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Setbacks
You’re going to encounter setbacks, and that’s okay. It’s normal for things to not go as planned in every aspect of life, but especially when it comes to storytelling. They come in all shapes and sizes, some bigger than others. And it’s going to be upsetting. That is absolutely part of the process and it’s…
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Bigger Pictures
I had writer’s block for a while. No idea what to write about. I knew I needed to rest for a while, and I did. I read. I engaged in some of my favorite hobbies. I watched TV. And every time I tried to come back to writing, I found myself stuck. The story seemed…
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I Didn’t Write Today
I got no words written today. And that’s alright. What I did instead was plan some last-minute changes I’m making to the Guardians of Gaia series. The story is more or less complete, I just got requests for content that I hadn’t planned for. It turns out people actually wanted more backstory, so I had…
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Switching Gears
Sometimes it’s not that you burned out on writing. Sometimes it’s that you burned out on writing a specific project. I know I’ve been there before, and I’m there right now. I powered through most of three novels, a novella, and outlines for five more novellas, and I suspect that it’s time to switch gears. …
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Character Names
I think naming characters is one of my weakest points. It’s agonizing, isn’t it? Picking the right one? Pouring over baby name websites and trying to find that perfect name that fits better than literally anything else? Or using name generator sites to find that perfect moniker. Does it ever get any easier? It doesn’t…
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Sometimes It’s Not Burnout. Sometimes You Just Need to Rest
Some days the words will flow like water. Sometimes they won’t flow at all. You can have the best routine, the most solid ideas, and know where you want to go as well as how to get there, but sometimes the words just don’t come no matter what you do. It happens to us all.…
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Burnout
After pushing through multiple stories, I’ve finally burned out. But what is burnout, and how do you deal with it? Burnout is a type of exhaustion. It’s accompanied by things such as feeling underwhelmed or underproductive. You might sit at the computer, unable to write. Or maybe the words you’re putting down hurt to type.…
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Dreams
Recently I woke up a couple hours earlier than I usually do because of a dream I had. The dream itself wasn’t anything particularly disturbing. It followed weird logic but dreams tend to, so it wasn’t that. It was more that it was almost what normal used to be like. It wasn’t anything that ever…
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Is Said Dead?
Every last one of you is both right and wrong about using the dialogue tag said. The problem is that it’s a rule that has a lot of missing context and nuance, because you need to know when to use it and when to use something else. And reducing it to quirky catchphrases is doing…
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Practice
My parents are musicians, as are most of their siblings and many of my cousins. I’ve had my share of music lessons as well, from both my parents. And one of the things my dad used to tell me is, “how do you get into Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.” As a result, I spent…