Recent content by Telcontar

Creation myths (or realities, depending on how it plays in your setting) are all about meaning. What would it mean to have the divine feminine embody Earth? What would it mean for Sun? Sun usually equals energy, power, passion. Earth: form, strength, building. And of course, you can skip the...

As Vaporo said: speaking from a scientific standpoint - no. Hollow planets are not a thing that happens naturally. That being said, it wouldn't be too hard to justify a core-less planet using far-future tech magic. One of the biggest effects of a core-less planet would be vastly lowered density...

I have a heavy perfectionist streak and often have trouble finishing projects to my standards as well - this results in a lot of unfinished work. It was debilitating when I was younger. The most important thing I learned as I continued to write was to finish my stuff. To accept imperfection. To...

Not in anything I've yet finished, I don't think. But I had a couple instances in incomplete or still-under-planning work. Foremost was a world in which several cities were built by a conquering mage-king of a few generations past, who believed magic could be used to help create a better...

For myself, it is very much "write organic, edit by rule." Or some measure of that. I rarely think about "the rules" while I'm actually writing, but I literally have a list of things to watch out for when I edit. Some of these are personal quirks which I require personal rules to counteract...

Hello everyone. Apparently Pixar is going to be doing a Storytelling course over at Khan Academy. Here is a link to the first video. I haven't watched it yet as I am at work, but I have to imagine the folks at Pixar will have something worse listening to.

This struck me as interesting. Especially insofar as whether or not it will end up mattering to the reader whether or not the antagonist's character has experienced growth, or only the reader's understanding of the antagonist has grown (and the villain has remained more or less the same)...

Query letter writing is a very important part of the traditional process. Fortunately, that means there are lots of resources out there to help you. Check out blogs like Pub Rants and Query Shark for guides and advice. Don't be in a hurry. And also, don't invest all of your hopes in getting this...

If you don't want to take the time to write all of the different beginning and just see which one feels better, you can try thinking about what differences each would have on the story that follows after. Are they really different beginnings? Do they have different events? Would they change the...

Generally speaking, when I first get an idea I write down as much as I can about it. The plot, key characters, etc. Whatever I've got at the time. Then I let it sit. Occasionally, in idle moments, I'll come back to the idea. Develop things further, maybe some world-building happens in the back...

If they're the puppetmaster type, a solid option is to introduce them early, without revealing them as the/an antagonist. Just another character, not even that intriguing of one. That way the reveal of his antagonistry (shaddup, it's a word NOW) will have the element of "It was YOU?!" that is so...

Sanderson went through a phase that many of us probably have/will: that time when you think creating a good book is just about how pretty your sentences are. In thinking this he was failing to play to his strengths. It's the Writer/Story-teller divide with the added categories of world-builder...

Physical submissions only? That's surprising. I didn't think any of the venerable old names were still holding out on digital submissions.

Taking "bandits" as meaning pretty much any thief/outlaw types, Lies of Locke Lamora is the first to come to mind. Naturally, any Robin Hood books as well.

I could see a future tense passage having a very interesting effect, especially in fantasy where things like prophecy are commonplace. Flash-forwards already do this, but I don't think any I've ever read actually use the future tense. It seems like something you'd need to use repitively to help...