Tag Archives: Ideas

Developing Ideas: One Path from Idea to Draft

Posted on September 3, 2015 by J. Sevick

You start with an idea, a glimmer in your eye, a shimmer in the void, a vague sense of maybe… It may be a single image, a lone character, an interesting what if? You poke and prod, squint and twist, … Continue reading →

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The Valley of Ideas

Posted on May 22, 2015 by J. Sevick

Um… I’ve been horrible about updating. I’m so sorry. I don’t really have an excuse, other than that my last post was well-received (thank you!) and I didn’t mind leaving it up as the front of my site, with nothing … Continue reading →

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The Growth Mentality

Posted on March 27, 2015 by J. Sevick

I finished another book!! I am so excited, most of all because this means the first one wasn’t a fluke. This is something I can actually do. I have written books. I know someone out there might be thinking: well, … Continue reading →

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Analysis Paralysis: Killing Your Novel Before It Dies… Or Even Lives

Posted on February 13, 2015 by J. Sevick

[So there were zero votes in last week’s poll… which I take as the entire internet choosing the secret fifth option: “Don’t care, nobody reads this crap anyway.” Which is probably for the best of humanity, so… For now, I’m … Continue reading →

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How Being a Pack Rat Can Kill Your Writing

Posted on January 14, 2015 by J. Sevick

There’s a myth out there—perpetuated by images of lightbulbs popping overhead and final pages being set upon tidy piles beside typewriters—that books arrive fully formed, like babies delivered already cute and bundled by the stork. Oh, sure, it may not … Continue reading →

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What We Think About When We Think About Writing

Posted on December 15, 2014 by J. Sevick

In my personal opinion, writing is more of a mental game than any other art. For some art forms, the craft is in the skill of the delivery as much as if not more than the actual content. For others, … Continue reading →

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What You Like to Read

Posted on December 12, 2014 by J. Sevick

Common writing advice states that you should, “write the book you’d like to read.” I think that’s lovely, true advice. But it’s not always as easy to follow as it sounds. The parts of the mind which engage in reading … Continue reading →

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Multiple Version-itis

Posted on December 5, 2014 by J. Sevick

Sometimes, one of the most difficult things about wanting to write is deciding what to write. This decision is usually difficult for one of two reasons: having nothing to decide from, and having too much to decide from. Those who … Continue reading →

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Staring into the Abyss: Finding the Plot

Posted on November 17, 2014 by J. Sevick

So you have an idea. Maybe it’s a character, maybe it’s a world, maybe it’s just a genre—or maybe you’re lucky and it’s a conflict. If you’re anything like me, ideas are everywhere. But stories are harder to come by. … Continue reading →

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Story vs. Tropes

Posted on November 12, 2014 by J. Sevick

In a lot of circles of discussion, reviews and writing advice, there’s an intense awareness of tropes. Hardly a story goes by without some accusation of a trope being thrown at it: “Mary Sue,” “fridging,” “the chosen one,” etc. Tropes … Continue reading →

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