Prewriting Part 3: Character Sheet

In previous articles I’ve advocated the use of RPG character sheets instead of a less mechanical writers version.  In this article I will actually create a character using one.  Brace yourself folks because this could get ugly.

Prewriting Part 2: Main Concept

This article is really more a continuation (or perhaps a culmination) of several previous articles.  It will be long and ramble-y and possibly not very well thought out.  But I think it might help to see the creative process when it’s not so polished (even if I’ve been thinking about these ideas far longer than it appears here).  Point being, if you’re looking for concise insight or new tools, best walk away now.  If however you’d like to see some of the older tools in action, you’ve come to the right place.

Summer Writing Series: NaNoWriMo in July.

Hey all, this is the plan for June and July of 2017.  I’m actually going to try and put my money where my mouth is.

The Elevator Pitch: Your Story in a Single Sentence

One of my pet peeves in writing craft is how the authors of those how-to books throw out concepts and vocabulary left and right, but sometimes only assume the audience knows what the author is talking about.  So now that I have my own blog, I can’t very well go and do the same thing, now can I?  So, like the world building series, there will be several pieces like this one on fundamental elements of story structure and vocabulary.  Just to make sure we are all on the same page.

Okay?  Okay.

Let’s start at the beginning: The Elevator Pitch.

Icons Example

In the Worldbuilding Tool post here, I detail the benefits of the Icon system used by 13th Age.  But due to not owning the content, I had to be purposefully vague about what the whole thing looks like.  Within this post is a full blown set of Icons I made up for a tabletop campaign set in the world of one of my (mostly conceived, barely written) novels.  And also the though processes I used to come up with them.

If that sounds like your cup of tea, then by all means, keep reading…

Worldbuilding Tool: The Icons of 13th Age

Worldbuilding–the process of creating people, places, concepts, systems and whatever all else to inhabit the story world–is simultaneously one of the great pleasures of writing, and also one of its great pains.  It’s wonderful to imagine something and say “Oh…this is going in the novel” but it’s dreadful to stare at the barren wastes of areas you haven’t come up with stuff for (and suddenly find you need to) and draw a complete blank.

So here is the first article (of several) that detail some trick or tool to help you fill out those blank spots on your map.

We’ll start with something basic…who runs your world?

Character Sheets Part II

This is a followup to this article about using RPG character sheets in place of the usual ones found in writing books.

Beyond is a breakdown of several RPG systems and my views on their use as writing aides.  If that doesn’t sound like fun, turn back now.