Neal Holtschulte's Writing Blog
TLDR: Honor Among Thieves is more delightful Star Wars nonsense by writers that know their craft. When I heard that the Expanse guys had written a Star War, I was like, yes please! And I was not disappointed. Honor Among Thieves has heart and the authors have nailed Han Solo's roguish charm by remembering that… Continue reading Review: Honor Among Thieves by S.A. Corey
TLDR: Contrast, descriptions, and single-sentence "flashbacks" can be used to build the world and character backstory. Altered Carbon has a four star review on Goodreads while also getting a lot of criticism for its graphic violence, lengthy sex scenes that contribute little to the plot, and its unabashedly male gaze. I personally enjoyed Altered Carbon,… Continue reading The Worldbuilding of Altered Carbon
TLDR: Make space for your worthy work of writing, be a great rewriter, and start writing! (and other miscellaneous take-aways from a writing conference) This year I attended the University of New Mexico Continuing Education Writing Conference. Here are my take-aways from the conference. Jessica Strawser, Novelist and Editor-at-Large at Writer’s Digest, gave the keynote address… Continue reading Writing Conference 2019
TLDR: Zero-sum thinking is literally the path to the darkside. Come back into the light with generosity and an open mind. Zero-sum thinking is the cognitive bias that one person's gain is another's loss. It is closely tied to resource scarcity beliefs. These unconscious beliefs lie at the heart of a lot of negative self-talk… Continue reading Zero-sum versus growth and prosperity
TLDR: The three keys for writing success (or any success really): practice, seek knowledge, challenge yourself. In my opinion, there are three keys for writing success (or any success really). To grow and develop, it's best to intermingle these three activities: Practice Learn Stretch Practice is where you cement the skills you have learned. Practice… Continue reading My Three Keys for Writing Success
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