Tag Archives: Mike Reeves-McMillan

Jul 07

I consider myself an intermediate-level writer, but I’m still getting a lot out of these practical, clear lectures.

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I consider myself an intermediate-level writer, but I’m still getting a lot out of these practical, clear lectures.

Originally shared by Brandon Sanderson

New Writing Lecture + Updates

The third installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “The Illusionist Writer,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “Cook vs. Chef,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, The Elemental Thriller, we discuss the difference between the drivers in thrillers, horror stories, and mysteries, and use the elemental genre tools to assist in the differentiation. We also cover the tools we use to develop and maintain the tension that is so critical in a thriller.

Update on the Mistborn: House War board game Kickstarter campaign: It’s now at 530% funded, and is working on the 12th stretch goal.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Shallan evacuated the armies while Kaladin battled. This week, in Chapter 87, in the aftermath, they face rearrangement of the world as they knew it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ovtiazIzJA&list=PLH3mK1NZn9QqOSj3ObrP3xL8tEJQ12-vL&index=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ovtiazIzJA&list=PLH3mK1NZn9QqOSj3ObrP3xL8tEJQ12-vL&index=3
Jul 06

An intriguing approach from Hugh Howey: take an idea (he’s mainly talking about SFinal ideas) and tell the story…

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An intriguing approach from Hugh Howey: take an idea (he’s mainly talking about SFinal ideas) and tell the story about how it’s broken. Not necessarily how it breaks, even, but how it’s already broken and it’s up to your character to deal with that.

Now, Howey writes dystopias, which is why I don’t read his stuff, and his approach is not the only way to generate a story from an idea. But it’s interesting.

http://www.hughhowey.com/an-idea-broken/

Jul 05

This is an area of science that fascinates me, which I’ve used in several stories.

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This is an area of science that fascinates me, which I’ve used in several stories. The first, “Taking Pro,” is in the Futuristica 2 anthology, due out in November.

I have another that I’m working on, though, which has come to a stop because I’m conflicted over my own conclusions, in some of the ways that the article points out as issues for the technology. If I can portray that conflict effectively in the story, it’ll be a very powerful one.

http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/scientists-discover-brain-circuits-attached-to-mood-and-how-to-hack-them

Jul 04

I was tinkering with this yesterday, and just posted it publicly in response to a question in the Writers’…

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I was tinkering with this yesterday, and just posted it publicly in response to a question in the Writers’ Discussion Group about how to develop characters. Thought some of my other writing people might also be interested.

http://csidemedia.com/shortstories/character-building/