There is one part I always remember about Princess Mononoke. Well, a few parts: that creepy scene with the humans disguised as boars and the tentacle animal monsters, for instance. But one line in particular stuck with me more than any other. At the climax when Lady Eboshi shoots the great forest spirit. A bullet pierces its head, but it calmly continues walking. The men look on in disbelief, and Lady Eboshi chastises them, “He’s a god, you fool. It’ll take more than one shot.”

Read More

In a previous post, I invented a categorization system for fiction based on its intent. I created three broad categories—Propaganda, Entertainment, and Art—and attempted to explain what they were.

Read More

Delete, cut, backspace, empty recycle bin. However it happens, deleting things is one of the most important and difficult parts of writing. Choosing to throw away a piece of work can often be like ripping off a band-aid, or in the worst cases, like putting down a pet. One of the most dangerous things an author can do is to never delete anything. This applies to everything from individual words to entire ideas and concepts.

Read More

One of the strange things about fanfiction is that its characters are premade. There is often no need to create original characters, because the show provides so many for authors to utilize. But all characters use the same building blocks. Writing a character in fanfiction is not that different from making characters of your own. For today’s post about writing, I’d like to discuss one of the fundamental building blocks of character: the archetype.

Read More

Immortality—or a functional equivalent—is one of those situations that presents an interesting challenge to writers. It has no real life equivalent, so writers have nothing to reference to give it verisimilitude. Like all unorthodox situations, the freedom available to writers is offset by the need to ground it in reality and consistency. How would one react to situations, how would they act, if they had lived for centuries or millenia? How would it affect their outlook? Or their emotions?

Read More

Welcome to my reading journal. A common piece of writing advice is that to become a better writer, one should read a lot. There is truth to this, of course, depending on what one reads. Every month, I’ll run down all the books I’ve read, in about 300 words apiece. These aren’t full-blown reviews, but hopefully there’s still some useful information buried in them.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Read More

For a breakdown of the format, don't forget to check the first entry.

Title: Of Angels
Author: PaulAsaran

Short summary: Angel Bunny learns to write from Twilight, for a reason that quickly becomes obvious. Told through letters/written conversations.

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

For today’s critique, I thought I would try something different. Rather than reading a new story, I took a story I had previously “reviewed” (by leaving a comment on it), and then rework that comment into a proper critique.

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Title: Red Apples
Author: billymorph

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Title: Painted Jack
Author: adcoon

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Title: The Joy Hive
Author: TheDriderPony

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Read More

Long time no blog. Been writing a lot, been busy with work. But I've still found time to read. And what better thing to blog about?

I recently finished Mistborn: The Final Empire, the first of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. I avoided it for a long time: as a fan of Sanderson's writing, and because of the sheer number of book in the series, I knew it would take up a lot of my time.

Read More

I go into every story hoping for something that will be worth commenting on. Unfortunately, not everything warrants prolonged critiquing. This is especially true of fanfiction, where many writers are still learning and improving. Here is a selection of reviews/critiques, in two sentences or less. All of these stories were found via the featured or popular boxes. Unlinked stories are rated M and are extremely NSFW: they may be found via the author links.

Read More

Review Index

Format Breakdown

Read More

I go into every story hoping for something that will be worth commenting at (great) length on. Unfortunately, not everything warrants prolonged critiquing. Here is a selection of reviews/critiques, in two sentences or less.

Read More

Titles are one of the most important parts of any work, in any medium. Titles are the first impression your story gives. When someone recommends a new book or movie to a friend, the title is the only universal part. The title requires conciseness, but must also hint at a lot of ideas and information.

Read More

Games are an important form of ancillary worldbuilding. They create verisimilitude by showing that characters do play games, but can also create a fundamental alien-ness. Think of the Dejarik from Star Wars or the 3D chess from Star Trek.

Read More