The Burning Ash: To Swear or Not To Swear

The Burning Ash: To Swear or Not To Swear

“And there was a voice, a high clear, female voice, which said “Ow”, and then, very quietly, it said “Fuck”, and then it said “Ow”, once more.” ― Neil Gaiman, Stardust (Source) I recently finished reading Stardust and it got me to...
The Burning Ash: Hitting the Half-Way Point

The Burning Ash: Hitting the Half-Way Point

Earlier this week I hit an important milestone: I’m officially half-way through writing the first draft of my book! The process has most definitely not been smooth, but the camel’s back is finally getting broken. As I begin the journey into the second half, I feel as...
The Burning Ash and Narrative Structure

The Burning Ash and Narrative Structure

One of the most important aspects of a novel is its narrative structure. Do you present your story as linear or non-linear? How does the story fit into the typical three-acts of story-telling: setup, conflict, and resolution/beginning, middle, and the end? What are...
The Burning Ash: Utopia vs Dystopia

The Burning Ash: Utopia vs Dystopia

The other day I was re-watching the severely under-rated Tomorrowland (in my opinion, anyway) and I was reminded of just how much I love the optimism the film has. It asks ‘Why can’t [something] just be fun?’ but it also has a really wonderful analogy about dealing...
Introducing Summons to my Novel’s Fantasy Universe

Introducing Summons to my Novel’s Fantasy Universe

In previous blog posts, I’ve gone over how the roleplaying games I’ve played have inspired the way in which my novel’s fantasy universe works. These past two weeks I was writing the chapters which introduce another magical tool into the mix: summoning. If you look at...
Finding Inspiration Through A Writing Soundtrack

Finding Inspiration Through A Writing Soundtrack

With the new year has come a new drive to work on my novel, and so far I’ve been as productive as I had planned to be in relation to it. By the end of the month, I should have finished Chapter 7 and the whole story should be in full flow. One of the areas that I...