Back in English 318 at BYU, Brandon Sanderson used to tell us that there was a big difference between “little-p plot” and “big-p Plot.” The first applies mostly to chapters and scenes, which he said he could teach us. The second refers to the overall story structure, which he couldn’t teach in a classroom setting… Continue reading plot vs. PLOT and an interesting serial publishing idea
Tag: Thoughts and Reflections
Torn between projects and some new thoughts on the creative process
So I have a confession to make: a couple of days ago, when I was in something of a rough spot with my current novel, Stars of Blood and Glory, I had this overwhelming urge to go back and revisit Star Wanderers. In two days, I went through everything I’d written up to the point where… Continue reading Torn between projects and some new thoughts on the creative process
The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
AL MUSTAFA the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielol, the month of… Continue reading The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
Trope Tuesday: New Year Has Come
Just like a story, every year has a beginning and an end. For this reason, New Years has become a time to celebrate change, renewal, and the setting of impossible goals which we will all probably break by March. Over time, this tradition has become so ingrained in our culture that it’s only natural for… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: New Year Has Come
Trope Tuesday: Celibate Hero vs. The Fettered
I’m mashing up two tropes this week because I’m not satisfied with the one. There are a bazillion tropes about characters who are sexually active, but very few about sexually chaste characters that don’t portray them as weak, clueless, or socially inept. According to tvtropes, a celibate hero is a main character who “doesn’t do… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Celibate Hero vs. The Fettered
Desert Stars is now published!
Desert Stars, my third novel (and second in the Gaia Nova series), is now available as an independently published ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Within the next couple of weeks, it’ll be available through Kobo, iTunes, Diesel, Sony, and Xinxii as well. It’s been a long journey, and I’m thrilled to finally… Continue reading Desert Stars is now published!
Climbing the 10k mountain
I recently read an amazing blog post by Rachel Aaron, in which she explains how she went from writing about 2k words per day (about what I’m doing) to routinely breaking 10k. This is something I really want to do with my own writing. As I noted a couple of weeks ago, I need to… Continue reading Climbing the 10k mountain
Why I won’t be signing up for KDP Select
In the last couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of discussion about Amazon’s new Lending Library program. Just a few days ago, Amazon opened it up to indie writers with the KDP Select program. By signing up, writers gain access to Amazon Prime members (US only), where readers can borrow the book for free… Continue reading Why I won’t be signing up for KDP Select
Thoughts on kickstarter
So as many of you know, I ran a kickstarter campaign as an experiment to see if I could raise enough money to fund my next release, Desert Stars. Over the course of the month, about a dozen people pledged over $300, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to meet the goal. First of all, I… Continue reading Thoughts on kickstarter
Picking up the pace
I’m writing this post from somewhere in Iowa, riding the California Zephyr from Chicago to Salt Lake City. Since I hate sleeping on the train, I figured now is as good a time as any to write a blog post. One of the good things about traveling by train is that you have lots of… Continue reading Picking up the pace