@wordsmith Thank you so much! I always enjoy reading your insights on stuff when I come across them on the forum, so that means a lot.

I agree with you that writers need to learn the differences between East/West structures. Just that they exist, even. I don’t think the Western structure is inherently bad, but I don’t appreciate all its…[Read more]

@this-is-not-an-alien @noah-cochran

While I enjoyed reading both your posts, maybe you could take the theology discussion to a new thread? It doesn’t exactly fit this topic =P

@lrc I feel a little bad piling another response on when it seems like you haven’t yet had a chance to reply to the excellent other discussion points people raised… but not that bad.

I agree with you that the “You must be always reading or your writing will be terrible!” we sometimes see needs qualification and suffers from returns that…[Read more]

@noah-cochran Have you tried using the Google Docs dictation tool? It’s way better out of the box than the last version of Dragon I tried was after hours of calibration. The main problem comes from saying constructed words or names, but generally it does a fantastic job.

I get a lot of structural feedback as I write, so I make whatever big…[Read more]

@noah-cochran

When I dictate, I write about 5000 per hour, but when I factor in the editing time it goes down to maybe 3000 an hour and is the least interesting editing work I’ve ever done, so I don’t use it for anything except writing sprints any more.

Now I do writing sprints every morning with a few writing friends, and usually get 2000 an…[Read more]

@nataliecone

The mentor section of the [breakthrough] course was good advice, but I really wish they went into more detail, because clearly different people have different ideas of what a mentor is, and it seemed to assume the person taking the course already had a network of writing professionals through cons and college and whatever else.

I’m…[Read more]

This is true for a very specific kind of writer, one who is fine with reworking their book over and over until it works. That’s not going to work for many indie writers who need to be writing a good enough first draft, sending it to an editor, making one round of edits, and then publishing.

For that kind of writer, “writer’s block” means “I don’t…[Read more]

I’m not entirely sure what the scope of the question is. Can you give a few more details about what you foresee as being the hardest aspects of writing them?

When you have characters who might not get along well on their own (and who you need to work together), it’s important to give them shared values and objectives. Highlight not only the…[Read more]

@rose-colored-fancy Both “evil on the outside, evil on the inside” villains (your Darth Vaders and Witch Kings) and “pristine on the outside, evil on the outside” villains (your suave serial killer in a spotless suit, your red-lipped, voluptuous, evil queen) are tropes I’m pretty tired of in fantasy. It’s entirely possible to design…[Read more]

@imwritehere1920 More or less! You start out at 10th rank and then work up to 1st rank, then begin the black belt progression which unintuitively begins at 1st rank and moves upward from there. You have to demonstrate proficiency with a different set of martial arts skills and meet a standard of maturity to move to the next rank. I took karate for…[Read more]

@devastate-lasting Gotcha, I didn’t realize that was Erased. I’m afraid I’m not a fan of time travel stories. An old roommate was telling me about Erased when the show was airing and between the premise not grabbing me and him saying the ending was mediocre, I never had interest in watching it. Is the manga better than the anime?

@devastate-lasting I really like those choices! I love the drawn-out nature of a lot of those original Japanese titles. The Town Where Only I Am Missing is probably my favorite on that list. I also really like your I Hid Beneath My Umbrella So the Adults Wouldn’t See Me Cry.

@rose-colored-fancy I like The Rooftoppers title!

@seekjustice Howl’s Mo…[Read more]