Do any other authors do this? When I’m about to start a new project, I’ve found it incredibly helpful to take a little time and interview my characters. I will literally open a blank document, and just start asking my characters questions. Sometimes I write it as a little scene between my character and a … More Interviewing my characters
From a young age, I had been fascinated by stories. From sitting in front of my mother as she read me a Darkwing Duck picture book for the hundredth time, to watching movies and playing video games, I could always get lost in a narrative. When I was growing up, I was exposed to the … More The First Time I Realized that Stories Don’t Always Have Happy Endings
I’d like to begin with a quote from C.S. Lewis: “Critics who treat ‘adult’ as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; … More On being ‘childish’
It’s easy for those of us who don’t play video games to look at the medium and see nothing more than guns, violence, soldiers, killcounts, and candy-swaps. However, like any other creative medium, that description only scratches the surface of what video games have to offer. Join me as I share my experiences with video … More Experience Points #2: Pokémon
I think we all remember the first time we realized the true power of words. It’s when you find a passage that just smacks you right in the heartstrings. You realize that you are not reading mere symbols on a page, but something truly magical. Suddenly, you are all-too-aware of the power these symbols have … More Understanding the power of words
I’m an arrogant bastard. There, I said it. Now, before you run off, let me explain. You see, in high school and college, I was often considered “the smart one” by my group of friends. I was, by all accounts, a good student. I had good grades, got along with my professors, and was even … More Trying to be less arrogant
Derek Pietras 