Welcome to Week 3 of my Fantasy Story Stats. This is another exciting Week as it’s another where I get to go on about one of my own Stats. And really, it’s the statiest of the Stats so far—Spirit. Spirit, which was actually the first of them and the reason these posts exist at all.... Continue Reading →
Louis Santiago’s Fantasy Story Stats – Week 2: Theme and Focus
Apologies for getting this one out so late; crazy week. Crazy enough that I’m writing this in a laundromat. Seriously. There’s a Marc Anthony video playing on the big TV they have here… Let’s do this! So, I’m excited about this week. This is the first time where a stat that I made up actually... Continue Reading →
Louis Santiago’s Fantasy Story Stats – Week 1: Genre and Subgenre
There’s not much I can tell you that you don’t already know about genre and subgenre. The former is a broader classification and the latter is more specific. Both are categories into which your book fits. But is that really all that they are? Are they the serious afterthought they generally seem to be? Or... Continue Reading →
Louis Santiago’s Fantasy Story Stats – Week 0: An Introduction
Disclaimer: The following ideas are based on the observations of an amateur fantasy writer. These ideas are absolutely not fact and should not be taken as more than suggestions for how to look at your own work—a tool that you use to supplement your writing at best. If you like the ideas you find here and... Continue Reading →
Your Fantasy Characters and How to Understand Them
It's time for some honesty. When I think of the original version of my book (which I really try to never do), among all of the things that were horribly wrong, there's one factor that's oddly hit or miss. Characters. When I set out to rework the novel, a major part of the endeavor was dedicated... Continue Reading →
Earth-Modern Race in Fantasy: The Balance No One Talks About and the Quest for “Nobody Cares”
After my last article, it’s become essential to talk about something I’ve considered for a long time. My last article, of course, was all about the uncanny in fantasy—the strange balance there has to be between elements that are familiar and unfamiliar (on a scale skewed by theme and tone). However, there’s a particular topic... Continue Reading →
The Uncanny in Fantasy
Man. So, last week's piece? That was a monster, huh? Seriously, I don't know how many pages that was. And you know what? I don't want to know. It's been a week and I'm still pretty drained from all of that Milestone business. So when I tried to decide on a topic for this week,... Continue Reading →
Deep Thoughts: Two-Face
Disclaimers: First of all—and this is super important—this is not my weekly post (which I generally save for the weekend). I'll go on a rant when the mood takes me, and if it's funny enough, I'll post it here; but it will never count as my actual post for the week. Second, as where I... Continue Reading →
On Reaching the Creative Writing Milestones
Earlier this week, I popped open an email from a friend. She's an aspiring author like me, and like me, she has her strengths and her weaknesses as a writer. In particular, she does really amazing research; I definitely search for a quick answer or example for an element I want to use, get it... Continue Reading →
Brand New Day – Week 24 – All in Good Taste
So, I'm winding down to the end of this time in my life. For that reason, I haven't been too diligent about updating this blog (or, ya know, seeing friends); I've finally worked myself into a really productive writing schedule that's actually supporting multiple projects at the same time. And, it's seen me through probably... Continue Reading →
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