Tag: Writing and Editing
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On Names: A take on taxonomy
So here’s a question: why are animals called what they are? I’m not talking about the big categorical names– things like ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ and ‘horse’ go back for hundreds of years, according to etymology. But when you want to get more specific than that, things get a little wonky. …
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On Names: Politics of Place
How do you refer to the island nation in the Pacific Ocean, roughly around 41* S, 175* E?
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On Names: a person by any other name
I’ve been doing a lot of pondering about names. How they change, how they represent us, where they come from and why. Cyanide and Happiness has a great comic titled The Life Stages of Roberts, about how a single name carries completely different associations and how that can change throughout…
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On the Map
I’m one of those proud nerds who loves looking at a map when I open a book. So when I created the world of Koleth, of course I wanted to include maps.
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Down the research rabbit hole
Even when you’re writing fiction, there’s a whole lot of research involved, and a simple question can send you down into some really weird places.
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Characters: too many or too few?
A well-respected bit of writing advice says you should limit the characters you introduce to your reader. Some have argued that you shouldn’t introduce more than five in the first chapter; others say you shouldn’t introduce more than two or three at any given time. It’s good advice. Having worked…
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When rules can be broken
Let’s start with an old grammar joke. Two women are sitting next to each other on a train. The first turns to the second and asks “So where are you from?” The second sniffs. “I’m from a place where we do not end a sentence with a preposition.” Ever the…
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Why writing rules are so hard
Depending on who you ask, there are six rules for proper use of a comma or sixteen. Depending on who you ask, numbers should be written out or typed as numerals, or written out and then typed as numerals inside of parentheses. Why? What’s up with these rules? What’s the point, and…
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Getting from a concept to a story
The amazing thing about being a writer is that you learn to spot the ideas and ‘what if’s that other people would normally pass by. They’re everywhere, and they’re incredible. And they can also be incredibly frustrating. You can get incredibly intricate and detailed ideas in your head, but for…
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The problem with Lawful Good
((image via Know Your Meme)) If you’re a nerd, you know a nerd, or you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you’ve probably seen some variation of the above image. It’s a chart of the standard Dungeons & Dragons character alignments, which goes by the theory that any given…
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