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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…
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World-building
A lot of my writing process is fast and loose. I create what I need to get started right away and fill in the rest as I go. I need something of a structure in order to start, but it’s nothing rigid or complex because things tend to change as I go. Figuring out how…
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Learning to Outline
The bulk of “The Guardians of Gaia” (the series that “Savior of the Damned” kicks off) has been written or outlined, and so I’m taking a break. It still has a ton of work that needs doing, but mostly it’s all there and I’m happy with the results. It’s been making me think of outlines, however,…
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The Hardest Part
I think the hardest part of an extensive project, like a novel, is remembering how you got from A to Z when it comes to starting a new one. At least, it is for me. I’ve written, to date, five novels and multiple novellas, as well as many short stories, and the hardest part is…
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Suffering and Art
No, you don’t need to suffer to produce art. That’s a misconception plenty of people have, and it’s a dangerous one. It prevents people from getting help, for one thing. But is it even true to begin with? I’m mentally ill. I’m mentally ill because I had a traumatic childhood, and as both a teenager…