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Magic, Hard and Soft
There is a distinction you will sometimes hear made by writers and readers of fantasy fiction between hard magic and soft magic. Soft magic is magic that just does what the author wants it to do in...
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Sequels and Expectations
When you write the first book in a series, you can do anything you want. When you write the second, you can still do anything you want… but whatever you do that repeats or echoes the first book,...
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42wd
As of last week, I am a contributor to the blog over at 42wd publishing. You can see today’s post here. And two posts from last week, here and here. Follow
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Bookshelf: The Billy Saga
Michaelbrent Collings is a writer probably best known for his horror novels, but he’s always written outside that genre, from science fiction thrillers to young adult vampire romance to karate...
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Bookshelf: Five Out of the Dark
The high concept pitch for these books is as easy as it is exciting: Five is Harry Potter meets Twilight, set against the mythos of the Dresden Files. Paige is a preacher’s daughter who accidentally...
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Bookshelf: Enter the Janitor
College student Dani Hashelheim doesn’t want to be a wizard, much less a supernaturally-skilled janitor, burdened with defending civilization against the incursion of blot-hounds and other Scum in the...
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Jots and Tittles: A Funny Little Example
You have to be aware of the market you’re writing for, and think about it objectively. Here’s a funny little example, from last week, in my own writing. I am working on a middle reader novel and the...
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The Lure of the Secret World
I think one of the things I find most attractive in any novel is the feeling that it is telling me secrets about the world I live in. You see this simply and pretty clearly in a lot of middle reader...
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Sympathy
It’s important in writing almost any story that readers care about the protagonist. You want readers to root for the protagonist as he sets about trying to achieve his objective, which they will only...
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