PHOTO by Filip Mroz at Unsplash If you walk into any bookstore you will find things shelved and classified according to rigorous criteria. Cookbooks, hither, not to be confused with…Continue readingA back door into magic
A few years back, a blog called ‘Universal Historicals’ interviewed me and asked some of the most interesting questions I’ve ever been asked. Some excerpts: What’s the one thing that…Continue readingInside a writer’s mind
Photo by Matthew Payne at Unsplash First drafts are supposed to be awful. That’s what they are for. You simply give yourself the permission necessary to write badly if you…Continue readingThe art of rewriting
Part 1: The Five W’s and a H Before reporting became a dying craft, every newbie was taught that a news story had to answer five fundamental questions: Who, What,…Continue readingHow do you build a world?
Because they’re in love. Because in their best judgment making a certain choice seems to be the right thing to do and they only find out otherwise much later that…Continue readingWhy do protagonists do stupid things?
Love is one of the guiding principles of the human condition. Things have been done in the name of love – both great things and evil things – that defy…Continue readingWhy do characters love?
Protagonists are all very well. You pick a central character, you get into their head, you understand his or her point of view. That protagonist is by very definition the…Continue readingWhy are villains so much fun?
“Dune” did it to incredible effect. Asimov’s Foundation series did it beautifully. There are other books where this was used to enhance and deepen the worldbuilding. I am talking about…Continue readingWhy epigraphs?
Fictional liars The Unreliable Narrator is a character who tells the reader a story which cannot be entirely trusted, or taken at face value. The narrator might be deliberately deceptive,…Continue readingWhy do characters lie?
Most Western readers have a peculiar blind spot in the historical tapestry of European history. The Empire of Byzantium. There’s the Glory Of Rome, and then there’s the Middle Ages.…Continue readingA love story retold