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Book Blitz: Shadowed Is Everywhere!

It’s here! Yes, my

It's here! Yes, my "man who does not exist" has been coaxed out of hiding for a day--I don't have Paul's paranormal senses, so this is my own chanc


The Invisibility Challenge

I’m working on a bl

I'm working on a blog post about invisibility powers, and what it might be like to maneuver  when the world can't see you. This is going to be the fi


No Creatures Needed

(or, anything They can do

(or, anything They can do in, We can do in better) The darkened sky shifts as the breeze kicks up, switching dry leaves about the roots of


Testing for my Flying Belt

I see superpowered people

I see superpowered people. Really. When I look at a skyline, I see the angles Spider-Man would need to swing in through an upper window, if this we

quiet park

Quiet Scene or Boring Scene? What can make the difference

We call them “chara

We call them "character moments" or "pacing breaks" when we write them, or "boring scenes" when somebody else tries and fails. We know the story isn't

human

Dialog, Plot, and a bit of Spock — Layers brought to life

Dialogue might be the mos

Dialogue might be the most powerful tool a writer has. It's absolutely the easiest one to lead in any direction you want, and yet… Just by keeping t

travel scenes

Writing Travel Scenes: What to Keep Moving

Do you ever notice how of

Do you ever notice how often "the hero's journey" isn't just a metaphor? Travel's a huge part of many stories, sometimes long days or weeks on the roa

similar scenes

If your scenes look too similar… try the Tarzan Test

It’s one of the nas

It's one of the nastiest problems in writing, because it can pop up either because we're struggling or because we're getting in the groove: we keep us


Bracketology in Story Plotting

What do sports brackets h

What do sports brackets have to do with writing a story? Almost everything. A plot depends on conflict and contrast between its characters, and

gaming

Ten Writing Tricks from Gaming

The following are tricks

The following are tricks I've learned from role-playing games, board games, and other gaming fun, that help me remember what works in writing.

sentence

Order of a Sentence – with Maralys Wills

(The Unified Writing Fiel

(The Unified Writing Field Theory — searchings and findings on what makes stories work) If a story mo

OR

Plot and the Power of OR

“Depth” is a

"Depth" is a word people have used different ways about fiction, sometimes not being that clear what they mean--just some sense that a character winds