If you’re anything like me, then you’ll know that the closer you get to a story the harder it is to objectively question it. You’ve spent so much time there and it works so well in your brain that it’s hard to take that mental step back and look for problems. I’ve already talked about … Continue reading Advanced World Building Tips
World building can be intimidating and overwhelming, but no one should ever be discouraged from attempting to build a world for their story. You already have a huge natural advantage when it comes to world building because you actually LIVE in a WORLD! And it’s full of examples and good ideas you can steal … Continue reading World Building 101
Pen Friends ~ Our Dual POV Prompt Challenge was so much fun and we loved each entry, (short & long) so much that we decided to post them all! Part 1 will be the POV #1 “visitor to the new world.” Part 2 (to come) will be POV 2, Native to the world. It was nothing … Continue reading ‘Nothing Like My World’ Prompt- Reply: Part 1
I have to confess something to you… two weeks ago I took the plunge and played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time. Yes, the roll-the-dice, choose your warlock/dwarven/halfing adventure that Dan Harmon termed the “fantasy game [people play] to escape their awkward lives.” Promising, eh? My high school self would be baffled (“I thought … Continue reading How I Overcame Writer’s Block with the Nerd World
Writing fantasy is fun. Why else would so many people do it? Why would so many read it? There’s more than a monetary investment when a reader picks up a fantasy novel. They are taking on faith that the world the writer has created is going to engage them and spark their imagination. As an … Continue reading Know Yourself: How Many Worlds Do You Live In?
In this continuation about world building, I wanted to focus in on a few specifics, as well as the ways in which getting down to the details can actually lead you into a deeper story – both for the sake of your readers’ experience ,and how it can affect your plot, character development So here’s a few … Continue reading How to Build Beautiful and Realistic Worlds
Please join me in welcoming S.F. Rhoads to The Spinning Pen! Sandra was born in Queens and raised in Texas where she earned an MA in her seventeenth-century crush, John Milton. This talented author also has experience in acting, directing, and script writing!
As someone who was reading books entirely too old for me at an age when most of my peers were still thumbing through chapter books, I’ve always loved when I flipped a page to see a map, illustrated chapter head, or even a full illustration hidden in pages of text. As an artist and life-long … Continue reading An Illustrator’s View of Story
I’ve been writing and telling stories in some form or other for most of my life. Like most, it began with my make-believes as a child. And then it slowly grew from there. But it wasn’t until I was midway through my junior year of college I began to realize that we don’t all have … Continue reading Using the Hero Archetypes to Help Chart Your Path as a Writer
SP: Hey Gillian! So glad to have you here on the Spinning Pen. 🙂 Before we get started, we want to hear about YOU and your writing journey! What made you want to write and what’s a fun fact you don’t mind sharing? Thanks for having me here! Growing up, I always had a book … Continue reading Author Interview: Gillian Bronte Adams
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