Michael Cunliffe once said to me "I’d be very interested in a post about whether (or how to) use mechanics to suit setting in RPGs – how do you use dice rolls to provide not only dramatic, but thematic effect for players." And I obey. I’ve had an informal maxim in my head for years [...]
Last time I ended up with a shitty first draft. And it was shitty — I changed my mind in the middle of the story twice, I didn’t like the name of one of the characters after I typed it out a dozen times, and overall the whole thing was a mess. So now it [...]
Last time, I talked about outlining the story. From there, I started on my shitty first draft. (Note: Get used to the word “shitty.” It comes up a lot.) To be clear, I intentionally call this a shitty first draft. That first draft is paralyzing — the act of pure creation is terrifying, and many [...]
One thing I haven’t done on my blog is go through the process of creating fiction, from start to finish. Since I’m in the middle of a short story, I thought it would be a good time to correct that oversight. This is my contribution to Tales of the Far West, an anthology for the [...]
(Thanks to Genevieve for suggesting this topic.) I have ranted about this topic before, but there’s a specific slice of it that I haven’t really talked about. It’s common writing wisdom that you should follow the publisher’s submission guidelines (and it’s usually the first thing I tell people when they ask me for one piece [...]
The past week of discussion on Vampire 20th Anniversary Edition reminded me of this topic, but I’ve been meaning to talk about it for a while now. I’m certainly no stranger to debate and discussion. I don’t have any formal training in debate – I can’t tell you what the Latin for “I called you [...]
Before I dive into this, let me preface: editing and criticism are essential to being a professional writer. I don’t care if you think your words are the best thing since 8-bit graphics, there is nothing that can’t be improved by a critical review. Let me give you a moment if you think that doesn’t [...]