Tag Archives: write

FIGHT ON!

HOW TO CREATE A BATTLE SEQUENCE

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For all the fantasy / thriller / sci-fi people out there, this post should be helpful — something to aid you in sorting out an intense battle sequence. If you’re anything like me, whenever I think about a large-scale fight, I tend to cringe. In fact, in The Pioneers Saga, there are several of such sequences, and there were times in my writing where I found myself skipping the fight scene so that I could get on to something that was a stronger writing point for me.

But after my escapism writing was done Continue reading →

A WORD-WIELDER

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HOW TO WRITE GREAT COPY

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Copy is something all self-publishers need to develop. In fact, I would even say that all writers need to have great copy. Unfortunately, developing this skill is tough, since the books about copy relate more specifically to marketing for business rather than for fiction.

And if you write fantasy and sci-fi…good luck honing that copy talent.

The task of presenting your work in a few short lines seems impossible. I mean, how are you supposed to reduce 100,000 words to 100 words? That’s a 1,000% reduction! Continue reading →

THE DREADED QUERY

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HOW TO WRITE A QUERY LETTER

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We are going to take a few threads and discuss the industry.

Writing a novel takes a lot of work, as we all know. We put so much time in the writing, the rewriting, the editing, the critiques, and…the rewriting. But once the work is done, we’re far from finished.
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WITH THE STRENGTH TO CARRY ON

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HOW TO CREATE A BORN HERO

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Some heroes are made, others are born into it. We are going to investigate the Born Hero today. Notice that we’re sticking with the Mariah Carey lyrics on this one too. Many writers look at this kind of hero as boring or out of date.

I would disagree. I think that this hero just needs to be crafted differently as time progresses. Superman used to be the kind of hero that people wanted to save the day. He had the power, so why not?

These days, we don’t really like people meddling in our business, unless we are under duress. Continue reading →

WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE HOPE IS GONE

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HOW TO CREATE THE UNEXPECTED HERO

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Looks like we’ll be sticking with the Mariah Carey song, “Hero.” There’s an amazing line that she uses in this song from so long ago: “When you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong. Then you’ll finally see the truth, that a hero lies in you.”

The unexpected hero is the one who would not under any circumstances ever want to be a hero or a heroine. She would say no to saving the world as emphatically as a fifth grader would say “No” to drugs.

These types of heroes are becoming more common in literature, because readers want to feel greater than ordinary, and let’s admit it, we writers want to feel the same way.

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EVIL. VILE. LIVE.

A MERE THOUGHT

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HOW TO CREATE A CONCEPTUAL VILLAIN

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The conceptual villain is a difficult antagonist to create. Why? Because the main is always fighting this metaphysical antagonist, but this villain cannot be seen. It is more felt than visualized. Even describing this kind of villain seems limited.

The most obvious conceptual villain is time. Time is often used to push the main forward through the mission. Movies where a bomb has been planted are good examples of the villain of time. Continue reading →

THE EVIL WITHIN

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HOW TO CREATE AN EVIL VILLAIN

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The most well-known villain type is the “evil for evil’s sake” bad guy. This villain has no motives for his evil. He wants to rule the world, and he wants to enslave all its inhabitants.

This type of antag is comical if you take him to his logical end because the question always arises, “What are you going to do if you do enslave the world?” That said, it doesn’t matter what’s next. The important thing is what’s happening right now.

The evil villain is seen most in epic fantasies since everyone knows that evil is bad. Of course we know of the Sith Lord, Darth Sideous from Star Wars. There’s Darken Rahl from The Sword of Truth. The list goes on with these scumbags. Continue reading →

VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE

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HOW TO CREATE A CIRCUMSTANTIAL VILLAIN

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Yesterday we talked about a Slippery Villain. Today we are going to look at the Circumstantial Villain. She’s the one who would not be a villain under most other situations, but it just so happens that the events that have taken place are the right conditions for her villainy to emerge.

This is the type of villain that we each embody in ourselves. Most of us are probably nice people who work hard to treat people as we want to be treated. But, under certain conditions, that niceness would go away, if only for a moment. Continue reading →

SLIPPERY WHEN WET

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HOW TO CREATE A SLIPPERY VILLAIN

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What type of villain are you creating? There are several types, and we are going to take a few days to explore these feats of villainy.

This post will be about the slippery villain. This villain is like a fish that you just can’t keep your hands on. He’s a villain by circumstance, and it only makes you hate him more. Continue reading →