If you read much, you already know novels are not limited to a single plot thread. A lot of books I’ve read have a main plot, at least one subplot, and a character arc. Your main plot is the scaffold on which you build the story and measure progress. Character arcs and sub-plots add depth … Continue reading DIY MFA: Growing Your Character
A story is a plot, a character, and a setting glued together by conflict. Some writers can fully outline their book before they write a single word of their novel. Other writers begin with a concept and a character, then watch the characters as they move from point A to point Z. Still, others combine … Continue reading DIY MFA: Picking a Path
When I read a mystery novel, I expect to find some aspects during the story. A valuable item will go missing, some puzzle must be solved, or a body will turn up. The same holds true when I read a drama, romance, or fantasy novel. Each form has its own structure, and readers of those … Continue reading DIY MFA: What Makes a Plot?
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun I started writing my fiction right after I returned from a deployment filled with underway watch rotations and Dungeons & Dragons when not on duty. If you have ever played tabletop (pen-and-paper) D&D, you know that progress can be glacial. Six months of playing doesn’t always amount to much character development. … Continue reading DIY MFA: Plotting for the Pantser
What is a plot? According to Brandon Sanderson, the plot is a promise made at the beginning, progress toward fulfilling that promise, and a payoff at the end. What does that all mean? In the first few sentences, paragraphs, and pages, you make a promise to your reader. That promise includes the tone. Is it … Continue reading DIY MFA: Learning to Plot
I’ve spent this week watching YouTube videos on writing and learning a lot. I decided to start with Brandon Sanderson’s BYU lectures on writing science fiction and fantasy. The nice thing about YouTube is that I can pause the video and back up to make sure that I heard a concept correctly. Because of this, … Continue reading Learning As I Go
The importance of June 19, or Juneteenth, in U.S. history, has come into sharp focus on the American landscape in the last couple of weeks. But why, exactly, is Juneteenth so significant? According to Wikipedia: “Juneteenth is an unofficial American holiday and an official Texas state holiday, celebrated annually on the 19th of June in … Continue reading Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun Most of my ideas are set in some fantasy world or another. One notable exception is a story I wrote in college. The script I had penned for a class stayed with me over the decades. After reading It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, a story idea began to percolate. … Continue reading When Characters Have More to Say
I read a lot as a kid. I don’t remember what I read in primary school. Still, I do remember bringing the Weekly Reader home every week with at least ten books that I wanted already filled out in the order form. Inevitably, my mom would say “no” to most of them, and I’d have … Continue reading What Is Speculative Fiction?
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun Here it is Friday again. I spent the week getting my projects off the old computer and onto the new, and not a lot of time writing. I’ve downloaded a few of the games that have been sitting in the queue for a week or twelve and checked out a couple … Continue reading Use Experience to Build a Better Character
A piece of my scattered mind.
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J.J. Shaun 