(Note: I will do my utmost not to spoil anything from A Greater Duty, book 1 in the series, for anyone who has yet to read it, but it is possible that due to the fact that I am talking about the sequel, there may be some minor spoilers.) It’s important, for a writer, to regularlyContinue reading “Some Thoughts on Writing Sequels”
Tag Archives: writing advice
Writer’s Ramble: On the Reality of Fictional Characters
For reasons I’m not quite sure of, the late, once great Mass Effect franchise has been on my mind lately. I’m not here to lament the decline and, essentially, the destruction of a great franchise and setting–the Mass Effect universe is second only to my own sci-fi universe in my list of fictional sci-fi universes in which IContinue reading “Writer’s Ramble: On the Reality of Fictional Characters”
Writing Non-Human Characters Part 2: Pitfalls to Avoid
Now that I’ve hopefully made the case for writing non-human characters in the first place, we can move on to the actual creative process. And I figured best to get the negative parts of it out of the way first, hence pitfalls. I will preface this by saying that while the pitfalls I will discussContinue reading “Writing Non-Human Characters Part 2: Pitfalls to Avoid”
Clarity Over Cleverness, the Key to Fun Stories
I’d like to share an excellent post by Brian Niemeier, which itself is sharing and replying to another great article by Daddy Warpig over on the Castalia House blog. The gist of the longer article is encapsulated in Brian’s post. Clarity over cleverness. As Brian points out, the science fiction genre has fallen from beingContinue reading “Clarity Over Cleverness, the Key to Fun Stories”
Writing Non-Human Characters Part 1: Why Do It?
More than four years ago, I wrote a fairly popular post on writing non-human characters, which I think shows that I am far from the only writer interested in writing such characters. I think now is as good a time as any to revisit the topic and expand on it. Also, to be clear, forContinue reading “Writing Non-Human Characters Part 1: Why Do It?”
Analog Mindset
The debate between advocates of both traditional and indie publishing is still very much on, and it is certainly something that often gets asked of authors, myself included. I’ve talked a bit about my reasons for going indie in the past, but a couple days ago, Brian Niemeier put out an excellent post on theContinue reading “Analog Mindset”
The God Complex: Writing Genre Fiction as a Religious Jew
I make no secret of the fact that I am a religious Jew, and have been for my entire life. It’s also not something I talk about a lot on here or online, as it’s usually not relevant to writing, my main focus, and seeing as religious Jews are a tiny, tiny minority, bringing itContinue reading “The God Complex: Writing Genre Fiction as a Religious Jew”
Originality Versus Creativity
There was a great article that was shared around a few weeks ago, titled “Stop trying to ‘be original’ and strive to be prolific instead,” which discusses the importance of being prolific as a writer, making the point that contrary to what some literary circles say, being prolific does not mean a lower quality of work.Continue reading “Originality Versus Creativity”
Some Brief Thoughts on Marketing, As a New Author
It’s no secret that for many, many writers, marketing and promotion is much harder than doing the actual writing (and even if the writing is hard at times, I would hope we at least enjoy doing it). I, perhaps unsurprisingly, fall into this category. I’ve never really been a “people person,” in general, and whileContinue reading “Some Brief Thoughts on Marketing, As a New Author”
Insensitivity
My blog content has, unfortunately, dropped off a bit lately, in part due to a lot going on, but now I plan to get back to regular posts, even as I have a lot to do before I return to Israel, and continue working on more books. That’s enough of that for now, however. TimeContinue reading “Insensitivity”
Writing, Ascendant 