Another “two” post. Unlike the first one, this one isn’t awful. The cover image is a link. Note that the cover checks all the boxes: Weapons, Something that Glows, Monsters, Color, Not Photo-Realistic, and Serif font (sort of). (The lighting is wrong; there’s another light source about four feet above and ten feet forward ofContinue reading “My Competition – Two”
Tag Archives: fantasy
What is Plot?
I’m sure there are plenty of books about it and several AIs are standing by ready to answer the question, but that’s not helpful for internalizing it. Somewhere in all these writing posts, I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I realized something years ago: All my favorite TV shows are layered. There’s a showContinue reading “What is Plot?”
Feeding the Dungeon
I need to toss some people into the dungeon to feed it. The dungeon doesn’t care who but our intrepid heroes do. That means I need a couple/few bad guys. There are plenty of places around to find them. An obvious possibility: People in jail (for something serious, of course). There are problems with that.Continue reading “Feeding the Dungeon”
Balance of Power
LitRPG universes generally survive due to Mutually Assured Destruction. When you’ve got people – and “not that many” is literally billions in a multiverse of any size – who can sterilize planets and blow up stars, something needs to keep them in check. The answer is usually “a coalition will gang up on you andContinue reading “Balance of Power”
Agency
One of my pet peeves with humans is that they deny each other agency. The “I’m not going to tell her to protect her” trope is ridiculously common in fiction and it’s not uncommon in real life. Everyone has agency. They should be allowed to make their own decisions, even (or perhaps “especially”) if IContinue reading “Agency”
No Plot
I wondered if it would come up. It did. There is no plot in the first half of the book. This is not exactly by-design, but it’s not accidental, either. There is a “theme”, but that’s not the same thing. Our intrepid heroes don’t have a goal. They’re not intrepid heroes, yet. They’re just twoContinue reading “No Plot”
Chapter 18 Shall Submit
That’s the weekend goal. It need four scenes. Updated with what actually happened. Done. Some monster needs to be killed, hacked into bits, and the best parts brought back for dinner. That sentence, with “ZZZ” in front of it, is all there is. Most of the monsters have been mutated existing things. Maybe it’s timeContinue reading “Chapter 18 Shall Submit”
Introspection
I swear that I have some sort of sleep disorder. I was tired last night, so I went to bed an hour early. I’m now awake; two and a half hours early. Anyway, this is not about my introspection. It’s about character introspection. Our intrepid squad (although they’re not known as that, yet) has beenContinue reading “Introspection”
Whew! They’re Young!
I’ve been having all sorts of debates with myself about political things, criminal justice, etc… All the things that go horribly sideways after an apocalypse. I just noticed something about my characters’ backstories: They’re all young. This is by-design. It’s also the case in almost all action stories for the same reason I chose it:Continue reading “Whew! They’re Young!”
Who Are These People?
My ensemble cast is growing. I swear I outlined backstories for our four intrepid high school age werewolves (nee football players – an idea stolen from Fire From the Sky and every Army recruiter in the last century). I couldn’t remember who came from where and had what. “Open that backstory file,” I thought toContinue reading “Who Are These People?”
