Should fiction writers join a writing group?
What is a writing group?
A writing group is a gathering of people for the purpose of critiquing each other’s writing. This is a fairly common practice among beginning fiction writers, but other writers can learn from it, too. Writing groups can be as small as a few people or they can be as large as 20 or so, but my thinking is anything beyond that becomes unwieldy.
Jim Moreno live chats with Nerdarchy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhNiw4u9KLw&w=560&h=315]
Want to know what it takes to be a writer covering nerd culture? Nerdarchist Dave welcomed journalist and writer Jim Moreno to the Daily Live Chat #41 at Nerdarchy’s YouTube channel to talk about his journey to becoming a professional writer and share tips and advice for aspiring writers.
Write, but don’t expect to learn it from others
Other people can't teach you to write. Even the greatest writers of all time can't teach you to write. Shakespeare? No. Stephen King? No. Hemingway? Not a chance. They can offer advice. They can let you know what works for them. But the truth is, what works...
World Building in Dune
Hey guys, Professor Bill of Comic Book University here, and I really want to thank everyone who commented and contributed to my last two articles. That says a lot about your love for the Open Legend content and the campaign.
This week I just want to chillax a little and talk about Dune, my hands down favorite sci-fi story ever.
Improve Your Writing by Forgetting About It
You’ve just finished writing your book or article or poem or what-have-you. You’re ready to plunge into editing and rewriting.
But hold on a second. Unless you’re on a tight deadline, it’s probably best to set aside your recent writing project for a while. Why? So you can come to the words on the page or screen with fresh eyes.
Once upon a time, book stores were like treasure maps
In today's world, readers can find just about any book they want. If a particular book, fiction or non-fiction, is not available at one of your local book stores, you can always head online. The most obvious place online to find a book is Amazon, but...
Blast from the Past: The Book of Swords Series
The man behind the books
Author Fred Saberhagen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Author Fred Saberhagen (1930-2007) must have been a busy person. Not only was he the creator of the Berserker series of science fiction tales, the Dracula sequence of novels, the Books of the Gods series, and a number of video games, but he was also the man responsible for The Book of Swords series which consisted of 11 novels. He even wrote another trilogy, collectively known as Empire of the East, which was vaguely related to The Book of Swords due to the events happening in the same world as The Book of Swords but thousands of years earlier.
DMing a Killer Mystery Arc in D&D
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mysteries are one of my favorite things in tabletops. It’s like a big puzzle to solve, but with talking to people and assessing their motives. Sometimes there’s even a little larceny involved. I have to admit, I’m a fan. Then again, I have to be, I write mystery novels.
In D&D, mysteries can be really difficult to run with spells in the game like “Detect Thoughts” and “Zone of Truth.” The thing is, the characters have to know whose mind to read before they can be effective with either of these things, and even the highest level wizard can only do it so many times a day.
Fantasy writers deserve not to be pigeonholed
The Pillars of the Earth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Writers of history
A while back I was in an online forum filled with fellow writers. The majority of writers and authors on the site were thriller and romance writers … the “acceptable” genres.
While there I noticed a posting about historical fiction, asking what are some favorite historical novels and short stories. I started salivating because I could think of tons of historical fiction books and tales I love. Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove comes to mind, as does Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series. James Clavell’s Shogun is also a favorite, as are Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind and Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. I also thought of Steven Pressfield’s Gates of Fire novel and Louis L’Amour’s The Walking Drum. Just about anything written by Alexandre Dumas springs to my mind as a favorite.
Is fiction writing the last unexplored frontier?
Once upon a time, just about anyone could be an explorer. Little more than a hundred years ago, there were still places on this Earth which had not been reached, or had been reached by very few. In those days, just about any man or woman could set out to trek off into unknown territories. True, major expeditions were funded by governments or business interests, as they are today, but the average person could still sign up with such groups or with a minimum of money set out on their own.
High fantasy vs. Sword & Sorcery: Basics of fantasy literature
J.R.R. Tolkien
A brief look at fantasy
During the last century, numerous authors and editors and fantasy fiction fans have pondered the different sub-genres of fantasy literature. Today the numerous sub-genres come in many shades, but there was a time not so long ago when the majority of fantasy literature was less diverse.
So you know fantasy literature? Prove it with this quiz
Have you read plenty of fantasy literature over the years? Do you think you know your stuff? If so, take the quiz below to find out just how much you really know or don’t know. And don’t worry, as you can find the quiz answers here.
Fantasy Literature Quiz Answers
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For the original quiz, check out this link.
- A ring
- The Gray Mouser
- 1923
- The Sword of Shannara
- Author Ursula K. Le Guin
- Seven
- Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
- Cimmeria
- A butterfly
- The Knights of Solamnia, or The Solomnic Knights
- A giant turtle named Great A’Tuin
- Kahlan Amnell
- Florida
- Technically seven, though there are more lands than the Seven Kingdoms within Westeros
- The Creator
- Dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden
- Wednesday’s glass eye
- Azoth, eventually known as Kylar Stern
- The Golden Compass
- Twelve
- Assassin
- The Oath of Peace
- Tad Williams
- Magician
- Garion
- Stormbringer
- Fuchsia Groan
- Lirazel, the King of Elfland’s daughter
- Urban fantasy
- Mercury
