June has already been pretty interesting. It’s been rife with me hanging out and talking with other writers, which I suppose is normal for me now. As is my gleaning things from those conversations that I always want to bring back here. Things like that, hey, maybe my protagonist is emo (which, of course, led... Continue Reading →
3 More (Not as Great but Still Weirdly Common) Fiction Sins
So it’s finally that time. Since my first post about Fiction Sins, I’ve wanted to dish on three more, but I didn’t want to force it and manufacture another set just to get pithy about them on here. So, instead of doing that, I’ve waited and watched and read and kept an eye opened for... Continue Reading →
George Lucas and Your Editing Process
There’s a really good chance a ton of people navigated away the moment they read the title of this post. Of course, you didn’t and that’s probably because you’re curious. “What does George Lucas have to do with my editing process?” you may be asking yourself. Well, before I get into that, let me specify... Continue Reading →
A Mess of Small Goals
Man did April blow up in my face. If you follow this blog, you’ll know I had an incredibly clean, specific plan for April. A plan that started with a content edit of War of Exiles, the book I’ve been working on since 2005 through various phases of my writing career. A plan that was... Continue Reading →
Tips for Games for Writers – The CR Trap
Disclaimer: I thought I'd take a new turn with this post. I've put out a handful of Games for Writers articles before in which I talk about specific games that promote good writing in large or small ways. However, I've never written any warnings to budding fantasy writers about the (many) bad influences gaming can have... Continue Reading →
Very Comfortably Insane
Not to be a downer, but at the time of this posting, I still don't feel it. It's been a week now. A week since I finished my rewrite of my first novel. And somehow, I still don't really feel it. There were moments when I almost did--moments when I wrote to a friend about... Continue Reading →
Games for Writers: The Walking Dead – Season One
Wow. I haven’t written one of these in a while. But as Season Two of The Walking Dead releases tomorrow and as I hit more scenes in my Outline that need to be completely overhauled, I felt now was a perfect time to get back to my Games for Writers series. Why The Walking Dead?... Continue Reading →
The 3 Great Fiction Sins
First, apologies for taking so long to get another post out; things are a bit rough at the moment and the article I finished last week and was intending to post just wasn’t up to snuff (and I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time with a post that didn’t offer readers anything). I was going... Continue Reading →
Louis Santiago’s Fantasy Story Stats – Week 5: A Conclusion & Using the Stats
Man, did this one take longer than it was supposed to. What you’ve found is the final part of a look at my Fantasy Story Stats. Because, after four solid weeks of looking at each in-depth, I think a serious refocus on how these should be used is in order. And the best way to... Continue Reading →
Louis Santiago’s Fantasy Story Stats – Week 4: Novelty and Concept
Disclaimer: If you’ve been following these posts from the start, then you’ll need a quick clarification; I’ve been figuring these Stats out every week as I've written these posts and, as a result, I absolutely wound up changing the name (only) of one of this week’s stats. It went from “Originality” to “Novelty,” a really... Continue Reading →