The End
No prose, however lyrical or clever, competes with the joy of setting down these two words, which I wrote last night.
After two-and-a-half years, I’ve completed the first draft of my first novel.
As I reach the end of my novel's first draft, I face a crisis. Why am I afraid to write THE END?
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Currently writing chapter 20 of 21.
Did you hear that? *20* of *21*!
TWENTY of TWENTY-ONE!!!!
My first novel and I nearly have a first-draft-thingy.
I may faint.
Try throwing a foreign language into the mix! I keep searching for English synonyms and getting blocked by French translations. My muse is 100% frappadingue!
POV: lighting in unreal as an animator
My latest blog post.
As in fiction, so in life. Things have to be harder for the hero than for the villain.
This is not simply a dramatic convention. It reflects something we all know to be true.
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Big Friendly Killbots, a short film about a friendly robot chef accused of murder, now has a teaser release!
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A cathedral
Marseille, Cathédrale de la Major.
Something we’ve been keeping under wraps…hugely proud to be able to share this little taster of a short film I’ve been working on with the massively talented Nate Thomas!!
A wizard and dragon pore over a map.
New blog post!
Sure, fantasy maps are fun, but why do we create them? How do they help both the reader and the writer better understand the story?
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My recent worldbuilding posts have perhaps been poorly conceived; I’m adjusting.
What matters more than *what* I’ve created is *why* I’ve created it.
That in mind, let’s look at an airship's deck plan, and what this worldbuilding element brings to my novel.
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Un jeune homme marche sur la plage; un vieux bateau renversé reste devant.
Palavas, près de Montpellier
One of my favorite things learning French is noticing odd language connections. Here’s one I observed today:
Un marronnier = A news subject that recurs every year.
Marron = Chestnut
We talk in English about an “old chestnut” i.e., a venerable (or stale) story. I have to think these are related.
A sextant and map sit on a table
The worldbuilding of "A Philosophy of Air" combines historical navigational tools and techniques with inventions specific to a world of airships.
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L'heure dorée devant notre école de langues à Montpellier.
A man's head explodes ion comical fashion. The text reads "The shocking biochemistry of 'show don't tell.'"
When we "show" rather than "tell" we set off an unexpected chemical reaction in our audience. We can leverage that reaction in many walks of life.
open.substack.com/pub/fogandwh...
A title card with the text "Worldbuilding: How to sail an airship"
In a world of airships, the sailor is king!
I continue describing the steps of building the world of “A Philosophy of Air.” This post describes the physics of “sailing” in the sky.
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Reposting since this might have been missed over the holidays:
From my worldbuilding series: the difficulties and opportunities of creating a lexicon for a fantasy world.
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A pharmacy called “Pharmacie de la Comédie“
À Montpellier, tout le monde sait que le rire est vraiment le meilleur remède !
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In Montpellier, everyone knows that laughter truly is the best medicine!
Text reads" Worldbuilding: how to launch an airship". Text appears over a picture of an airship flying through a valley.
The latest in a series of worldbuilding posts. Today I introduce the basic mechanism keeping airships aloft in my work-in-progress novel, A Philosophy of Air.
open.substack.com/pub/fogandwh...
Ah, cool. I’ll keep an eye out for the blurry guy in the mirror!
We’re back in Montpellier!
Slightly odd question. Do you wear an LA Dodgers baseball cap? I saw a fellow taking photos in MTP this evening and thought, ‘I wonder if that’s David Hutton?’
An airship flying over a sea of clouds.
In recent posts, I've been sharing details of the world I've created for my novel "A Philosophy of Air."
Today, let's talk about the sursus, a poisonous sea giving rise to airships!
open.substack.com/pub/fogandwh...
Merry Christmas!
For today’s post, let’s talk about crafting words in a fantasy world.
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We've all heard the adage "show don't tell."
This advice, I suggest, finds its roots in evolutionary science. And it has implications well beyond writing.
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A map of "The Archipelago" on a wooden desk.
Holy fo'c'sle!
As of today I'm exactly 3/4 through writing the first draft of my first novel!!!
Most days I take my #viewfromtheoffice from a bike. Today I’m writing at perhaps the most spectacular library view in San Francisco.
A weathered map showing islands. A sextant and crossed daggers lay around the edges. Text reads "The Archipelago. Introducing the setting for A Philosophy of Air."
Introducing the Archipelago. Digging into the setting for "A Philosophy of Air"
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