It’s that time of year again! Gyms are bustling with newcomers (welcome!), people are finding lost treasures in an attempt to get organized, and we’re all writing the wrong year on tests, checks, and calendars. It’s January and that means preparing the year with new goals! I always try to do some writing specific goals for every year. Here are some of mine:
- 365 for 365: This one is an exercise I…
New Fiction: The Son of the Dragon Merchant
A new bit of fiction this week! Enjoy this months piece of fiction: The Son of the Dragon Merchant. Not exactly a holiday piece, but there’s never a bad time for a story about dragons!
The enjoyment of finding a family when you look passed blood…
One of my favorite group dynamics–whether it’s a movie, TV show or a book–is the Found Family dynamic. When a group of friends, and sometimes strangers, come together and form something stronger. It’s one of the few tropes that I actively strive for when I create a group of protagonists because there’s something very comforting about making and finding your own family. I think it stems from a few…
A few weeks ago a friend asked me if I was interested in joining their writing group. Well, that’s not entirely true. We met up to talk about their writing once and we decided to forge a writing group. She brought one of her friends, I brought a couple of mine, and after two meetings, things are going pretty well. Unlike a lot of writing workshops I’ve been in, we decided this would be a working…
With a recent move under my belt, I discuss the importance of creating and describing settings.
So, I recently moved. As of yesterday, we moved the last of my boxes to the new place and I’m sitting on my bed surrounded by boxes and half-filled shopping bags. Moves are (generally) very stressful, but I was lucky enough to have some very helpful friends in this endeavor. Regardless, the process of moving has made me think a lot about my writing and entering a new setting.
One thing I will…
Blink: A story about a cat, time travel and a lifetime.
A fun little piece based on a few prompt words: Time Travel, Cat, and Journey.
I’ve been trying to write more short fiction (and trying to submit a little bit more). The big projects and sweeping landscapes are fun, but I’m trying to be a little more creatively flexible.
At any rate, enjoy!
Dialogue is one of the foundations of writing a novel. If our characters say nothing, we learn only what the narrator wants us to know about them. It’s also a crucial element of the classic ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ advice that is often discussed. When I was in college, one of my professors often talked about a book called “Talk: A Novel in Dialogue”. As the title suggests, the book is written entirely…
Nasty Nattie and The Nightmare Man- Your Monthly Dose of Fiction!
This one was one that I wrote a pretty long time ago, but wanted to revisit. Enem is actually based on a nightmare antagonist I had a while ago.
Visit my website for fun things: http://www.nwwestbrook-writing.us/ My bookshelf is like the universe, constantly expanding and full of adventure! I'm Nick! INFJ personality type if you subscribe to that sort of thing. Librarian by day, novelist by night. Like Batman without the fun toys.
