What is so Exciting About the Inciting Incident?
I’ve got about a dozen unfinished stories. When I look back to see why I gave up on the story (sometimes mid-sentence), I discovered most of them died out around chapter three. I was shocked. What was so hard about chapter three? Why would I give up so easily? As I read through the first […]
How Not to Write the Opening Scene of Your Fantasy Book
“The Village of Gorgenon, near Alphigaz, floated above the Hoovah as the Pinkletons swam by. As long ago as eleventy Kikes, had the Moopahs overtaken the Quillerton valley. And now, seventeen-five Kikes later, Cocoyaks were bubbling under the surface.” Before you google who wrote that awful opening line, I’ll confess: it was me. I made […]
How to Use ChatGPT (the Write Way)
Writing a novel with ChatGPT is exhausting. I should know, for I just spent the last few months doing so. But that’s for another blog post. Today, I want to talk about how people are using ChatGPT the wrong way. If you ask ChatGPT to write you a novel, it will likely say something along […]
Don’t be Original.
“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9 HCSB).” As a writer, I find this passage extremely depressing. Not only does it rhyme like a pessimist’s Dr. Seuss, but it also means no matter how hard I […]