+ advice, Author, Characters, fantasy, Science Fiction, write, Writing
by Jim
Choosing to write characters that you hate into your story is a very bad idea. In a previous posting I talked about how you have to step outside of your comfort zone and often write a character that has views contrary to your own. Indeed this is a very good way of creating relate-able characters and keeping a dynamic story line going. However, that … Read More Author’s Advice pt. 14
+ advice, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Belief, Book, Characters, chase, demon, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy
by Jim
Don’t be afraid to mix and merge. So you have a fairly successful series going, but now you’re experiencing writers block. You have fragments of two or three sequels written, but don’t know where to take them. You’ve even considered starting on a third, but haven’t gotten anywhere with it. You really like the first two and would love to continue one of them, … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 11
by Jim
It’s NEVER too late to start over. Are you working on a piece you’ve just lost all love for? Are you writing something that you really didn’t want to write in the first place? Do you really not care whether your newest piece get’s done or not? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, STOP! Close out of what your writing … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 10
+ advice, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Belief, Book, Characters, Children, Directing, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction
by Jim
Exposition is out of style and no one likes it. This is my personal opinion based on what I’ve seen from my readers, as well as myself. There is no bigger turnoff to reading than seeing a huge, page-long, paragraph describing a person, place, or thing. I understand that sometimes they are needed and you do need to break up dialogue and action scenes, … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 9
+ advice, angels, Artist, Barack Obama, Belief, Book, Characters, conservative, Cover, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction, George Bush, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, liberal, literature, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Novel, Opinion, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, racism
by Jim
Leave the politics at the door. I was initially hesitant about writing this one, running the risk of being ironic, so I’ll apologize in advance if any of my own political beliefs make their way into this post (I am trying hard to prevent it!) Now what do I mean by this? Well put it this way… have you ever gone to see a … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 6
+ advice, angels, Artist, Barack Obama, Belief, Book, Characters, conservative, Cover, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction, George Bush, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, liberal, literature, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Novel, Opinion, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, racism
by Jim
Leave the politics at the door. I was initially hesitant about writing this one, running the risk of being ironic, so I’ll apologize in advance if any of my own political beliefs make their way into this post (I am trying hard to prevent it!) Now what do I mean by this? Well put it this way… have you ever gone to see a … Read More Author’s Advice Pt. 6
+ advice, Artist, Belief, Book, Characters, Cover, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inspiration, literature, Novel, Opinion, Poetry, Romance, rules, Script, thriller, True Story, Uncategorized, Urban Fantasy, Worst, Writing
by Jim
Rules of grammar and spelling… I have a feeling that this one will get me a few rolled eyes, but we all remember or… partially recall studying where to place comma’s, how to punctuate, and how to spell. This is all stuff we know. However, are those rules solid? Must they always be followed? Absolutely not! You’re going to find in your writing that, … Read More Author Advice Pt 4
+ advice, angels, Artist, Belief, Book, Characters, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, horror, Inspiration
by Jim
Rewrites are our friends. I know, it’s hard. You’ve just spent days, if not weeks getting your story down on a piece of paper or into a Word file. You’ve worked hard on it, but something just isn’t right. It doesn’t flow and no matter how many times you change things in the story, it still doesn’t work. Now you’re thinking, maybe I should … Read More Author Advice Pt. 3
+ advice, Artist, Belief, Book, Characters, Fiction, Inspiration, Music, Poetry
by Jim
Many will say to write alone in complete silence. I would say definitely alone so that you’re not distracted, but complete silence? Try that and then turn on some music that you absolutely love, something well orchestrated like either classical or Epic Metal, or something like that. When you hit a creative wall or can’t choose the correct words, stop for a moment. Flick … Read More Author Advice Pt. 2
by Jim
Hey Jim, I was just wondering how you come up with your character descriptions? I’m trying to accurately describe my character, but sometimes it can be hard to figure out exactly how I want them to look, you know? Thanks, Gerraid Hi Gerraid, All too well, I’m afraid. It can be tough figuring out what your character looks like. If you create the … Read More Character Descriptions
+ advice, Artist, Book, Characters, Cover, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, Inspiration, literature, Novel, Opinion, rules, Writing
by Jim
The best advice I can give to any new authors out there is probably going to surprise everyone: Completely disregard what your potential audience may want. Yup, you read that right. I’m giving you permission to be completely selfish with your writing, because it’s just that; YOUR WRITING! The characters you create are yours, the world you set them in are yours, you are … Read More Author’s Advice (Part 1)
+ Book, Characters, Dean Koontz, Fiction, horror, literature, thriller, Writing
by Jim
What you mean besides the ones I write? Just kidding! That’s… a tough call to be honest. I’m very picky about the things I read and often restrict myself to Fantasy/Folklore and Sci-Fi. My collection includes things like the Elder Edda, Hrolf Kraki’s Saga, The Frithiof Saga, and a lot of Tolkien. However if I had to choose a favorite out of everything I’ve … Read More Favorite Story?
James Harringtons Creative Work 