I’ve been hard at work on Creating Places (The Art of World Building, Volume II) for the past two months, authoring completed chapters on drawing maps, travel on land, creating planets and creating continents. This includes a very cool template for Read More …
Author: Rand
Author’s Shouldn’t Try to Be Funny in Their Bios
There’s a lot of advice on how to write a professional author bio, and here’s mine: don’t try to be funny or clever. It seldom works. It can also make you look juvenile, narcissistic, and unprofessional. Here are some examples of bad Read More …
Art of World Building Update
I’ve done a lot of writing for The Art of World Building this past month, including completed chapters on creating monsters, gods, and world figures like heroes and villains. Each has a new template, too. I’ve also drafted much of a Read More …
World Building Interview
Another fantasy author who does world building, John Robin, interviewed me this week on his blog. Stop by and see what we talked about. You can learn more about my world building process in advance of Evermore Press publishing The Read More …
Evaluating Artist Feedback, Part 2
This is part two of the blog about evaluating feedback on your writing or other artistic pursuits. Read part 1 here. Biased Feedback A person giving negative feedback can be biased in some way. We can sometimes tell from their Read More …
Evaluating Artist Feedback, Part 1
Whether a musician, author, or other artist, we’ve all received feedback on our work. Obtaining meaningful feedback is an art all its own. Sometimes we have to work at it, deciphering comments to figure out what someone means, so I’ve Read More …
Virgin Sacrifices in Fantasy Stories Are Stupid
So I’m sitting here watching Conan The Destroyer, which includes the age-old premise that a virgin will be sacrificed. Personally, I think that’s a waste of a perfectly good virgin, but what struck me is the silliness of this. There’s no Read More …
How Agents and Publishers Think About Manuscripts
Like most authors, I’ve submitted books to agents and either gotten no response or the form rejection letter. Well, let me be specific – I’ve sent a query letter, one page summary, and anywhere from 5 pages to 3 chapters Read More …
Writers Block vs. Idea Block
Most authors have “writer’s block” at some point, but I suspect we’re often suffering from something I call “idea block”. The definition of writer’s block is “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to Read More …
Getting My Book In Book Stores
When I decided to start self-publishing, people began asking me if I can get my book in stores, to which I’ve said no, not really. They almost always ask in amazement, “Don’t you want to see your novel in book Read More …