It only took 7 months, but at last: I’ve got a readable draft of the first Myth-Keepers book. Huzzah! As mentioned in my writing update from the beginning of the year, I revised The Myth-Keepers in an unusual way: I started at the end. I rewrote the third act of the novel, which amounted to …
Tag: writing
A Completed Draft 2: Writing Update May 2025
Huzzah, The Myth-Keepers Draft 2 is complete! This semester-long project has been an absolute delight to work on in the beginning part of 2025. I mostly kept up with my goal of revising 10 chapters each month, though that fell off in April entering into finals. However, the flexibility of May post-finals week allowed me …
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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 …
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 …
A Christian Writer’s Confession, Part 3: Worship and Delight
The final piece I need to confess regarding my writing: I have not worshiped the Lord through my writing in recent months, at least not often. This is the product of both pursuing the Kingdom of Self as well as idolizing publication as the end goal. I’m burning out on projects quickly. I’m only writing …
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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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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 …
December 2023 Writing Update: A Year of Little Progress
Hey there. It’s been a while. 2023 has been the sparsest year for writing updates (I at least get four, one per quarter, but this is only the third of the year) and one of the longest droughts since the last update (which was in May!). But I will admit up front: it seems odd …
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By Madelynn Orion 