Recent content by Banespawn

A lot of writers definitely try way too hard on opening lines. Most of them end up having the same issues. The only thing an opening line really needs to do is get you to read the second line. It needs to pique the reader's interest. To that end, I have always been an advocate of hooking the...

In any story, there are always 2 sets of rules: the rules the author makes and the rules the reader brings with them. Authors are free to make up any rules they want as long as they are consistent in how they are used. If the author breaks their own rules for the sake of the plot, readers are...

You don't have to pick just one. Lots of people have middle names. Some even have multiple middle names. Maybe the first name is the father's, and the middle names are for the other 2.

The lore and world building are separate from the progression. The progression is the movement of the plot from beginning to end, from conflict to resolution. Think about what your characters want/need. Each step they take to get it is part of the progression.

Brandon Sanderson defines plot as a set of promises, progress and payoffs. The middle of the story is where most of the progress happens. If your progress is a character overcoming a flaw, then the middle of your story should show the character taking steps in that direction. If your progress...

I find it helps to start with the crime. Figure out who did it, why they did it, and how they did it, keeping in mind that they most likely don't want to get caught. Once you have that, you can figure out what other characters might have motive and/or opportunity to commit the crime, to be used...

If the sole purpose of the flashback is to give the reader information, I would cut it. You don't need info-dumps either. Not knowing anything about your story or the information being presented, it's impossible for me to say which bits of information are necessary and which are not, but it's...

It might help to break down the worldbuilding into smaller bits. Politics, religion, social structures, cultural traditions, Geography, weather, etc. Create a document and brainstorm ideas on each of these topics, and any others you can think of.

I don't read a lot of stories that combine science fiction and fantasy. Usually, it's one or the other, and much more fantasy than sci-fi. The Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson combines both, though I'd say it's more sci-fi. There's magic, I guess, but nothing like what he typically writes...

Have you read books similar to what you want to write? Read them and deconstruct them. Identify what the authors did and how the stories are structured, and then write your own.

I'm not that familiar with those books/movies. I never watched IT, and I think I saw Christine, but it was probably 40 years ago. Given that, I may be wrong, but I suspect that what they can do is implicitly defined. If the character is shown to do A, B, and C early in the story, and never...

I should note that the existence of these fallen gods is based on rules I have established for gods in my universe. I have three other story ideas that play off of those rules as well. This is what I meant by the setting not feeling believable. In our world, yes, political factors, along...

As you say below, it depends on the story. The decision to use a hard or soft magic system generally goes hand in hand with the development of the plot. If writers are creating them independent of each other, they are likely to run into problems. Call it a guideline then, rather than a law. I...

The characters are always of paramount importance. That doesn't make anything else unimportant by comparison. As @Luxuria noted, with a soft magic system, there is a danger of Deux ex Machina. Yes, it's not too difficult to avoid, as you say. Brandon Sanderson is always brought up in these...

Tone is different than voice. The overall tone might be somber, while one character is jaded and the other is hopeful. Or maybe the tone is lighthearted, but one character is a grouch and the other is inquisitive. What tone are you going for, and how do the voices of these characters differ?