Tag Archives: Story

The World is Not Enough

Posted on September 24, 2014 by J. Sevick

I’ve had this problem for a long time now—in fact, it’s always been a big part of my assertion that I’d actually rather be a worldbuilder. I have this entire world that I created… and no story to write in … Continue reading →

Posted in Worldbuilding, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

From Idea to Story

Posted on June 14, 2014 by J. Sevick

[No doubt part one of eight million…] When you look at a finished novel—its pacing, its characters, its settings, its twists and turns—and you look at the infant idea cradled in your mind, you might wonder how you can ever … Continue reading →

Posted in My Writing, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Making Your Heroes Proactive

Posted on June 10, 2014 by J. Sevick

I wrote yesterday about how to start developing the motivation for your hero to stop the villain. Often, this is because the villain is doing evil things, and so the hero rises to stop them. However, sometimes your villain isn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making Strides

Posted on June 9, 2014 by J. Sevick

The first step for any writer-to-be is to find the idea. Depending on the desired length and complexity of the project at hand, that can be its own epic struggle. But whether it hits you like a lightning bolt or … Continue reading →

Posted in My Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plot Types: Epic vs. Procedural

Posted on June 6, 2014 by J. Sevick

Plots can be categorized and described in a thousand ways; at the same time, in other ways, no two plots are exactly alike and thus cannot be too closely associated. While accepting the incredible subjectivity and ultimate pointlessness of separating … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plotting 101

Posted on May 26, 2014 by J. Sevick

I’m a pinch busy today, so I’m throwing up some random notes I found buried in my computer–lucky you! But they might have a bit of merit–even as incomplete as they are. 🙂 This is really not meant to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Ordinary vs. Extraordinary Protagonists

Posted on May 24, 2014 by J. Sevick

When you are raised on Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and other classic hero’s journey stories, it is all too tempting to begin with an ordinary protagonist who is thrown into extraordinary circumstances. It increases … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Developing Ideas: Finding the Story

Posted on May 3, 2014 by J. Sevick

If you can get from the idea to a protagonist who has a goal, you basically have a story. But even at that stage, things can still be so vague you have no idea where to start.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Developing Ideas: Defining and Refining

Posted on April 14, 2014 by J. Sevick

In the last post in this series about developing ideas, I talked about getting the vague shape of the story in mind. It’s like a blurry picture of a story that you have to squint to see clearly. Sometimes it … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Story in the Idea

Posted on April 7, 2014 by J. Sevick

I wrote in my last post about different techniques for finding ideas, specifically ideas which speak to what you really love. Of course, your mileage may vary—and other techniques might work much better for you. Or you just might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment