I love a good deep dive into a niche topic…
writing advice
Lesson from the film festival 4: a trope I think we should retire
We haven’t even made it through the submissions sent in for the early bird deadline and I have watched the same movie four times. Not because they were the same film submitted multiple times, but four films that each had nearly identical plots: a group of dysfunctional people must travel back to their hometown to…Read more
Deus ex Bullshit: Tragic characters don’t get happy endings
Okay, so I am back on the watch a bunch of movies and critically analyze them job and I am noticing what pearl-clutchers would call a Disturbing Trend. Over and over and over, I’m watching movies with a tragic narrative structure that flinch at the last second and try and give it a happy ending….Read more
Starbucks Writers
What day is it? I’m serious. Sometimes I am not really sure. I’m living in front of my computer screen, and it has this sort of Las Vegas casino effect. There are not any windows here. Is it daytime? Nighttime? I blink and it’s sunset… or sunrise? I’m a little bit afraid what effect this…Read more
Prepare Thyself: Plotting to Dominate the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge
Zero Draft Thirty is a fun, rewarding experience… until it isn’t. The easiest way to ensure that your ZD30 is a success is to plot everything out in advance. When you’re writing a large chunk of text over a long period, the burnout comes swift and it comes hard. Don’t try and make it more…Read more
If I don’t care about the character, the story is meaningless.
–Dean Koontz