Today's discussion is about a very old cliche. It is so ubiquitous that I'm many of you have encountered it in multiple places before. Just because it is commonplace, however, doesn't mean that we can't examine it and try to do better.

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Today we’re going to discuss a writing topic that some might call overly specialized: writing dialogue for a very specific age group. A good story, however, should strive to make all its components as accurate and tonally appropriate as possible. Even if a character has only a few lines of dialogue, even if a skill or item only appears in one scene, its presence still has an impact on the reader’s willing suspension and mood.

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The process of writing is as subjective as the product. Sometimes, however, hearing about the creative process of others can be interesting. It might help one consider things that you had not. It might give one insight into one’s own creative process. It might reaffirm why one does things the way they do.

For today’s blog post, I’d like to discuss scheduling and time management.

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The process of writing is as subjective as the product. Sometimes, however, hearing about the creative process of others can be interesting. It might help one consider things that you had not. It might give one insight into one’s own creative process. It might reaffirm why one does things the way they do.

For today’s blog post, I’d like to discuss the different degrees of planning/outlining I use.

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A while ago, I posted a blog covering one of my unpublished stories; the ideas that spawned it, aspects of the writing process that did not work, and why I ultimately chose not to finish it.

Today, I hope to do the same with a different story. Each story presents its own challenges and eccentricities. Today’s story is different enough that I hope it will teach different lessons from the previous one.

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The writing process is something I don’t often comment on. Just as consuming fiction relies on subjective tastes and preferences, so does writing fiction rely on techniques and processes unique to oneself. How one writes is a very individualistic thing, which is why writing advice often needs to be non-committal and generic to be even remotely useful.

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Fanfic can be very different from and very similar to published fiction. One major similarity is the importance of titles and descriptions. There is a lot of equivalency between a back-of-the-book blurb and a fanfiction’s summary.

Your title and description are what hook your readers. They are (in most circumstances) what convinces your audience to devote time to your story. They require brevity and a dash of wit, while still being informative.

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Generalizations are a dangerous thing. They often have exceptions, and require subjective judgements to make. The subject of today’s opinion piece, however, is a generalization that I believe in.

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For a change of pace, today’s blog post is about something which I actually know about, rather than a fusillade of meandering speculation. I have an Associates of Science in Early Childhood Development, and am currently employed as a preschool teacher. In the interest of clarity and utility, I tried to limit the amount of specialized knowledge in this post. If anyone wants specialized knowledge from my field, then clarifications or questions are welcome in the comments, as always.

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The more fiction I consume, the more I notice patterns. Pigeonholing subjective art is never going to be perfectly accurate, but there are generalizations that have some truth. Today, I’d like to talk about a pattern that is present in all fiction, but is more noticeable and more identifiable in fanfiction.

Broadly speaking, fiction can be divided into two types; those that are designed to conclude, and those that are designed to continue for as long as possible.

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One thing I often see writers struggle with is physical action: things like fight scenes, races, or the like. Sequences where the characters are moving a lot and interacting with other physical elements in a short space of time. I struggle with it myself, come to that.

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As of today, I have been a member of this site for three years. Three years! That’s older than some of my relatives. My use of this site has outlasted my enjoyment of the show. To celebrate this “milestone”, I thought I would look back on some of the things I published on this account. Examine what they taught me and how they have held up to time. Further, I thought I would analyze some of the themes and concepts that repeat across multiple stories. I always enjoy such analyses of other

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Over at the TVTropes pony fanfiction thread, we have been compiling a list of "red flags" inspired by various stories around FIMfic.

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It's no secret that Friendship is Magic has a preponderance of wish fulfillment, both in fanfiction and in art.

This is nothing new. All fiction attracts escapism by its very nature. Yet FIM as a fandom seems to have a lot more of it. You could argue the law of averages here—more fans and more internet exposure may make the problem seem more severe than it really is.

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In the past, I have made some attempts at giving writing advice. Between my limited qualifications and the delivery itself, however, said advice was of questionable merit.

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I am not an expert on grammar, but lately I have been seeing a particular beginner mistake pop up very often; namely, trying to use a single sentence to describe too many actions and emotions.

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I don't opine too often, but I've been mulling over a particular issue lately. In the fanfic community I have encountered good writers and bad writers, but I think the bigger problem is that I don't encounter as many good artists.

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