Writing

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Asking Less (and More) of Others

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Asking Less (and More) of Others

We all know people—likely professional colleagues, as they rarely last as friends—who view a person's worth solely in terms of what the person can do for them. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. Can you drive me to the car repair shop over lunch?” “Oh, you finally have a weekend free to yourself after eight weeks of work and house guests? Great! Can you help me move into my new apartment?”

Of course, true friends are glad to help one another out, and over time it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. You want to help your friend, because you genuinely want to make their life easier and better. Too many people, however, don’t wait for that goodwill to develop before presuming they’re entitled to impose upon your life.

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Daring to Dream: Why the World Needs Science Fiction

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Daring to Dream: Why the World Needs Science Fiction

While researching the theory behind the Alcubierre Drive, which forms the scientific basis for faster-than-light travel in Aurora Rising, I again came face-to-face with an issue which annoyed me immensely back during my aspiring-astrophysicist days.

Fully half the Wikipedia entry for the drive is taken up with all the reasons why it is impossible; the latter half of nearly all “serious” articles on the concept the same. Now, I readily admit that currently, not only are we not capable of producing the technology required for such a drive, we don’t even possess the theoretical scientific knowledge necessary to do so.

So. What.

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Rules Are Made to be Broken... Except When They're Not

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Rules Are Made to be Broken... Except When They're Not

Confession time: I am a hard-core science and tech nerd. Allow me to expound briefly.

When I was 14, I discovered Carl Sagan’s Cosmos in the Science section at Waldenbooks (by the way, the day Barnes & Noble closes its doors, I will shed several tears. I have loved bookstores my entire life).

The book changed my young life. I was already a nerd and bookworm, but I became obsessed with space and the stars. I was going to be an astrophysicist and, if I had my way, discover how to break the speed of light so we could get on with exploring the…well, cosmos.

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Novel Writing Software: A Tool — Not A Crutch

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Novel Writing Software: A Tool — Not A Crutch

If you believe the product descriptions, novel writing software will provide you a plot, several character arcs and all the tools you need to craft a sure-to-be bestselling novel. But if it actually did all that, what would be the fun in writing at all?

The thing is, novel writing software really can be a great tool in your arsenal. I use it, and if you are serious about writing a novel I recommend you do so as well…just so long as you don’t expect it to provide you with your plot, characters and the words to bring them to life.

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Characters: How to Create Them, How to Make Them Real

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Characters: How to Create Them, How to Make Them Real

In an earlier blog post, I talked about how characters should be the central core of a story. Excellent! Now you just need some characters….

In some ways, characters are far more difficult to create than plot. After all, characters are us, and we know all too well how complicated and flawed we are. For a short story, a character can be painted in broad strokes. But if you’re going to write several hundred pages about one, they better be fully-developed, realistic and relatable. They should feel like a real person. More on that in a moment, though.

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What Should Be the Foundation of a Story?

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What Should Be the Foundation of a Story?

It’s like the introduction to every “…For Dummies” guidebook: ‘So you want to write a novel—welcome to the club! Being an author must be an awesome job. I mean, you get to work whenever and wherever you want, and mostly you just travel around signing your books, right?’

If only! It’s not enough to just want to “be” a writer. For starters, you need to have a story you want to tell (hopefully more than one, but one is a fine place to begin). Excellent, you can do totally that—all you need to do is come up with a plot and you’ll be set.

Not exactly, it turns out.