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Recent content by wordwalker

  1. wordwalker

    Glass sword

    Sensible. And that's assuming she can't summon fast enough to put new edges on the sword after each kill. (The step above that would be to hold the edge together at the moment she swung, and beyond that make true reinforced spellglass...)
  2. wordwalker

    Flintlock pistol question

    The only exception here would be something like a blunderbuss, an early shotgun-- with "just dump some bullets and nails and anything you want down the muzzle" as its ammunition. That's the weapon you don't tip forward.
  3. wordwalker

    Magic and Guns, How do you do it?

    Another thing is, what are the mages going to do when guns start to appear? I can think of some really useful spells, that a combat-minded mage might work on perfecting, preparing a battlefield with, or practicing to cast at high speed: high-powered: stopping bullets (it might work best if...
  4. wordwalker

    Epic Fantasy Structure

    I like this. I think some loss of energy is pretty much inherent when characters split up. Just by comparison, you've had the first tale (or you're comparing it to one) that had so many more characters, elements, and history together to build synergy and momentum. Separated characters may...
  5. wordwalker

    Length of a Teaser

    True enough. There are different schools of thought on what a teaser could be; I'm just sharing a lingering impression I had from the days of print-books-only when using more than a chapter was considered too much paper. Doing it all with one chapter can be impressive... but it might not do the...
  6. wordwalker

    Length of a Teaser

    I've always thought the most elegant teasers were limited to one chapter, or maybe part of one. Seeing something go past that single unit looks a little wrong to me-- although I know very well a "chapter" might be just a fraction of a scene. Which might just mean that, if your right teaser is...
  7. wordwalker

    Story opening woes

    I don't know if this is much help, since First Page Stress is pretty well inevitable, but: Relax, and trust S.S.S. Sustained Style is Sacred. What I mean is, we all have (or plan to have) written a lot, and in all those pages, the pace and the priorities that work best for us are going to...
  8. wordwalker

    Are some words more valuable than other ones?

    Well played, sir, well played. And that includes the final explanation in its own right.
  9. wordwalker

    Story opening woes

    The main thing I noticed about the first version is how much it suddenly Tells us, especially in the first lines: "intent on parleying with her son’s father" and "—the religious leader of the republic—" and so on. Of course you have to reveal some things more directly than others, but doing more...
  10. wordwalker

    How do yoy feel about long prose?

    Much of it is knowing your own style. Whatever degree of length and poetry you want, try to be consistent about it. Let your reader know this is what you're delivering, and don't rush one part or pad another. Then work hard to get good at that style, including knowing its limits (longer prose...
  11. wordwalker

    Dinosaurs in Fantasy?

    True. But then you have to make some big, obvious changes to them to make it clear you're doing your own version, and still strike a balance so that they read more like dinosaurs than another take on trolls or Snake Monsters. If that's how you've pictured your dinos, it might be the best of...
  12. wordwalker

    Writing lore a day?

    There's a trick I use for things like this. I take the phone book's index of its Yellow Pages (or to be less dated, any website with a really long list of career categories) and pick several at random and see which speaks to me. Animal control? Sure, how have the creatures nearby been...
  13. wordwalker

    Are some words more valuable than other ones?

    Here's another dimension to it: Oftentimes what makes a word important is its relationship to the other words on that page, and to how that fits into the story. Is a paragraph about the main character, or the scene's main other character that the hero has to deal with-- or is it a lesser...
  14. wordwalker

    Story opening woes

    Two of my favorite guides to starting a book come from Lisa Cron and Janice Hardy. Also, speaking of Flogging The Quill, Janice has her own "Real Life Diagnostics" feature that runs every Saturday, another chance to get feedback.
  15. wordwalker

    So many possibilities, so many logical strings!

    You can also look at alternate history stories. Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos was one of the best early ones to create a version of today's world with magic (eg, modern children are give a True Name in the hospital, along with their vaccinations). And Harry Turtledove is the grandmaster in...
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