Recent content by Chasejxyz

As everything is with writing, it depends. If a good white guy defeats a bad Chinese guy, that in itself is not the issue. But if the Chinese guy is the CEO of a giant mega-congolomerate that wants to take over the world because you are just using the laziest tropes available in your cyberpunk...

In one project there's teas which magic users drink as a restorative. But none of my POV characters know what any of it is, so lots of "he drank it but he had no idea what's in it" lol. When it is mentioned, it's very obvious stuff, like sugar or peppermint, cause magic overuse can mess up your...

Lol that's not how evolving works. "Evolution" is the changing of genetics across a broad population due to external environmental pressures. Humans getting more body hair and fat because the world grows colder is evolution. Humans destroying all computers because they're Evil is a major...

Both are good, it just depends on the type of story and types of characters. For example, in a death game or man vs nature-type story, the goal is static, "get out of here and not die." In Heavy Rain there's the primary goal (save your son) and secondary goal (not die) but as the story goes on...

It's more than just that. Harry being pro-slavery has always skeeved me out since first reading it as a child, plus the whole "werewolves are a metaphor for AIDs!" falls apart as soon as you think about it. And the whole hook-nosed goblins being the bankers thing is pretty uhhhhhhhhhhhh not good...

So there are two kinds of publishing, which other people are acting as if they're the same. TRADE PUBLISHERS are Penguin, Harper Collins, etc. They do all the hard work of getting the manuscript you wrote into a product onto a shelf. You do not pay them anything, all the money moves to you. But...

Rowling is not a good writer, nor a good person. Do not look to her for inspiration or guidance on how to handle things with sensitivity and grace, cause she sure as hell doesn't.

Something that I draw on time and again in my world building is the history of scientific understanding. We used to believe the Earth was flat (and some people still do) and there's all these crazy theories as to WHY things like the seasons happen. So why not just....take those explanations? Let...

Writing was Not Good for me for a really long time, but that was because I was un/under medicated for a lot of things and my life was just not in a good place. It also didn't help that I was comparing myself to others and everything I made didn't feel good enough. But once I stopped writing with...

Stop using the term "mixed," first off, it's a very old fashioned term and comes off as really Gross (the whole concept of "race mixing" is white supremacist, and that's not the kind of thing you want people to think about when reading your story). Having only the PoC have magical powers...

Okay, now, imagine yourself as a customer. You want to buy a new book to read and put it on your, say, Kindle or Kobo. How are you going to buy that? Well, you're going to go to the Kindle Store or Kobo Store and browse around. And this isnice, because whatever you buy will automatically go on...

Dying is a trope in how eating is a trope. It's just a thing that happens. It in itself is not a trope, as a trope needs to be more specific. The love interest dying and motivating the protagonist is a trope, or the wise old mentor sacrificing himself for the hero is a trope. All stories are...

I'm 90% sure you've asked this exact question before. And look! The forum is even showing me that, too. So why are you asking us again?

Hi, my day job is working for an online book retailer. And let me tell you, you don't want to do this! Are you ready, willing, and able to buy a ton of books ahead of time, have them sit in a dry room in your house for months at a time, along with all the materials for packaging and shipping...

I'm gonna jump in before someone inevitably says it - honestly, do not watch the Brandon Sanderson video series, especially about "hard" and "soft" magic. I've found it does more harm than good because it gets people believing that you HAVE to make your magic system one or the other, that you...