Timeless or Tired? The Alluring Secrets of the Hero’s Quest
What exactly makes the hero's quest trope so enduring? And how do modern writers keep it fresh amidst a sea of traditional fantasy? Fantasy writers are reinventing quests in imaginative ways that surprise and engage today’s audiences.
The Chosen One: A Proven Trope for Fantasy Fiction Fabulists
The Chosen One’s journey is simultaneously personal and universal. It is a metaphor for transformation and self-actualization.
Use These 5 Tips to Master Character-Driven Fiction
In character-driven fantasy fiction storytelling the characters drive the plot. It may seem obvious, but there are subtleties that aren't always clear.
How to Co-Author a Book with Your Spouse and Not Lose Your Minds, or Your Marriage
When people discover that Michael and I write books together, the reactions split fairly predicably between two camps...
The Bad Writing Habits the Internet Wishes You’d Stop
Today’s writers and authors have to learn how to wear many hats in order to get their words in front of readers, but in my view, the worst is editing. I hate editing. I really do. Michael says I’ve got a good eye for it, and maybe…
How Do You Know If You’re A Writer?
How do you know if you’re a writer? It’s the question every writer asks themselves. I don’t know one who hasn’t, at some point in the struggle to get words on paper, just thrown down the pen or chucked the keyboard at the wall in…
Thinky Thoughts
Michael had some thinky thoughts for you last week, and started a post, but computer troubles are delaying his ability to complete it. The working title I saw was “The Cost of Everything,” and I took away from our discussion that it involves…
For Your Action-Packed Weekend: Is Writer’s Block Real?
A link to a roundup of quotes from published authors, who have opinions about the question: Is writer's block real?
For Writers: Zen and the Art of the Story Arc
Every story has a story arc; it's a way of fitting more narrative in between two points which would be short and relatively uninteresting, otherwise. The goal of a writer is to start at the beginning point, then describe that arc so that it's so…
MFGCast Interview with Authors Alesia and Michael Matson [link]
Our MFGCast interview covered the gamut from the uses of the modern metaphor to the nitty-gritty realities of indie publishing, but it turned out to be amazingly coherent! We got to talk storytelling in fiction and in tabletop gaming for awhile with…