@rae

@abrielle

@e-n-leonard

@lady-grace

@inkhorn

@wingiby-iggiby

@mischievous-thwapling

@millennium

@rusted-knight

@jasmine

@backwardslivewriter

@joelle-stone

@rose-colored-fancy

@littlewolf

@sparrowhawke

@anne_the_noob14

@noah-cochran

@irishcelticredflowercrown

@denali-christianson

@emily-waldorf

@mamaauthoress

@jar…[Read more]

Thanks for the tips!

One caveat is that this works for me, but might not work for someone else. I like a lot of structure and plotting everything, and this technique is informed by that.

I should’ve done that as well. I outline the character actions and interactions quite heavily, but the combat sequences not so much. My…[Read more]

@ethan-leonard

@joelle-stone

@the-inkspiller

@noah-cochran

@calidris

Okay, from now until 8pm Eastern Time (USA) November 19th, I’m having a poll as to where we want to hold the writing group: over email or on discord? If you don’t reply by then, I will assume that…[Read more]

I don’t have discord, and neither does Joelle, if I read her post correctly. I may or may not be opposed to getting it–haven’t decided yet. My idea is to wait a few days and see how many others are interested in this idea, and then split into groups: a group…[Read more]

I am trying to get 4-6 people together to form a writing spring group. Basically, we get together at scheduled times to do writing sprints. It could be weekly, biweekly, monthly, whatever. I just think it would be good for me to do sprints, and it would be so much funner and more accountable with others!

I was hoping we could…[Read more]

Hey Joelle!!

Have you tried writing in a genre so astronomically different from your preferred one?

That’s an awesome idea, I’ll be working on that! I actually have a book like that currently in the outlining phase, so I think I’ll start spending some more time on that!

Not in the way you’d probably think, it’s not the dreaded writer’s block. Rather the opposite, I’m in that blissful state every writer longs for where word counts are being hit, the words are flowing, the story is taking shape, and writing is fun.

However, in the…[Read more]

(5 hours later after the battle of the dust bunnies has been won)

*organizes papers and letters and collapses into chair, wondering if anyone will show up*

@mischievous-thwapling

@wingiby-iggiby

@denali-christianson

@joelle-stone

@kylie-wingfeather

Hello everybody

I was just wandering if…[Read more]

@mischievous-thwapling

@wingiby-iggiby

@jasmine

@denali-christianson

@joelle-stone

So, what now?

@e-n-leonard

@inkhorn

@jared-williams

@calidris

@denali-christianson

and blog inspiration:

@joelle-stone

Whether you’ve written first person present or not, do you have any tips for writing it? Any common mistakes you see people commit?

Secondly, what are your thoughts on a first person present book with a few third person past interludes and possibly an epilogue? I’ve never seen a book with both past a…[Read more]

@irishcelticredflowercrown

@rose-colored-fancy

@mwcoutugmail-com

@ebyountsgmail-com

@denali-christianson

@embers

@mammaauthoress

@joelle-stone

@erynne

@this-is-not-an-alien

@crazy-writer

@r-m-archer

@james-noller

Alrighty, I’ll get back to you sometime after June. 🙂

Alright, I think I get what you’re saying.

Btw, if you ever have some spare time lying around, I’d love for you to do prose analysis on a chapter of mine. 🙂

Whereas a poet would probably be thinking in more flowery terms, noticing the beauty of the nature and general emotions the setting induces. Does that even make sense?

Absolutely. That’s one of the first things I learned, but easily one of the hardest for me to implement.

If I’m not italicizing, then I do use those to clarify tha…

[Read more]

Do you use direct, italicized thought (where first person pronouns are used)? At first, I used basically none, but the more I looked at popular books, the more I see it used, and am thus tempted to use it (plus, I do like it, as long as…[Read more]

I understand the spirit of your example (expound more to make the telling more interesting), so I will keep that in mind, but the example itself doesn’t work at all–mostly due to the fact that Drastan himself is a mercenary. xD

@joelle-stone

Thanks for the response!

Yeaaaah… it’s usually best to avoid using “th…

[Read more]

Here they are:

Alfonso and…[Read more]

no real deadline. I’d like to start putting feelers out for traditional publishers this summer… but I have no set date or anything.

https://worldofkaphar.weebly.com/aefflaeds-weakness.html

(pictures and descriptions in link)

Aefflaed’s Weakness: A Love Story

This touching story began as a short story and quickly evolved into an epic. (well, a short novel, but still an epic story….if I can toot my own horn a bit. )

In my previous WIP, The Adventures of the Last Aygiff,…[Read more]

@everyone

I wanted to add a young boy acting as a page to come call on Aefflaed, my main character, to call her to the king, and in the process of the boy saying her name wrong, it kind of developed into this thing where the boy has a speech issue where he has trouble saying short vowels and going from one vowel to the next. I’ve…[Read more]

@denali-Christianson

anybody home?

thank you so much. glad you like it! I will hopefully be contacting you soon to ask if you’d like to beta read it for me… =)

They are in a large tent/pavillion that has draped partitions separating the massive tent into different rooms. (they are mobile, just before the final battle)

and, the king is harsh, but it’s not the…[Read more]

Thanks!

Charging them head on at night is too dangerous. We can’t see well in the daytime, (why not?) let alone night, and we don’t know the terrain.”

I think the reason I had put in was there was a great amount of fog that had descended in the plateau and the lowlands it overlooked, so daytime visibility had been shot.…[Read more]

@joelle-stone

here’s…[Read more]

LOL, okay, I’m glad I wasn’t intruding. I can help critique… which’ll probably mean reading through the last few pages of messages. XD I’ll read through them sometime today!

Um… mind if I join in the conversation? Sorry if I’m like way too late for that…

I also don’t feel like reading through 27 pages of this, so could somebody update me on what is being talked about now?

Hi, @joelle-stone! *waves* If you think I’m stalking you, then that is not on purpose. XD You just happen to appear everywhere I am.

wasn’t sure who else to call out to, but I remembered you did ask to be updated if I posted another section… This one isn’t too emotional, like the last one, but hopefully a bit of fun…

Aw, thank you! Will do

I am actually near the end of this novel. Just one more scene, then the final battle. (and any wrap up after it…) so I may be asking for beta readers soon…

Thanks so much! I’ve got Chapter 5 finished, so when you get done with chapter 4, I’ll send it over. It’s a real tearjerker!

Sorry, if this is overloading you, but I can’t thank you enough.

That’s totally cool! I’ve done that too XD
That’s actually perfect! It’s taking me longer to write book 3 and I have some plotlines I want to change before I get book 1 to you, so this summer is ideal! Thank you so much, I’m so excited to share it with you!

AND CONGRATULATIONS ON 100 FOLLOWERS I’M SO PROUD…[Read more]

Well, in my real work when I actually know the characters, I use it constantly! It’s one of my favorite poetic devices to convey atmosphere and backstory. Depending on the character and their voice, I can even go slightly overboard with it XD

However, in this case I know nothing about the character, so it was random for o…

[Read more]

It’s a joke.

I’m kidding.

Mostly. 😉

Anyways, to the point. Character voice makes everything from dialogue to normal scenery descriptions pop off the page, but, for me at least, it is a very difficult…[Read more]

Chapter 4

In the morning, a gray fog had settled over the fort and the surrounding terrain, minimizing visibility, and giving the land an eery look. Abner woke early, and patrolled the walls, straining his eyes for any sight of the enemy, but the stubborn fog kept them blind.

Lieutenant North joined him,…[Read more]

Me and my class are going to  battle a court case (not real) against another class in front of a judge. My role is the Closing Prosecution Attorney. It’s really fun!

@mischievous-thwapling

@wingiby-iggiby

@jasmine

@denali-christianson

@joelle-stone

Sorry I haven’t been on lately! Does anyone have ideas for what’s next?

~Kylie

*gasps like a fish out of water* Wait… did I post that on Story Embers?! I thought I posted that on Ydubs… *is confuzzled*

Honey… your blog… the one I follow XD The “Never have I ever” challenge XD Good to hear you’re spreading the passion of hot chocolate across platforms though XD

@jared-williams

Wow… I just made myself cry……

[Read more]

@joelle-stone

@joelle-stone

@obrian-of-the-surface-world

Wow… I just made myself cry… Writing should come with a warning label…

Warning: Writing emotional scenes can be emotional.

lol. I posted it if you want to see it. It’s pretty raw off the press, so hopefully it’s clean of typos and errors…

oh, and Rose, I see what…[Read more]

I am so glad Rose joined in here.  She has amazing worldbuilding skills with a cast of complex characters, and she also has a complex system of tribes and kingdoms.  She will be such a great resource to you so I highly recommend getting her input.  Rose is a great researcher as well, which builds confidence in her cr…

[Read more]

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! and @brian-of-the-surface-world, too

by the way, how do I change the @ signature?

I have a nickname my students used to call me that I’ve been debating back and forth as to whether have it as my writing alias… Mr. Trip… Ever since, I’ve always thought Trip…[Read more]

Man, that resonates with me as well!  My Blog began as a kind of quasi-devotional using a loose fantasy story as a vehicle, but soon I learned that breaking the fourth wall, and attempting to use the first-person narrator didn’t really work and made the going difficult.  The story needed to be front and center.  Th…[Read more]

THANK YOU!!!! Yes, I’m going through the fairy tales. this one ends up looking a lot more like Robin hood than Cinderella, but…yeah. Of course you can read it. But it’s waiting in the wings, b/c I have a WIP (:<) and my runner-up is Sleeping Beauty. You could read the synopsis, though, lol. Here’s my email if you want it:

emily…[Read more]

You have any particular WIP you like?

How’s your writing going?

Thanks! Chapter 4 is almost ready!

Ah, yes, another habitually resurfacing on the Story Embers forum after 7 months. How art thou?

How’s writing? How’s life?