Recent content by Prince of Spires

Just as a completely off topic remark, but Business as Usual in the Ash Heap sounds like a kick-ass book title for a Sci-Fi novel. Someone should write it. I'd read it just for the title alone :)

Pretty much this I think. If you're unsure, then you can always check with a mod before posting. And you can always add a content warning at the top of the post (though this isn't a way to get around the forum rules of course, just to let readers know what they get into).

I think it was Brandon Sanderson who defined becoming an adult as "learning how to make yourself do those things that you want to have done". I like it.

I would say you have this wrong. First person is a story written in the "I" form. I did this, I did that. You are stuck in the head of a single character, who is living the story and you hear their internal thoughts in first person (so I). The game equivalent is first person perspective (like...

Two big examples are Lord of the Rings and Dune. They are both omniscient, though in very different styles. The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy is another classic that's omniscient. A more modern (and subtle) example is Lies of Locke Lamora. There are a few ways of doing omiscient. The...

Personal opinion, but as a beginning writer, use said everywhere, all the time (together with its sibblings asked, whispered, and shouted). It's fine, it really is. Readers will notice it a lot less than if you try to use other things like growled, pleaded, and snapped. This is especially fine...

Head hopping isn't good or bad, it just is, in the same way that writing in first person isn't good or bad. Head hopping is a specific style of POV you can use when writing your novel. It is a valid option with its own strengths and weaknesses. There are some amazing novels written with head...

There is nothing wrong with he said / she said. It's a great and short way of indicating who's talking and it's invisible to readers in the sense that it doesn't catch attention like many of the alternatives like having characters mutter and state and announce etc. So use said all you want. Two...

A fair bit about this can be learned from the History of Middle Earth series which was published by Tolkien's son after his death. It's a collection (spanning a dozen or so books) of all the snippets and notes Tolkien wrote. Or at least, those parts that didn't end up in the Silmarillion. I'm...

Welcome! What's your story about?

It's a tough one to get right I think. In Warhammer Fantasy, you've got Skaven, the rat-like faction which is pretty much evil. It's cool and sort of works. But in my opinion, it pretty much only works because it's leaning on the cartoony aspects of them and doesn't dig too deep into the actual...

When I've had an argument with my wife I already find it hard to sit down and write. So I can imagine that your current situation amplifies that a hundred times. I'm not sure I have an answer to how to write in your situation. I'd mainly say to not beat yourself up about it. We're all human...

This differs from person to person, so there is no one answer to it all. Only you can determine how much you want to use AI in your process. There are no fixed rules about it. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Only you can decide what you use it for, and where your ethical ideas about its...

This. The only way to know is to give it to a bunch of readers of your preferred genre (preferably not family) and ask their opinion on it. It's the only way to tell. If you pulled it off, then it will be a selling point for the novel. If you haven't, then it will draw a lot of critisizem...

I've been thinking on this a bit, and my conclusion is that the big planning scenes are never actually about the plan. The plan is just a means to a different end. The council of Elrond is a good example. The actual "let's take the ring to Mordor and destroy it" part is small, and other than...