Mallory O'Bier

@Daeus that’s awful. I will definitely be praying.

I just heard of a recent tragedy with a family here in Ohio. They’re a Christian family named the Stockdales. I don’t know them, but I’ve met them before. Anyway, one of their sons just killed his youngest brother and mother with a shotgun and then tried to take his own life. He’s in the hospital at the moment.

So, pray for them if you…[Read more]

@jess-penrose

Yes–this is the method you want to be using to set out this kind of arc. This is why it qualifies as a complex character arc–there are a lot more key thematic points than there are otherwise.

The arc from the first EiL to the second works out really well, but it seems to deteriorate from there. I think you’re right that the…[Read more]

@daeus @kate-flournoy (I miss you, fellow dragon) @that_writer_Girl_99 @winter-rose @jess @delightinlife @daughteroftheking I’m here.

Okay…Just for fun, could I have some poetry prompts?

@leumeister I might be able to do it, but I’d have to make sure with my parents first.

@perfectfifths That sounds great! Having your character wrestle through the conflict between those two EiLs should lead to some good realistic movement for her arc.

@dragon-snapper Yeah, invisible ink, but if it weren’t for the etching in stone, I’d love to write in ancient dwarvish runes 😀

Great idea, @mariposa !
1. I think I’d rather write it backwards to. That is, if I had a very detailed outline…
2. Push ups. Good work out…paper eating would make me sick, therefore I could not write.
3. Subway. Seems like an inspiring situation, whereas in a rock concert I could not concentrate to write at all. Plus it lasts longer. I’m an…[Read more]

At the risk of leaking our future plans, we actually have a mini-course on this topic that we’ll be releasing in late July! 😀 I’ll second what everyone else is saying, and also throw out there that you need to create a character that audiences can readily empathize with. The more the reader can relate to the character and understand why they’re…[Read more]

@Emily-D Okay, great question, and a very big one.

I’ll try to cover it the best I can. First of all, I cover some techniques for crafting strong characters in my Jumpstart Your Novel, which is free for the time being, so I recommend you go ahead and sign up for that if you haven’t already. Even if you don’t have a lot of time, just go watch the…[Read more]

@That_Writer_Girl_99 ooooh, I love it! Very nice. It could almost be a poem if you rearranged it. 😀

One thing— plot hole alert. If the Warden created the gene, how old is he for there to be really, really old people in the prison? Or were they not inheritors of the gene, but the first experiments?

@Emily-D wow… what an enormous question. 😛

Lemme take a stab at answering it coherently. First step, I would say, is figuring out the contradictions of your character.
For instance, everyone has something that they want. For the sake of conversation, let’s say I want pie. But then, everyone also has something that they need— and most of…[Read more]

Sci-Fi Tips Part 6

So I’ve given a basic idea of three popular sci-fi sub-genres: the alien invasion, space opera, and robot genre. I hope I’ve given you enough information to reveal the possibilities available within these genres. But, to tell you the truth, I don’t think you should write within a genre. It can be a great starting point, but…[Read more]

I could say something, but I know other people who could write more thoroughly about it.

@daeus
@kate-flournoy
@emma-flournoy
@hope
@dragon-snapper
@sierra-r
@warrioroftherealm
@winter-rose
@brandon-miller
@rolena-hatfield

@aratrea Thanks! 😀 All the characters mentioned are actually main protagonists too, I’m only concentrating on this one because she’s my character in a co-writing project 🙂

Basically, character A (the main one I’m talking about) has been trained all her life and is prepared, mostly, for a long quest and battle. Compared to characters B and C,…[Read more]

@dragon-snapper Lol. Loved the addition of Michael as the overlord and the reference to Daniel in that section. xD

@jess-penrose Awesome. Nice work!

@perfectfifths That looks really good! I really like how you’re giving your characters multiple competing Experiments in Living to make them complex characters (and good work with those side characters! I won’t be addressing them in the lessons till the fourth module, but you have a great start there!). Could you explain #5 some more, though? I’m…[Read more]

@jess-penrose I would personally do an arc for the series like the one you outlined above (just not do a more detailed one like you’ll do in your homework for lessons 6-8. However, each writer has their own methods. Some writers work better with doing a detailed outline all-at-once and some writers work better not outlining at all, so it really…[Read more]