Daniel Honey

Main points • Stagecrafting is creating just enough in your world to make the book work. • Stagecrafting is faster and focuses on storytelling more than setting. But it can feel shallow. • Worldbuilding is creating the entire world: cultures, religions, languages, histories, etc. • Worldbuilding immerses readers, but takes a lot of time, and can lead to worldbuilding paralysis (not writing because you’re developing/researching), and tourism (showcasing irrelevant things you’ve developed that detracts from the story). • Try both…

Read More Read More

Main Points • Use real life objects to generate new fictional names, cultures, countries, and nations. • A single fruit can generate enough ideas for an entire country. • Have a playlist of ideas to consider when world building. Use at least some of them. Intro Creating fantasy worlds generally means creating entire fictional worlds, which requires A LOT of content generation: unique names, distinct cultures, belief systems, countries, political systems, etc. And that’s all before considering the plot! I’ve…

Read More Read More

Main Points • Writing is hard and the voices telling you you’re a failure can be overwhelming. • Take a break to sharpen your saw. • Switch tasks to keep it interesting. • Celebrate small victories. • Force yourself forward. Intro Writing can be difficult. Sometimes I’m pounding my head against the keyboard, wondering how to make it all better. Some days, I struggle to just get started or keep going. I get jealous when I hear about other authors…

Read More Read More

Main Points • Playlists are a helpful list of questions/solutions to overcome specific challenges. • Keep refining your playlists as you continue to write. • When you come across a pertinent problem, review your playlist to generate new ideas. Intro I came across the formalized version of playlists from the book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath. While the book is about making better decisions in life (not on writing), the…

Read More Read More

Main Points • Give your book some space initially. • Look for strengths you can emphasize and weaknesses you can improve on. • Get other eyes to look at it (beta readers, writers’ group, etc.). • Divide the book into important segments. Work on just revising those, one by one. • Use playlists. • Experiment and learn about different revising techniques. Learn what works for you. Intro I’m more of a discovery writer, which means I have to do a…

Read More Read More

Main Points • Writers’ groups can be HUGELY beneficial. • You may need to try on a few groups until you find the right one. • Diversity is king. Try to get people with different ways of thinking and experiences. • Figure out what you want out of a writers’ group, then either look for it or create it yourself. Intro Writers’ groups can be hugely beneficial to your writing abilities. They can point out where you’re going wrong, point…

Read More Read More