Recent content by Rob P

I'm currently in the middle of my first edit, the one that deals with all the obvious stuff, like word redundancy, spelling, grammar, POV problems, tense mistakes, over-indulgent use of commas. What I refer to as most of the technical stuff. That will get me to draft two and the next read...

One question begs asking. How insanely important is it to return to your starting point considering the distance and that a sequel is in the offing? Can the cliffhanger not be created from knowledge of the event or danger and have our heroes finish the book in a mad desperate rush to get there.

Try Ambrar as some crooked derivation of Ambrosia which was used by the ancient Gods of Greek Myth. Although Ambrosia was technically mushrooms, so we are in the world of Super Mario for powering up.

Over a woman, ie Helen of Troy but that could be dissected down to reveal lack of respect, theft, saving face and other delightful egocentric failings. Actually, the stupidest is saving face. When going to war to preserve one's status in the eyes of your people is far more important than...

For Jess, your difficulties over where you've started could be simplified by having that scene explode for the reader but then quickly pull away so the reader can assess its context. If the action continues the reader may not understand or apply enough meaning to the importance of that scene...

I have a list of all my characters, main, primary and secondary with all their emotional drivers. These are the emotions that are readily seen in the main. Against each emotion I have tried to put as many triggers and reactions to describe visually how their emotional drivers manifest themselves...

Currency is one of those aspects of world building that can have as little or as much importance as you desire. There has to be something that's used to help move goods and services around. Personally I don't think it needs a complicated system if it does not play an important role in the...

I think one weapon to consider including is slings. I'm not sure if sledding would employ using whips but the hand action of whips and slings seems to be very similar plus it can be used one handed while still holding onto the sled. Throwing knives, blades and the like that could be linked...

I spent three years writing my first draft in my spare time usually in the hour before midnight and such like nooks of solitude. This came after daydreams where I mentally created the feel of the story in my mind, the main characters and the settings. I put pen to paper and built my world and...

I've gone thru this whole thread and many of your misgivings, feelings and emotions have at one time if not a multitude of times been something we have all endured. I see in everyone's words, their passion for this hard and complex task upon our time, liberty and sanity. At its root is a...

There are many times when we confuse gender without seeing the person. Names can be misleading. Let's take Lee. We might assume this person is male if our only interaction is email or something until we see a picture or meet them and then we realise that person is a woman. That person was...

A sink also has certain connections with places of vice and corruption. However the word sink can mean - a natural or artificial means of absorbing or removing a substance or a form of energy from a system. I like the word sink which can then be used as a sinkhole but a soak could also...

The best villain is the one that sits in the shadows just beyond the immediate world of our hero so he/she struggles with understanding the reasons for his/her misfortune, the obstacles that are placed to hinder and the people persuaded to betray. The hero's discovery and sorrow is the...

There is nothing wrong with using great prose if it can be achieved. There is nothing wrong with using such language to inspire and enrich someone's experience of a story. Throw too much of this wonderful colour at people not experienced in mixing paints on their palette of creative thought and...

Most of the time when we are confronted with a gaggle of new people we instantly tag them based upon physical attributes. Not just hair colour although one could be called Blondie. There is size, small or tall (knee-high, lankey, tree-top), thin or thick (bean pole, stick, waif, tree trunk...