Rather than grittiness, I see realism in how long it takes to walk from point A to point B, or in the equipment and technologies to which the characters have access and can carry, or the odds that they can reasonably face.
Stories To Tell
To say that we must tell the stories that are unique to us is to crimp ourselves. Don’t set out to tell the story that only you can tell. Set out to tell the story that you want to tell.
Character Thoughts
I have not spent enough time rigorously internalizing how to present character thoughts in different viewpoints.
Using History
There’s clearly nothing wrong with being inspired by history for your writing – historical fiction is a genre, after all – but Impressions has me pondering how closely a fantasy story can hew to real history without confusing or distracting the reader.
Defining The End
I hear other authors who are true discovery writers talk about their stories taking them by surprise, or their characters wandering off in an unexpected direction, and these things do not happen to me.
Why War
The point is not in the specifics, but in prompting you (and me) to consider these things when we write. I’ve said it many times, and I’ll continue saying it; the most important decisions you make in your story might be the ones that you don’t even realize you’re making.
New Old Stories
It is reductionist and unimaginative to contend that there are no new stories to tell, akin to the assertions that history is just a cycle that repeats itself. As long as there are new people, as long as the world is changing and entropy hasn’t prevailed throughout the universe, there will be new stories.
Wondrous Tales
All of this reflection, eventually, produced a name for the sense I had for what was missing in my writing and what unifies the pieces I enjoy the most: wonder.
Beyond Word Count
I find word count provides helpful insights into my writing habits and the structure of my stories. On shorter time scales, though, it doesn’t always reflect the amount of writing work I might be doing.
Imagination Vs. Extrapolation
Imagination isn’t just thinking about what could be. It’s asking what if anything could be.
IGC Publishing 