Seriously, fantasy writers and video game designers… just stop. Really. Stop. Think about what you’re doing before proceeding.
Category: Writing
Armageddon Married In The Morning
You know that one book where society has crumbled into nothingness, dark forces rule the world in a totalitarian mess where people are almost universally oppressed, and it’s up to the very, very few special people to change the world into something better?
That ONE book?
What’s the title again?
Phoning It In The Fantasy Way
Please note: this is, like everything else, a series of opinions – both informed and not at all so. So the feeling that I am full of crap and have no idea what I am talking about is ALWAYS a viable feeling about this article.
I think Fantasy writers have an easier time of things. First of all, any unexplained phenomena can be explained with two words: it’s magic.
Second of all, magic can do anything. Whatever the author requires, magic can fill in.
Third of all, when in doubt, emulate Tolkien.
This is, of course, to reduce a difficult genre into ridiculous simplicity.
Bullsh*tting The Sci-Fi Way!
Here’s the problem with either writing sci-fi or (if you’re Margaret Atwood) “speculative fiction.” Often you have to be an expert in technologies, societies, and minutiae that not only don’t exist, but are be ridiculously improbable.
Take space travel. Space travel is ridiculous. It involves literally incomprehensible amounts of space through an environment that is notable for having no environment at all. A lot of empty space is oddly known for being full of things, like lethal amounts of radiation or micro-asteroids. One doesn’t travel through space as much as one escapes from space or dies trying.
Progress, But In A Different Way
Writing Advice: Give Yourself A Break
Always write every day. That’s the general advice. And it’s true. Always write. A day without writing is a day wasted.
With that in mind, don’t hit your head against the wall.
In my case, revision has been really difficult. I am still excited about the story I have to tell, but attaching the right words to the framework has been tough.
So I am taking a week-long break to write other projects. I have two other novels in the planning stages, but a large number of short story ideas that have been germinating for a while.
Today I have been working on a fantasy novel idea, mostly sketching out the first chapter to get the feel for the story before I work on the outline.
So if you are hammering away at a project and the thought of it exhausts you, give yourself a treat by writing something else.
But seriously, keep writing.
In Other News…
Today was my youngest daughter’s first day in preschool. With that in mind, I felt a little sad dropping her off. I can’t quite place why, but there it was.
The BIGGEST minutiae 