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Novel-writing advice, or: How to procrastinate

On some days, all I do while “writing” is to google how other people write, and then call it research. Of course I get nothing done, apart from discouraging myself. There’s a wealth of sites out there that tell you to read this book or another book,...

Where villains come from

I suspect some writers breed them in a dungeon below the privy. Or have a hive of them somewhere in the woods near a creepy cabin. It’s amazing what evil villains some authors can come up with! (Insert envy here…) Mine almost always start their life as a...

Inspiration in unlikely places

Sometimes I have days where I have no inspiration at all. I kinda know where I want my story to go, but getting there seems like a drag. A bit like commuting to work. Even though I enjoy my day job, sitting on the commuter train on the way to or from the city is a...

Accidental Race Creation

I’ve been busy world building again. This time, I didn’t even mean to (honest!), it just happened. I was writing away happily on the spice trader stories (which still don’t have a proper working title), when I quickly needed a character in a hurry....

Ooops! (How not to kill your protagonist)

A hero who never gets into any trouble isn’t a hero, but a couch potato. And nobody wants to read about a lazy sod who doesn’t do anything. The whole reason we’re telling THIS story and not another one is BECAUSE he gets into trouble. Then again, he...