story

Reject Half of Hemingwayism

Response to Ozy Brennan - there are still some things we should learn from Hemingway

Nov 29 •

The Vivid and Swift Story of Westmark

How do you keep a good story short?

Oct 25 •

Scenes, Sequels, and Sad Puppies

Why do people like some stories and not others?

Sep 20 •

Disaster Histories and Telling the Right Story

It's hard to fill a book with the one disaster... so how do you tell the story you want to?

Aug 2 •

Invasion Literature and Real Fears

Victorian-era cautionary tales... of real possibilities

May 24 •

Some Thoughts on Prequels

How they can be disappointments, and why

May 17 •

Of the Turning of the Moon

The Cup of the World trilogy and an unrigged thought experiment

Apr 26 •

Storytelling, prophecy, and character agency

A response to Zinger bringing up an interesting question from a new angle

Apr 19 •

The Standard Fantasy Setting and the Tradition of Inspiration

If you've read a lot of fantasy books, you probably recognize the Standard Fantasy Setting. That's why it's a good thing.

Mar 29 •

Solution Unsatisfactory, Part 2

And what of the real world?

Mar 1 •

Solution Unsatisfactory

When your world offers no visible way out

Feb 22 •

Fixing-up the sci-fi short story

I already wrote one whole post about Asimov's short stories about robots, but something else struck me when I was rereading them last year.

Jan 25 •

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