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
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun I spend quite a bit of time trying to keep from getting bored, so I play video games. I find that they satisfy my desire to be part of a story. Television is okay, but it’s passive entertainment, as are books, to a degree. Video games let me not just follow … Continue reading Stepping Out of the Box
(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
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunPutting game tiles together to create a unique playing field. I’ve been getting more into the heads of my characters lately. The introductory tale of this series of short stories centers on three young members of an uber-rich family. They get caught up in a set of circumstances they never, in their … Continue reading Playing to Write
The last few days I’ve been prying information out of my characters. After the initial round of talkativeness, they left while I got my notes caught up (and some of my reading). The twins came back to talk to me again last night. They let me know that they are modern kids, so I dove … Continue reading Interview with an Antagonist
(C) 2020, JJ Shaun I decided to go back and take a look at some of my old fan fiction to see how I can use those ideas as springboards into something new and improved. So, I spent the better part of the week writing the background for that concept. I had a sense of … Continue reading Idea Mash-Up
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunNotebooks detailing the Adaran continent. Twelve or so years ago, I began outlining the antagonists for my unfinished story. I pulled old issues of Dragon magazine off my shelf and pored through the pages. I searched for the “perfect” plot devices for the half-orc twins that were to be the ultimate challenge … Continue reading Worldbuilding, Part VI
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunThe Happy Harpy I’ve spent the past week or so looking for ways to introduce the player characters (PCs) to the homebrew Dungeons & Dragons campaign I’m creating. I have a place to start them out—the Happy Harpy Inn—and a destination if they play it out to reach the Great Evil. As … Continue reading Building Adara
(C) 2000, JJ ShaunThe Adaran continent. I spent this week combing the Internet looking for information on how to build a better fantasy world. I created an account with the Dungeon Master’s Guild and went trolling for information. The DM’s Guild is a site on which a bunch of DM-created guides and play modules are … Continue reading Building Adara
(C) 2020, JJ ShaunThe eastern trade road. I want to share a little about my fantasy outpost—the Happy Harpy. I’m working on a map of the region (it’s still a work in progress). I know it’s hard to see, but the outpost is in the middle. The Happy Harpy was established some three hundred years … Continue reading The Happy Harpy
There is comedic gold behind every painful experience. Here are mine.
Tabletop roleplaying thoughts by a London geek
Tavern Tales
Tavern Tales
Putting ideas into words.
