Overcoming Writer’s Block
Some things I do to overcome writer’s block. Start off small…
Page 99 Challenge
Share the 99th page of your book. This is from the first book in The Lenses Trilogy: He looked at the girl, who was still unconscious…
Obituaries
Obituaries are a great resource for writers. Writing them can be challenging. But reading them can be inspirational.
The Writing Process
Over the past several years, I have developed a process in order to keep up with the craft. While I have read a lot of books and articles on how to write, this is something that works best for me. Some of these ideas may be familiar to you, as they are utilized by many.…
Creating Groups of Characters
A major element of world building is creating different groups of characters. The easiest example I can think of is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The peoples of Middle-earth include Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Men, Trolls and numerous other races and sub-groups. Tolkien was a master of high fantasy and even included other species…
Character Names
When I initially began my search for character names, the first thing that came to mind was an article I had read in the New York Times Magazine in 1993 (yes, nearly 30 years ago). It was about Chinese in Hong Kong who had adopted uncommon Western monikers for themselves. They chose things like Neon,…
Origin of “After the Lenses”
Some years ago, I took a class in science fiction and fantasy writing at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. At the time, I was sort of in a creative slump. I had been working in film and video production for nearly a decade and was studying screenwriting. However, after writing three feature-length screenplays, and…
David Joray 