Attack on Titan Giveaway (Pick Your Prize!)
Way excited to announce my Attack on Titan giveaway, where you get to pick one of nine prizes! You have several opportunities to enter. (You must be a fr ...
View ArticleWriting (Magical) Items: Weapons, Attire, Potions,Tools, Steads
How to take your characters' items to the next level, what makes an item a good one, and how to use an item well in your story.
View ArticleAsk Kami: How do I Deal with Writer's Block?
No, really though, so far I've found six reasons we get writer's block. Here's what they are and how to deal with them.
View ArticleAre You a Passive or Active Audience Member?
You'll have to thank my brother for my blog post today, because he pointed out to me that there are two different ways to watch a movie or t.v. show (or, I ...
View ArticleThe Maze Runner Movie--Win or Fail?
The Maze Runner book by James Dashner was one of my top three reads last year, and I knew about the movie and went to a couple writing classes from Dash ...
View ArticleAsk Kami: How do I Pick the Right Names for My Characters?
sabryth said: Hi! I'm working on a story (well, I'm planning it out. Usually I just kind of write off the top of my head but that hasn't been working so I' ...
View ArticleDr. Who Giveaways
Defeat Daleks when Washing Your Hands, Travel through Time by Wearing this Ring. Climb in your time machine, go back five minutes, and enter again.
View ArticleThe Difference Between Being a "Beginning" Writer and a "Bad" Writer
Nobody listens to an eight-year-old slaughter Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano and says they're a bad pianist.
View ArticleShowing & Telling by Laurie Alberts (AKA I'm Gonna Tell You When, How, and...
Recently I finished a how-to writing book titled Showing and Telling by Laurie Alberts. Personally, I needed this book. I heard the adage "Show, don't Tell ...
View ArticleNaNoWriMo Giveaway, Win 12 Writing Books
Hey guys, StoryBundle has a great bundle out for NaNoWriMo next month. If you aren't familiar with StoryBundle, they let you get six books from professio ...
View Article"You Can't Teach Writing"--Bullcrap
"You can't teach someone how to write. They either have it or they don't." Today I'm going to talk about why that is a myth.
View Article"The Emotional Range of a Teaspoon": Your Characters' Spectrum of Emotions
Each character has his or her own range of emotions. Some emotional states are more consistent or stronger in one character than another.
View ArticleTrigun Gush
This month I'm starting my writerly dissection of Trigun. So, if it's not your thing, feel free to ignore my blog for the next month and a half. If you ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: What the Heck Vash plans to do with Knives
How killing Legato indirectly led Vash to figure out what to do with Knives, using one plot point to accomplish multiple goals.
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Vash the Stampede
Vash the Stampede is a walking contradiction, and in about 12 episodes, he completes four character arcs.
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Vash the Stampede, Part 2
This post is part of a series I’m doing where, as a writer, I’m dissecting Trigun and its characters. We’re getting in deep into this story. Be prep ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Nicholas D. Wolfwood
Walking Contradiction Wolfwood is another walking contradiction. Let's look at the opposites he embodies to create a fascinating character. Priest ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: The Quiet Battle
So in Trigun, we've been following this ongoing feud between Vash and Knives, which turns out to be a war over the whole human race. I feel like the ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Meryl Stryfe (Character Analysis)
Oh Meryl. . . people both love and hate her. I love her. Okay, maybe the very first time I saw the show, she wasn't my favorite in the first few epis ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Contradictory Goals (Writing Tip)
One writing technique that can breath some life into your story and also give you a whole bunch new story stuff to play with is giving your char ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Milly Thompson (Character Analysis)
Milly doesn't have the character growth the other main characters have, because Milly already has a good and stable head on her shoulders and a firm ide ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: The Moriarty Method (Writing Tip)
"The Moriarty Method" comes from the Sherlock Holmes stories. In them, we see that Sherlock is a genius sociopath who has super human capabilit ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Knives (Analysis and Themes)
(Knives--This character analysis is crazy.) Origins It's interesting how Vash and Knives grew up as twins in the same environment and how they turned ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Knives, Part 2
So last time I mentioned that the Trigun series really revolves around a war of values and ideas. Knives' logic of survival and killing for self-preser ...
View ArticleA Writer's Take on Trigun: Live Through (Writing Tip) + Conclusion
We’re coming to the end of my “A Writer’s Take on Trigun” post series. Thank you for all of the awesome comments and feedback. They mean a lot to me. Her ...
View ArticleBest Books/Shows of the Year, 2014
I know people who read more than me. I know people I read way more than. Same goes for shows and movies. Whatever relationship I have with you in that rega ...
View ArticleResources for Writers, 2014
Last week I posted about the best books I found this year. Today, I'm listing all of the valuable resources I've found for writers this year. But first, I ...
View ArticleCorny Quotes vs. Wise Quotes
Today's topic comes from my friend Michael. He says: I like it when books have wise quotes that can apply to life in general. We all know them. Gandalf an ...
View ArticleNorthern Lights, Daemons, and Soul Experiments: The Golden Compass
Is it Evil? I've resisted reading Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass for years because of everything I've heard about it being "evil." Anti-Catho ...
View ArticleUpdate on Writing Life
I was driving home from church and realized it had been a long time since I'd just done a blog post updating people on my life and endeavors and what's goi ...
View ArticleUsing Cliches in Your Writing: Why, When, and How
When people think of Pablo Picasso's work, they usually think of something like this: Girl Before a Mirror by Pablo Picasso What the general pop ...
View ArticleHow to Break Writing Rules Right: "Don't Use Adverbs, Adjectives"
As I promised last week when I talked about using cliches in your writing, today, I'm talking about using adverbs and adjective in your writing. When it co ...
View Article15+ Tactics for Writing Humor
A monster-length master list of over 15 tactics for writing humor, with examples from The Office, Trigun, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Emperor's New Groove, The F ...
View ArticleRelationship as a Character: Crafting Duos, Trios, Groups that Readers can't...
There are loads of resources about creating great characters. But when it comes to creating great relationships--the perfect tag team, the favorite co ...
View ArticlePicking the RIGHT Details
If you've been writing very long, you'll know the importance of mentioning details in your writing. Appealing to the senses and attention to detail is ...
View ArticleExpand, Deepen, and Create Motion--the Three Tweaks that Keep Details...
Over the last six months or so, I've learned a few new things about writing scenes. Today, specifically I'm going to share some techniques that can tw ...
View ArticleAn Unsolicited Shoutout: James Duckett
Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, James Duckett eventually overcame these handicaps to become a writer, a geek, and a lover of book ...
View ArticleThe Real Reason We Shouldn't Hide Our Talents
I had a realization last year that totally changed my perspective. Ready for it? You always do more good in the world by sharing your talents. Do you ...
View ArticleHow to Write What's Not Written (Subtext)
Subtext: *tries to be invisible* I've been seeing a number of stories lately that are lacking in subtext. And honestly, it's no surprise. writing subte ...
View ArticleDeviating the Reader's Experience from the Character's
In my last post I talked about how subtext works and how to (not) write it. I mentioned that in some places, in some stories, you may want to make your ...
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