Preface to this series: Back in 2019, towards the beginning of this blogging venture, I wrote a series called “Christians and the Creative Writing Process.” Now, seven years later, I wanted to revisit the topics to expand them and add new insights. The original version of this post can be read at this link. ~ …
Category: Characters
Novel-Writing Lessons From Video Games: Plot
It’s time for the next level in this series on Novel-Writing Lessons from Video Games: plots. Many of my favorite games tell compelling and engaging stories: Xenoblade Chronicles, The Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, etc. Even games that don’t have a storyline, like Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros., have a sense of progression to …
Continue reading Novel-Writing Lessons From Video Games: Plot
Novel-Writing Lessons From Video Games: Characters
Video games have some of the most iconic characters in all of storytelling: Mario and Luigi, Link, Zelda, Pikachu, Master Chief, Lara Croft, GLaDOS—and I could keep going. Many games have you make your own character, projecting a digital avatar of your choice (whether true to yourself or a projection of a role you’d like …
Continue reading Novel-Writing Lessons From Video Games: Characters
Best Strong Women in Fiction
Confession: I don’t like a lot of women characters in fiction. On the one hand, you’ve got the one-note damsels in distress, which we’ve largely moved away from as a society. On the other hand, we’ve overcorrected with the tough girlboss trope that largely masculinizes women. Neither extreme lends itself well to creating and presenting …
All About Teamwork
My fantasy series WIP, The Myth-Keepers, is a teamwork-driven story, and as I’ve worked on it, I’ve reflected on some of the best teams in fiction. Now, I certainly could talk about nonfictional teams as well, such as the Minnesota Vikings, which would be a well-deserved shoutout, but I’ll stick to fictional ones. After all, …
Writing Lessons: Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive
Leading up to the release of Wind and Truth, I reread Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive (abbreviated to “Stormlight” throughout).Along the way of revisiting one of my favorite fantasy series, I made some mental notes on how to apply Sanderson’s mastery of fantasy world-building into my own tales and what my fellow fantasy writers might …
Continue reading Writing Lessons: Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive
How Video Games Changed My Novel Writing
(Or, A Chance To Gush About Xenoblade Chronicles 3) Once upon a time, I used to be a “story purist.” In other words, I used to believe that books were the unquestioned superior form of storytelling, and dismissed movies, TV shows, and video games as inferior stories. I never thought those visual mediums could come …
Best Portrayals of Santa Claus
A page from J. R. R. Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas Merry Christmas, my friends! Today’s holiday-themed topic is all about my favorite portrayals of Jolly Old Saint Nick. This legendary gift-giving extraordinaire has been interpreted in many creative ways over the years, with some versions extra memorable in my mind. Plus, this gives me …
A Decade of Myth-Keepers: My Oldest Story
"Mythics" was the original series name - I brainstormed different names for the series in my planner. It's on a November calendar page, but I didn't commit to writing and working on the series until December 2013. The Myth-Keepers, my longest actively worked on series, turns ten years old this month. It is very surreal …
Thor’s Failed Marvel Cinematic Universe Character Arc
I’ve expressed in passing that the post-Endgame MCU films have been misses or mediocre for me. While there’s still some fun in going to see the latest Marvel movie, I’ve been less-than-impressed with multiple of the recent MCU films. The Spider-man movies after Endgame were great, I really liked Shang-Chi, and I’d agree that Guardians …
Continue reading Thor’s Failed Marvel Cinematic Universe Character Arc
