrong keys. And you will be sorely disappointed when you start reading a bovel qgwew tiue dingers qwew off. (If you are blind, disregard this tip)
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