Moonbeams in a Jar Moonbeams in a Jar By Megan Cutler | October 15, 2012 | Comments 1 comment One of the greatest things about fantasy settings are the magic thingamabobs floating around making the world interesting. One of the best moments in a video game is discovering an item with a magical effect. It’s even better in D&D, where magical items are often more difficult to find, despite the impressive list you can … Read More Read More
An Acquired Skill An Acquired Skill By Megan Cutler | October 8, 2012 | Comments 4 comments Discipline is a hot topic among writers. Until I started reading the blogs of other writers, I never realized how important a concept it is, especially for those of us just starting out, trying to break into the professional world. It’s obvious the most important step in the writing process is to write. Writing often … Read More Read More
Jack Will Hate Them All Jack Will Hate Them All By Megan Cutler | August 27, 2012 | Comments 5 comments Most of the favorites I’ve mentioned so far have to do with books. It’s true, I started this exercise to help me hone in on the things I really love in the craftsmanship of other’s work to help improve my own. But there’s a whole world of other story expressions out there and studying TV … Read More Read More
Addicted to Love Addicted to Love By Megan Cutler | August 13, 2012 | Comments 1 comment I’ve mentioned before I’m a stickler for a good love story. I’d call it my guilty pleasure, but I don’t feel at all guilty about it. Give me a good, heart-rending power ballad any day. And to go with it, give me a book that’s going to make me cry. The eye-rolling may have already … Read More Read More
A Time to Say Goodbye A Time to Say Goodbye By Megan Cutler | August 6, 2012 | Comments 4 comments After the post I wrote recently about my favorite books, I started thinking about a post for long-running book series. A series is a different beast from an individual book, after all. They require long-term plans from the beginning. Sometimes a long string of loosely related stories in the same world works (Xanthe and Discworld … Read More Read More
Alive in Your Dreams Alive in Your Dreams By Megan Cutler | July 30, 2012 | Comments 0 Comment Fantasy is by far my favorite genre. Anything which transports me to another world. Anything which takes me out of the ordinary and shows me something extraordinary. The thing I love most about the fantasy genre are the strange, wonderful and interesting creatures which often inhabit the different magical worlds I read about. Writing magical … Read More Read More
Soul Songs; the Books I Love Most Soul Songs; the Books I Love Most By Megan Cutler | July 16, 2012 | Comments 2 comments Books have been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. I always had a book in my hand. I never feel quite right unless I’ve got a bookmark shoved in a book somewhere waiting for me to return. It was reading that made me want to be a writer. I … Read More Read More
Ladies in Waiting Ladies in Waiting By Megan Cutler | July 2, 2012 | Comments 7 comments Continuing my exploration of why I love my favorite characters (men can be found here), I have to say, this post was much harder than the first. There are many female characters I like but very few which I love. Many writers’ attempts to write strong female characters ends in an endless parade of cookie-cutter … Read More Read More
Men of the Hour Men of the Hour By Megan Cutler | June 18, 2012 | Comments 3 comments On the never-ending quest to create the perfect character, my favorite exercises is examining the characters I’ve grown to love over the years. By looking at the things that attach you to a character, you can pick out traits or themes which make a character interesting. After all, if you don’t care about a character, … Read More Read More
Writing Process; Getting it All Out Writing Process; Getting it All Out By Megan Cutler | April 9, 2012 | Comments 1 comment A friend recently asked me about the process I use when writing my novels. As promised, here’s the second half (first post here). Step 4: Outlining Once you have all the pieces of your puzzle, it’s time to start putting them together. This will be the first, rudimentary draft of your story. When you put … Read More Read More