Stories – Words & Deeds

April 6, 2016

10 Examples of Worldbuilding with Food in Books & Films

Who doesn’t like food? Ok, maybe someone doesn’t, but we all have to eat to live. That means we all have experiences with food (meh or no). That doesn’t mean we have the same experiences with food. What food is available, how much is available, what is common, how it’s eaten, and even who can afford what are all pretty...

Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 0

February 21, 2016

A Louis L’ Amour-Style Metaphor for Writing

Turn on that faucet. Flood the world with words, submerge it with stories, and immerse it in ideas. It’s ready. It’s full of minds ready to soak up every single drop. Don’t make us wait. Start now.

Inspiration/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

February 17, 2016

Plot Uniqueness: The Macro vs. Micro Problem

For all that people say that there are only 2-3 stories, no one wants to be the author who makes people grimace and say that he (or she) writes the same plot over and over again. At the same time, a plot that jumps around completely out of left field can leave the story feeling disconnected and jarring (or just plain bad)....

Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 2

December 17, 2015

The Sense of Inexorable Death: YA v. Adult Novels

If someone asked me to name the biggest difference between young adult and adult stories, I would say, “Death.” Yes, I know that there’s more to it, including the age of the character and the difficulty level of the writing; however, when it comes to the maturity level, death plays a big part in transitioning between children’s books, YA fiction,...

General Thoughts & Updates/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 3

December 6, 2015

What’s in a Name? (Besides Headaches, Heartaches, & Trouble)

Writing is hard. Writing regularly is harder. Doing both well is harder still. Despite all of that, naming what you’ve written can somehow be even worse. Sure, it’ll depend on the day and the piece, but naming stories, poems, plays, or songs can be a serious headache. There’s so much pressure. The title has to capture the idea of the piece...

Creative Process Comments: 0

November 23, 2015

Suffering Aside, Write

I don’t know when it started, but there is this idea in the arts that you can’t be a truly good or legitimate writer/painter/musician/whatever unless you’ve suffered in your life (“suffered for your art”). The idea is that you have to experience life first-hand before you can express it in a powerful or true way. Eh. Like most generalizations, this...

General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 2

November 16, 2015

Many Happy Explorations

The difference between writing today and writing even 20 years ago is that you don’t have to make the exploration alone unless you prefer to. With internet access, even writers from tiny towns can share and discuss their work with other writers from around the world, and that’s an amazing opportunity. We may not be able to guide each other’s...

Creative Process/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

November 2, 2015

Do Authors Tell Stories Or Lies?

A friend of mine is a teacher for a private enrichment company, and one night, she had a student who was determined to argue. Whatever the topic, he could find something wrong with it. When they got to fiction, he pretended to be horrified, saying that fiction is a lie (and, therefore, morally wrong). It was obvious that he was deliberately...

General Thoughts & Updates/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Quotes, Words, & Phrases/Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 0

October 25, 2015

Learning To Write Stories

I like to joke that I was writing stories before I knew how to write words. That usually gets me a “you’re weird” expression or a generally confused look, but it’s actually true. Even back when I was a toddler and hadn’t learned to write (or read) yet, I would make up stories. And since people had read books to...

Creative Process/General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

September 17, 2015

Stories, Waiting To Be Told

Yesterday’s Patrick Rothfuss quote made me think about several novels that I’ve started over the years and either never worked on or never finished. Some of them were simply ideas I jotted down. Others I worked on in novel writing classes. I like all of them (some more than others). When I come across them on my computer, I’m still...