Category: Writing

The Antihero

I’ve always loved the antihero character archetype. To me, the least interesting character has always been the main hero, the good guy, the knight in shining armor. All too often the good guy is the same basic formula; A naive individual called upon to take up a weapon (either literal or metaphorical) and go on a quest to vanquish evil. Throughout this quest s/he … Read More The Antihero

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Memorable Quotes

I have two quotes I’d like to share with you today. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our current political climate in the United States, the Trek Against Trump disgrace, and a lot of my writing. Every time I think about the huge mess that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, I hearken back to when I was a child and … Read More Memorable Quotes

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A Writer in Need.

Hi Jim. I have always wanted to share stories as I have so many in my head constantly, but all I want to do is write some and get feedback as to whether I should go for it or not. Any suggestions as to where I could post something? Please note I work so time is limited sometimes. -Maria nunes Hi Maria, Great question. … Read More A Writer in Need.

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Collaboration Gone Bad

Hi there! I saw your link on twitter and wanted to ask you a quick question. So I’ve been working with this friend on a political drama. Unfortunately we can never see eye to eye on anything. He’s a hard-left Liberal and I’m a fairly moderate Republican… or at least I try to be. Anyway, my problem is that we’re trying to write about … Read More Collaboration Gone Bad

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Just Start Over…

Hi Jim, I’m in a major bind… I was working on my latest piece. I’d been working on it for days and… forgot to save it. I was about 140 pages in and suddenly my computer blue-screened. I’ve lost everything and Word didn’t auto-save it. I’m not sure of what to do now. I feel like having to start from scratch is a fairly … Read More Just Start Over…

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Alternate Universe?

Hi Jim, I hope you don’t mind, but I saw your posts about asking a question and thought I’d shoot you an email. I saw from your other posts that you think using an alternate universe is poor story telling. I wanted to write a sequel to one of my books, but essentially it would be going back and exploring what would have happened … Read More Alternate Universe?

Schadenfreude is NOT Scary!

I’ve been a huge horror movie fan for a while, but there is one thing that always irked me about a certain ongoing trend in them. I was going to ignore it until I noticed that it was happening in suspense/thriller novels as well. Here’s the deal, everyone has seen these movies. The story starts off with a group of people. These people are … Read More Schadenfreude is NOT Scary!

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Writing Strong Women

Hi Jim, I’ve read a couple of your books and have a question for you… I’ve noticed in your books that you write some pretty tough girls! It seems like you put more effort into the heroines than the heroes. I was wondering if you were a feminist? Thanks, Kelly Ugh… you know I try to avoid taking sides or being labelled one way … Read More Writing Strong Women

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Internet Trolls…

Hi Jim, I’ve been writing for a while, mostly posting my stories on here, but also on Amazon Kindle. Unfortunately as of late, I’ve been getting a lot of rude comments and bad reviews left of my material that I’m pretty certain come from people who didn’t actually read my stories. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I also … Read More Internet Trolls…

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Why Does Preachy/Safe Book and Movie Writing Fail So Badly?

Okay… I’m going to try to put a stop to this, because my focus on movie writing lately has taken my blog WAY off topic, almost to the point of Hollywood Advocacy, and it needs to stop. So hopefully this will be the end of it. However, there were some things that I needed to get off of my chest about the effects of … Read More Why Does Preachy/Safe Book and Movie Writing Fail So Badly?

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Character Profiles: The Vengeance Doctrine

Mary Kelly:  Age: (Exact Age Unknown) Apprx. 153 Years Place of Birth: Ireland Power(s): Stealth, Inhuman Speed, Night vision Weapon: Any blade, though usually utilizes a Japanese Kodachi. History/Profile: Not much is known about Mary other than she had a fairly tough life. She doesn’t discuss her origins with anyone on the team. Only Mike knows the truth about her past. She is a … Read More Character Profiles: The Vengeance Doctrine

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Why do we cater to Political Correctness in our Writing?

This is something I’ve seen, not only in writing, but also movie-making, and comic books. It’s something I can say that I’m guilty of as well. What do I mean when I say we cater to the PC (Politically Correct) crowd? Well… honestly, we spend a lot of time concerned with the ethnicity of our characters, who get’s killed off and/or who gets center … Read More Why do we cater to Political Correctness in our Writing?