JWTroemner.com

The Blog

  • The road goes ever on and on…

    I have yet to meet anyone who’s hiked the Appalachian Trail by accident– you swear, you just stepped outside to get the mail, but 2,000 miles later you looked up and realized you were in Maine. That kind of hike takes preparation. You wear your most comfortable hiking boots, you check the weather, you bring Read more

  • Aerith and the Phoenix Down

    There’s nothing like death to add drama and angst to a story. It’s a source of grief, of guilt, of shame. What leaves the biggest scars, though, is that while the angsting character might have contributed to their loved one’s death, there’s nothing they could do to stop it once the pieces were in motion. Read more

  • Nitpicking Narrators – Part I: My name is Jake

    While I’m busy with grad school, I’ll be replaying some of the most-read posts from my old blog. Some people instantly gravitate to one particular narrative style. The story they’re writing just naturally lends itself to one Point of View (POV) in particular. After all, who would want to read “That guy over there? His Read more

  • Nitpicking Narrators – Part III: You are walking down a dark alley

    While I’m busy with grad school, I’ll be replaying some of the most-read posts from my old blog. Some people instantly gravitate to one particular narrative style. The story they’re writing just naturally lends itself to one Point of View (POV) in particular. After all, who would want to read “That guy over there? His Read more

  • Standing at a fork in the road

    When you want to publish, there are generally two roads: self-publishing or going with a traditional publisher. A lot of people will tell you which way is best, but some things you have to decide for yourself. Read more

  • Writing Exercise: If I’d known then…

    For the December section of his “A Calendar of Tales” project, Neil Gaiman wrote a short story in which a runaway briefly meets her future self. (The collection of short stories is posted publicly, so you don’t have to feel guilty about reading them. Seriously, I’m in love with this collection.) So let’s turn this Read more