Recent content by Plinto

Got any book recommendations for medieval fantasy authors who succeeded at what you're talking about?

I intentionally write characters with less desirable physical traits because that's what has been true for me. So many of my greatest friends, and the most interesting people I've ever met, have been kind of weird looking. Most of my favorite writers have very unique faces that you probably...

If you're describing their appearance, it should generally be a means of characterization and moving the story forward. You don't describe a warrior's armor, for instance, just for the sake of it. You show it to indicate their class, their experience, their wealth, etc. And only if those details...

Yeah that's the general consensus of many NDE'ers. Thanks anyway. Lookin forward to dyin someday.

l Lets hear about that NDE if you don't mind. Here or in another thread or whatever. Our household has been learning about them of late. Had to ask. Totally understand if you don't wanna though.

Same way you teach yourself to do anything consistently: go at it like its a necessary part of your day. Same way you make breakfast, wash dishes, fold laundry. Set an alarm, or some other kind of reminder, and when its time for you to write, you honor it. You do it even when you don't want to...

I've found ChatGPT very useful for creating D&D Campaigns and organizing its information. Honestly its amazing for that. Ask it to come up with descriptions of characters, backstories, rules questions, random encounters, more complex level-based encounters and custom monsters based on the world...

Music by a lady named Jasinka. Working on a game soundtrack. She's done most of it by herself. This one's currently carrying me through the autumn:

Well, I definitely have to remind myself not to judge my first drafts at all. I have a bad habit of criticizing while writing. So when I hear that little voice going, "Man this is bad. This is just bad writing," I have to blow the internal air horn and shout, "First draft!" I also try to remind...

I'm not into the marketing aspect yet, but my wife and I have discussed options for the future, and one thing that constantly comes up is BookTok. Its like a subcommunity on Tik Tok where people promote their work in authentic ways. Instagram seems pretty straightforward, but in terms of...

I've won Nanowrimo twice in several attempts and learned that it is an unsustainable process for me. I'm more of a 25-minute-session kinda guy. Lately been working up to an hour, daily. Word count inconsequential. If I write one good novel in my lifetime I'll be satisfied. What I will say for...

If you were ever to come back to games, there's a new series called Xenonauts that is the spiritual successor to the old XCOM. They just released Xenonauts 2 in an early access state and its quite good.

If you don't play video games, gods bless you and please refrain from participating here. If you're a writer who DOES play video games, what's your favorite kind? What game are you absolutely obsessed with? I'll start: I'm obsessed with tactics games. Battle Brothers, XCOM, etc. I'm also...

I've had this thing for the past thirteen years or so which I call "dream fragments." At any given point during the day I will suddenly remember a random dream I had years and years ago. Not even a full dream, just bits of visuals. Always a different dream. And I never really know how old the...

Yes indeed. Two similar but different schools of magic, there. I consume lore from both schools. Hoping I'll end up in some happy middle of having honed my craft and written best sellers. That's probably too ambitious though. I'd really just be happy with "He finished a novel before he died."