Category: Writing

LK LohanLeave a comment

Better Living through Characters

I’ve been immersed in my story world for such a long time now that in some ways it feels more real than the real world. The characters, though, aren’t old friends. Well, some of them are. Others, though, are a part of me. Or, rather, parts of them are parts of me. Some of their traits and attitudes and idiosyncrasies are lifted from my own experience. And this is where it gets interesting: At the intersection of fiction and life. Your own gut reaction to any situation you put your characters in tells a story about your own… well… character, Read More …

LK LohanLeave a comment

Productive Procrastination

I’m currently in a slump. The writing just doesn’t want to flow. I’m fumbling my way through possible plot twists, and they all propel the story forward – straight off a cliff. That’s the trouble with us discovery writers. We need to write in order to find out what happens next, and sometimes what happens next is just not very interesting. It’s not like it’s the first time this has ever happened to me, and I’ve always found a way out of the slump. I know that I will this time, too. I trust the process. Sooner or later, the Read More …

LK LohanLeave a comment

Gratuitous

While I was deep into last week’s musings on magic, free-writing got me off on a tangent, as it tends to do. This tangent had me think about elements of fantasy and other speculative fiction that can easily become gratuitous. The word “gratuitous” – usually followed by “sex” and/or “violence” – is often associated with yet another installment of the latest blockbuster movie or video game franchise. Followed by a rant about how it’s responsible for the Corruption of Our Children. While that theory has largely been debunked (and to some extent replaced by casting social media in the same Read More …

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World-building through Magic

I recently listened to a panel of speculative fiction authors trying to define the concept of magic. They gave specific examples of what did or did not, in their opinion, constitute magic, but they were struggling to come up with a definition that they could all agree on. Nobody actually said it, but in the end it sounded much like a case of “you’ll know it when you see it”. So this got me to thinking. How would I define “magic” if asked the question? A Definition of Magic Really, if you reduce it to its very essence, magic is Read More …

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World-building through Conflict

Food and shelter are all well and good, but on the story stage, there’s one need that rules them all. The need for safety and security. Just as in real life, almost nobody wants to get killed or maimed or robbed or even inconvenienced. But put several people into a room, or several countries or other entities on a map, and chances are that what one does to ensure their own safety and security will infringe on those of their neighbors. And vice versa. And there you have it: Conflict. As everyone who’s ever taken a writing class knows, conflict Read More …