Craft

The river rushes fast. It’s not just sink or swim, it’s go with the flow. For authors these days, it seems like all the advice out there preaches success through conformity. The strategy is simple: pick a popular genre and mimic the format of the bestsellers. This means copying the themes, situations, and character arcs […]

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Most myths have some foundation in truth, and this one is no exception. The thinking goes like this: However long it takes to write a book, knock it out and start the next one. Time spent iterating on second and third drafts is a waste. You could spend forever improving your book (or any art) […]

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I have nothing against the white wizard of light battling against the ancient lumbering darkness, but these days conflicts need to be more sophisticated than that. Threesomes are Complicated One sure-fire way to mix things up is to add a third party. An outlaw wants to free his friend from jail and the sheriff wants […]

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As a kid, I remember watching An American Werewolf in London for the first time. The movie features an amazing transformation scene. It is a comedy yet is still horrifying, especially in 1981. That same year, The Howling and Wolfen were also released. Somewhere along the journey from then to now, werewolves became pigeonholed. Instead […]

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It’s well-known advice for self-publishers to write books in a series. The reasoning is simple. If one book of a trilogy sells, they all will. Running an ad and taking a loss on one can still be profitable on sequels. And of course, book one can be permafree. However, the familiarity of sequels runs deeper […]

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Welcome to the FINAL INSTALLMENT of my series on Pixar’s now-famous 22 Rules of Storytelling. I don’t religiously follow all of these like they’re story commandments, but I do happen to agree with many of them. I thought it might be fun to examine why and explain what each means to me. You can start […]

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Welcome to my series on Pixar’s now-famous 22 Rules of Storytelling. I don’t religiously follow all of these like they’re story commandments, but I do happen to agree with many of them. I thought it might be fun to examine why and explain what each means to me. You can start at the beginning here. […]

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Welcome to my series on Pixar’s now-famous 22 Rules of Storytelling. I don’t religiously follow all of these like they’re story commandments, but I do happen to agree with many of them. I thought it might be fun to examine why and explain what each means to me. You can start at the beginning here. […]

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Welcome to my series on Pixar’s now-famous 22 Rules of Storytelling. I don’t religiously follow all of these like they’re story commandments, but I do happen to agree with many of them. I thought it might be fun to examine why and explain what each means to me. You can start at the beginning here. […]

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Welcome to my series on Pixar’s now-famous 22 Rules of Storytelling. I don’t religiously follow all of these like they’re story commandments, but I do happen to agree with many of them. I thought it might be fun to examine why and explain what each means to me. You can start at the beginning here. […]

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