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 …
Category: The Writing Life
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 …
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Writing Update January 2025: A New Year Full Of New Excitement
Happy 2025! Wow, can’t believe I haven’t written on the blog since last year… (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Anyways, terrible joke aside, I have some exciting progress to report. Since my last writing update, despite starting a Ph.D. program in the Fall, I managed to write a rough draft for not one, but TWO novels! …
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On Tolkien and Encouragement
This year, I finally finished The History of Middle-earth series, a 12-book dive into the development of Tolkien’s writing of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings across the span of his life, edited and with commentary from Tolkien’s son Christopher. It took me ten years to read through them all; as much as …
The Gospel & Gaming: Xenoblade Chronicles
As a Christian, I’m wired to view things through the lens of the Gospel. Every book I read, every movie I watch, whatever content I engage with, I’m looking for the redemptive qualities—the Gospel Truths I believe—reflected in media. So it’s only natural that I do the same with video games, including one of my …
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 …
Writing Update September 2024: Where I’ve Been
I didn’t intend to take a six month break from the blog, but here we are. In a nutshell, after writing my series “Confessions of a Christian Writer,” I felt led to take a hiatus from writing (including for the blog) for some time to pray and continue to reflect. I picked up novel-writing again …
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A Christian Writer’s Confession, Part 2: Productivity or Stewarding Talents
I am a very self-driven, Type-A person. I do very little that isn’t practical. And right now, it’s choking my writing. Now, I believe Scripture is very clear that we are not to be lazy people and should work diligently, as unto the Lord, while also balancing that with our need for Sabbath rest. What …
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A Christian Writer’s Confession, Part 1: Kingdom of Self versus Kingdom of God
Confession is a lost rhythm of modern life. In modern American culture, we’re quick to ignore our own faults and shortcomings, justify vice or less-than-good behaviors, and not cast judgment on others’ mistakes—unless we disagree with something they stand for. I’m grateful to be a part of a church that regularly practices confession, and it …
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By Madelynn Orion 