by Jim
“It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Zahir How long can you continue a story before it has to come to an end? It’s a tough question … Read More All Things Must End
+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, violence, Writing
by Jim
“Hey, I’m curious… I’m starting a new story and I was wondering how far you can take things? Like do you have any opinion on how dark you make subjects? Would you write about murder, rape, torture, etc, and would you limit how much detail or what goes on? At what point does it go too far?” -(Asked to remain anonymous) Well reader, it … Read More How Far is Too Far?
+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, Writing
by Jim
“…They say that horror comes from the uncanny. The evil things lurking in the backs of our minds. Those creatures seldom compare to the torments that insecurity and shyness impose upon their respective victims, do they?” -Bad Nog Hi Bad Nog, Phew… quite a loaded question. Now we’re getting into the psychology of evil. Are their demons worse than the ones they inflict? Well … Read More Horror Roots
by Jim
Hello all, so as time goes on, my advice blog is getting bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, as with all things, you run out of topics to give advice on. If anyone has any questions about writing, publishing, my stories, etc. etc. please feel free to post a comment or email me at jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com . I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post. … Read More Need advice on a certain topic?
+ 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
by Jim
I know that this is slightly off-top for me, but I really couldn’t resist… Let me preface this by saying that I love comic book art. I have original pieces from Alex Savuik, Pop Mhan, and Zeke Savory Jr. I’d just like to say that whomever came up with the idea to print blank cover variants of popular books is a genius! So as … Read More Fantasy Art, Chrissie Zullo
by Jim
So is it possible to ethically write characters or circumstances that go against your personal beliefs, code of honor, and/or standards? It’s not an easy thing to do, for sure, but to a point, I’d say yes. Allow me to provide an example: In college, I took classes dealing with European Socialism and Fascism. In one of the classes, we were asked to recreate … Read More Going Against Your Beliefs.
by Jim
So… one thing I’ve always struggled with is how long each chapter should be. A few paragraphs, a few pages, what? The definition from Webster: Full Definition of CHAPTER 1 a : a main division of a book b : something resembling a chapter in being a significant specified unit <a new chapter in my life> 2 a : a regular meeting of the … Read More Author Advice Pt. 12
+ 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
+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, bad guy, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, evil, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, traitor, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, villain, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
So you’ve written your story. Your characters are beloved, not only to you, but also your reading audience. Well now you’re writing the next part in your series and are ready to do the unthinkable… You’re going to have one of the characters turn on the others. One of your main good guys is now to become a villain and not just a villain, … Read More The Traitorous Main Character
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, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, awful, bad, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, bully, Characters, chase, Children, christianity, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, demon, desire, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Help, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, Judaism, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Loreena Mckennitt, Lost, Love Never Dies, Magnifica, Mary Poppins, mean, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, obsession, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics, prejudice, Princess, psa, Psychological, Psychology, Publishing, Q&A, Question, racism, Religion, responsability, Rock, Romance, rules, Science Fiction, Script, second amendment, Sequel, The Mummer's Dance, The NeverEnding Story, thriller, True Story, Update, Urban Fantasy, Van Canto, video games, Walt Disney, Worst, Writing
by Jim
Can I just ask… what the heck happened? When I first published my work, I got a lot of comments from readers, both positive and negative. Divinity in particular got positive and negative comments from die-hard Christians and atheists, and I don’t understand the negativity. I certainly can’t speak for the rest of the world, so if it’s different outside of the U.S. PLEASE … Read More Free Exchange of Ideas…
James Harringtons Creative Work 